Your guide to all news at school
A message from Janice Short, Principal
So after spending an anxious week watching the weather forecast, our postponed Christmas show actually took place on the last day of March. True, we did not have a chance to do a full dress rehearsal due to terrible weather the day before, and it was a little showery and a little windy, (plus a couple of very strong gusts of wind!) but this only added to the sea theme for our fantastic pirates and mermaids. Extra lines were written for extra children, who learnt them so quickly, even children who had only joined the school 10 days earlier!
The children were simply amazing, especially as they had waited 3 months to perform the show. They did such a good job, doing themselves proud and there were many proud parents in the audience, as well as proud staff watching the children perform. The school community really came together in a display of resilience and commitment to support the children who have worked so hard in difficult circumstances over the last few weeks and months, to put on such a super performance.
Thank you so much to everyone who supported us including providing costumes, helping children learn lines and songs and by being very supportive members of the audience. We have had so many positive comments from so many people; it makes it all worthwhile. We are already looking ahead to our World Music Day show!
We would also like to welcome back Ms Thorpe after her maternity leave. She has rejoined us, teaching one of the Y3 Dolphin classes, and is settling back in really well.
Have a lovely weekend and a super holiday, hopefully spending time with families and friends.
Happy Easter!
Warm regards
Mrs Short
Principal
Baleares International College, Sant Agustí
END OF TERM WITH A SCOTTISH SURPRISE
It is always a wonderful experience to hear live music and the whole school at BIC in San Agustin had this pleasure, when we welcomed John Bruce from Scotland to school to share his love of the Highland bagpipes.
John amazed the pupils before he even started to play, as he was dressed in his kilt and typical Scottish national dress, and as the drone of the bagpipes began, the children listened in awe, many having heard nothing like this before.
He explained a bit about the interesting history of the bagpipes and told us about how he had served for 26 years in Oman, as well as playing Amazing Grace on Top of the Pops in 1972, which even knocked The Beatles off the number one spot.
This was all interspersed with rousing tunes on the bagpipes, including Mull of Kintyre and Scotland the Brave. The children were enthralled, asking many pertinent questions and we all enjoyed the concert very much indeed.
Nursery Starfish Class
I distinctly remember writing in the last newsletter that we were eagerly awaiting the warm and sunny weather belonging to this time of year here on the island. I was wrong! March and April both showed us that the weather at the beginning of Spring can still vary greatly! Nevertheless, we have thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in Starfish class.
The Starfish class children have enjoyed starting our topic ¨New life¨ and we took a closer look at all the different kinds of new life that we see around us; flowers starting to bloom, little lambs following their mummies around in the countryside of Mallorca and new leaves are starting to sprout on trees around us. Yes, despite the weather, Springtime has started! As part of this topic we have introduced minibeasts and we went to explore some of the creepy crawlies living close to school. We took our magnifying glasses with us and we found lots of different bugs!
We were delighted to welcome Miss Karen into our classroom to tell us more about her hobby of being a bee-keeper. The children first learned about pollination and how these tiny little bees do a very big and important job, thank you Miss Karen!
On Friday, another special and fun event was reintroduced in Starfish class; ¨Show and Tell¨. All the children were allowed to bring in one of their favourite toys from home and show this toy to the rest of the class. As you can imagine, this was very exciting and many much loved cuddly toys found their way into our classroom that day.
In addition to all the bugs we found on our minibeast hunt, the children have been busy bees themselves too. Making crafts, cutting, sticking, doing jigsaw puzzles, making patterns, playing , using the pinboard to make shapes and face painting were amongst the many different activities the children have participated in over the past two weeks.
So as always Starfish Class, thank you for bee-ing such amazing children! Buzzzz..
And all that being said, we want to wish you a wonderful holiday and a fantastic start to the season of new beginnings.
Reception Seahorses Class
In Seahorse class we have had a very busy fortnight, again, full of events! However, it wasn’t buzzing as strongly as it always does as some of our little ones have not been feeling very well and had to stay at home for a few days. We are sending them lots of love and hope they get better soon. We miss you guys!
A few weeks ago, we heard that one of our Seahorses had newborn hamsters and we just couldn’t wait to meet them. There were 7 hamsters; they came to school for a day and we looked after them really well. We had the chance to learn lots of things about them and, although you might not believe me with this one, they were really cute!
In phonics, the children have started to take home reading books and words to read; they were really excited about this new stage and all of them are doing really well. In class, we have now finished learning all the initial sounds and we are making great progress in blending them to read words.
In maths we have been learning about the o’clock time and although it was a bit tricky at the beginning the children are getting really good at it. They have been making clocks, playing ‘What’s the time Mr.Wolf?’, helping the Easter bunny to get the chocolate eggs on time by helping him read the time, and even singing their first hip-hop song.
As we’ve reached the end of our topic on ‘Transport’, we didn’t want to miss the opportunity to visit the local port. The children were very excited about this short school trip and we were lucky enough to have a bright sun with us after it had been pouring down the whole morning. Due to the earlier bad weather, we could actually see all sorts of boats, as none of them had left the port that day. We had an amazing time! Of course, the children could recognise all the traffic signs we saw on our walk and lots of vehicles.
Just before we go into next term, I would like to share with you the special visitors we have had this week. From a musician who plays the bagpipe, to ‘sa jaia Corema’ (traditional Mallorquin Easter character) not forgetting the ‘Strombolis’ circus and our lovely beekeeper Ms.Karen. What the last week full of surprises! And do not forget Easter Bunny, he might be just around the corner!
Year 1 Seals Class
Seals Class has had yet another busy two weeks. We´ve been writing letters and postcards, been to the farm, completed more science experiments, grown Sunflowers, and Avocado stones and much, much more!
During English lessons, the children have been writing letters and postcards. The children wanted to send a postcard themselves, so they created a postcard with a picture of the school, added a short message, their address, and a stamp, and hopefully (if the rain EVER stops!) will get the opportunity to walk to the post box to post them.
The whole experience of receiving the postcard through the post is SUPER exciting, so please keep a lookout in your mailboxes for the special delivery!
Well we finally made it to the postbox to post our letters!!!
During maths lessons, the children have been using their Times Tables skills to begin halving and dividing simple numbers. They certainly like a challenge in Year One, so everyday they´ve been playing games to help support their (already very knowledgeable) brains. Throughout the Easter holidays, you can help support this by randomly asking them sums from the 2´s, 5´s, and 10 Times Tables. You can find many funky songs related to this via Google. One of our favourites is from the KoolKids gang - Times Table song 2-12.
For science, they have (rather appropriately due to the current weather) been researching and completing experiments using waterproof or non-waterproof materials. The children have enjoyed testing the materials with the small plastic animals and are now ready to use them to help fix an old umbrella, which has a large hole in it, to hopefully keep themselves dry!
Let's see if our predictions are correct or we´ll be in for a soaking!!!!…..fingers are crossed!
With Easter just around the corner, Seals have been getting all creative during Art lessons and any spare time during the day, with many activities. They've made Easter cards, fridge magnets, and chick balloons and planted Sunflower seeds in pots they had made last week. The seeds, after much loving and watering, have started to grow. They will be going home with them this week, so please keep up the watering and loving at home. We also think a little talking to the plants has helped them to grow too! (wink wink!)
Seals Class would like to wish you all A VERY HAPPY EASTER and a safe and hopefully sunny Easter break.
Remember to keep checking your mailboxes for the special postcard delivery!
CONGRATULATIONS to Mika, Ona, and Max for winning the Egg Decorating Competition. Whoop Whoop!
Year 1 and 2 visit to Fresopolis Farm
We braved the weather elements last Thursday and headed for the farm. Thankfully it did stop raining and we were able to enjoy ourselves. We split into two groups and took in turns to complete the activities organised there. Both groups got to plant a Carob Tree and some children then made a BIC name plaque for it, so if you ever visit the farm yourself, then make sure you look for our trees!
We got to feed and pet the animals too, from chickens to pigs. Everybody enjoyed this part! After washing our hands, we had our lunch, we had the chance to play on the tractor tires, hay bales, and go through the maze, before heading back to the coach, tired and ready to return to school.
When you look at the photos below, you will see how much FUN was had by us ALL, teachers included!
More photos will be placed up shortly on Canvas for you to view at your leisure.
Helping to plant seeds and off to find the vegetables….
Group photo from group two - CHEESE!
Feeding the chickens and the goats
Planting the Carob Tree
Playing on the tractor tires and meeting, the rather large, BULL!!!!
Year 2 Turtles Class
SCIENCE - FOOD CHAINS
We have been learning all about food chains and who eats which food items, insects or other animals. The class worked together in table groups to make up as many food chains as they could from a range of pictures. It was great to hear the children all discussing their learning together and working as a team.
On April 1st, the year 1 and 2 pupils went out onto the Lemon tree Terrace to try to get sight of the Sloof Lirpa Bird. Supposedly he can only be seen on this date and can be called by offering him carrots, singing to him and flapping like a bird…!!!!
According to some children they saw him fly by, which was interesting as it was an April Fool joke!!
They enjoyed drawing the bird when they came back to class and seeing pictures of him!
In Literacy we finished our Diaries unit this week by basing our writing on Diary of a Wombat and writing a Diary of the Easter Bunny. The children did a great job and will enjoy sharing them with their parents at the weekend.
In Maths we have finished off our unit of Fractions - watch out, they do know what half and quarter are but may forget when they are dividing out their chocolate eggs!
We wish everyone a happy and restful Spring holiday and look forward to welcoming all of our Year 2s back for Term 3.
Year 3 Dolphins Class
It has been my pleasure to spend the past week getting to know all of the children in Year 3. The children have made me feel very welcome and have helped me to quickly get up to speed with all things Dolphins.
I would like to introduce myself, I am Alison Thorpe. I have been part of the BIC San Agusti family for four years and have just returned from maternity leave. I have previously taught across all ages in Madrid, London and in my home county of Suffolk in England. I am passionate about staying active and finding better ways to care for our community.
This week the children applied their rugby skills to a group game of tag rugby, used their knowledge of number line to count on and calculate change, impressed me with their knowledge of The Stone Age and, my personal highlight of the week, participated in a local beach clean.
We loved decorating our eggs and the children had some very creative and fun ideas.
In our extra reading lesson, we examined different genres and played a game that involved matching different genres to their description and keywords.
Both Miss Roberts and I would like to wish you all the very best over the Easter holidays and look forward to seeing everyone back at school for our final term of the school year.
Year 4 Jellyfish Class
As always the Year 4 Jellyfish have been busy learning whilst having fun! Lots has happened since our last newsletter and we would like to share some of the highlights.
Es Baluard Art trip-Last Tuesday we visited the museum and enjoyed the various exhibitions. In particular, the Year 4’s were fascinated by Miro’s series of puppets and drawings inspired by Alfred Jarry’s text UBU ROI. With the help of the guides, the children were involved in working out and understanding what the pieces represented.
Hands-on in the museum!
The children also had the chance to get involved in the more interactive exhibitions.
Our Year 4 scientists have been finding out about the differences between solids, liquids and gases. This week we have carried out an experiment to observe how some materials change state when they are heated or cooled. An added bonus of this was to use melted chocolate to make crispy cakes. YUMMY!!!!!
In Music, Year 4 have been really excited and happy in their music lessons to be able to start learning to play the glockenspiels. They are starting to learn to read simple notes on the stave, as well as playing simple melodies and songs and their music teacher, Mrs Baggaley, is very proud of them all.
Easter Egg Decorating- As the end of term is upon us we have celebrated a whole school egg decorating competition. The children had lots of creative and fun ideas and it was very difficult to decide on the winners as all the children did a wonderful job. So well done everyone.
The year 4 team would like to wish you all a wonderful Easter holiday and we are looking forward to next term and all that it will bring.
Year 5 Whales Class
I am so proud of all the children for their hard work for the show and especially all the amazing acting from the Year 5 and 6 children. Here are a few ‘backstage photos’ of our stars getting into costume and character!
On top of extra rehearsals, the Sharks have been working super hard as always and the weeks have really flown by!
In Science we have continued to learn about materials and this week learnt about reversible and irreversible changes. We mixed milk and vinegar together to make casein plastic and then used bicarbonate of soda mixed with vinegar to make carbon dioxide which inflated a balloon!
After studying the techniques of landscape drawing, the Year 5s have finally been able to create their own landscape paintings using watercolours. First, we created colour wheels to show a range of the shades we would use and then applied wide brush strokes and pale colours to create the background.
Once dry, we focused on adding detail to the foreground and middle ground by painting mountains, boats, trees and buildings.
As part of our humanities topic, the Whales and the Sharks headed up the mountains to discover how the water we drink gets to us. First, we visited the water treatment plant at Lloseta where we discovered all the different processes the water goes through to make it potable. Then we visited the lakes of Gorg Blau and Cuber to see where it all starts!
It was a very chilly day but so wonderful to be up in the mountains!
Have a wonderful and warm Easter holiday!
Year 6 Sharks Class
Year 6 began the first drafts of their nature poems this week and they are hoping to emulate John Keats and Robert Frost. When they are finished, we will publish them here, so watch this space.
As part of our geography unit, the Year 5 and 6 classes visited the water treatment facility at Lloseta and saw how Mallorca's drinking water is processed from the foot of the Tramuntana mountains and pumped to the residents of Palma. They also had a tour of Gorge Blau and were treated like VIPs by being allowed access to areas the general public never usually get to see.
We finished the term with an inter-class basketball match: Red Team (Haris, Marc, Minu, Eugenia, Alice and Valentina) versus the White Team (Leo, Hugo, Kaitlyn, Lia and Celia). The competition was firm but fair with the Red Team winning by 38 points to 33. Celeste kindly volunteered to keep score. All of year 6 have made amazing progress this term in basketball, from dribbling and passing skills to their general confidence on court. Well done!
Spanish and Catalan with Miss Ainhoa
Como ya bien sabemos…. Esta es la última semana antes de las vacaciones de pascua. Por ello, en las clases de español y catalan hemos optado por trabajar diferentes aspectos de vocabulario y gramática a través de juegos de mesa.
En Year 5&6 hemos intentado descubrir al asesino de un crimen cometido a partir de una serie de pistas, pues seguro que todos conocéis el famoso juego: “Cluedo”. Los alumnos han trabajado por equipos y han tenido que poner en práctica toda su comprensión en español para poder entender y seguir las pistas correctamente.
Por otro lado, en clase de Catalán también hemos querido aprender de una manera divertida. Así que hemos jugado al juego de cartas que está tan de moda actualmente: “Dixit”. Así, hacemos uso de vocabulario aprendido, ampliamos nuevo vocabulario y trabajamos en equipo.
Spanish and Catalan with Miss Maria
¡Hola a todos!
Estas últimas semanas con los niños de Year 1&2 hemos introducido esos elementos de la oración tan importantes que son LOS ADJETIVOS. Hemos hecho diferentes actividades, las cuales han sido muy divertidas y además han hecho que los alumnos hayan puesto en práctica sus habilidades descriptivas. Ahora ya conocen la manera de describir su apariencia y carácter, además de distinguir entre femenino y masculino al hablar de sus rasgos y características físicas.
¡Por fin llegó la primavera! Y los niños y niñas de Seahorses han estado aprendiendo mucho sobre ella. Hemos practicado el vocabulario a través de historias, juegos como el VEO-VEO y por supuesto una maravillosa canción que hemos aprendido y cantado con mucha alegría. Además, hemos hecho unos fantásticos dibujos con muchos colores y elementos de esta maravillosa estación.
DOS BRAÇOS, SET CAMES, NAS GROS, PEUS PETITS… SA JAIA COREMA JA TORNA A SER AQUÍ! AMB UNA CENALLA, AMB UN BACALLÀ, CADA SETMANA UNA CAMA PERDRÀ!
Sa Jaia ja torna a ser aquí i amb ella han vengut també les ganes de celebrar i cuinar els nostres bonissims i tradicionals crespells. Va ser un dia molt divertit en el que els nins i nines de Year 3&4 i 5&6 van disfrutar preparant els crespells seguint la recepta, posant els ingredients necessaris i pastant la massa. A més, van poder donar forma als crespells amb els diferents motlles i emportar-se un bon parell per menjar a casa en unes bossetes en forma de conillet!
Sports with Miss Izabela
Rainy P.E day consisted of fun activities. Our Year 3 students were playing an air hockey game and they loved every minute of it! A super fun way to develop coordination and reaction time.
