Embedded Files
director's note
director's note
Introducing the launch of the British International STEAM school (BISS)!
Dear Parents and Guardians,
I am very pleased to announce to you that our school in the City will open in August 2022 as the British International STEAM School.
We have been planning this change from the beginning of the academic year after having identified areas where we can enhance skills.
Critical thinking.
Communication skills.
Creativity.
Problem solving.
Perseverance.
Collaboration.
Information literacy.
Technology skills and digital literacy.
The best way to achieve mastery of these skills is through an integrated STEAM approach to education. BISS is the first international primary school in Turkey to offer the STEAM methodology based on the Cambridge Primary Curriculum. The Cambridge Primary Curriculum is a framework for children's primary education. It is aimed at children aged 5-11. Cambridge Primary is an international curriculum, used in over 160 countries around the world. Both City and Zekeriyakoy will follow the Cambridge Primary Curriculum from August 2022.
STEAM is an acronym and each letter depicts the following:
S represents Science
T represents Technology
E represents Engineering
A represents Arts
M represents Mathematics
We all understand that we are living in a rapidly changing world. The jobs of the future have not yet necessarily been identified as the fast-paced world of digital technology and related fields are rapidly developing and expanding.
Our goal at BISS is to nurture and provide your child with the tools to be confident and independent individuals. Our students will be taught to be independent, critical thinkers. Able to identify and assess any given problem and to ‘think outside the box’ for potential solutions. Our students will have the time and the opportunity and the resources to hypothesize, conceptualize and create their projects. However, the work does not stop there, in order to truly absorb the learning it is necessary to reflect on the process and identify areas which could be improved, or perhaps identify a different solution. The possibilities are endless. And this is precisely the message to our students: Be bold and do not be frightened or put off by mistakes but take the opportunity to learn and grow from them!
We believe that our students will grow into lifelong learners, creative, innovative and entrepreneurial citizens of the 21st century, thanks to the integration of the British international education program and the STEAM education model.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. We will be holding information meetings at the City Campus next month.
With best wishes,
Natalia Ambridge
Spring Hat Parade
BISI Students had such fun welcoming Spring with our Spring Hat Parade! The children enjoyed showing off their colourful and creative hats and spending time outdoors with friends. A big thank you to Ms. Lynne and Mrs. Güven for coordinating the event, and to Mr. Mayer for snapping so many lovely photos!
Children's Day Celebration
Congratulations to our students for making the Children's Day Ceremony such a success! We were thrilled to have so many parents join us. Many thanks to our wonderful teachers!
Students preformed a beautiful folk dance!
Science Day
Science Day by Ms. Louise
Students at BISI enjoyed Science Day this month. The theme was 'environmental changes' and students across the primary phases learned about how plastic pollution has changed our oceans, how pollution from greenhouse gases has changed our polar regions and how we can reduce our carbon footprint to lessen the effect humans have on climate change. This was also a chance for BISI students to express their inner-scientist, as children were encouraged to dress as a scientist for the day. I am sure you will agree, they all looked great in their lab coats, homemade T-shirt designs and safety goggles!
Y1 Scientists pose for a photo.
Ms. Louise and her EYFS students looking very scientific!
Miss Lizzie and her EYFS students enjoying the sunshine in their science costumes.
EYFS
EYFS National Turtles Class by Ms. Gökçenur
The Turtles class has been working on art activities for a Turkish board for Children’s Day on April 23. They had so much fun!
April in EYFS Honeybees by Ms. Lija
Last half-term in EYFS we endeavoured on a brand-new Topic: Maths In Art: combining the learning areas of Mathematics and Expressive Arts and Design. It certainly was a success and worthy of any Gallery!
In this unit, Preschool used the artworks of famous male and female artists to further explore:
Textures, Colour and mixing, Lines, Pattern, Shape and size, Creativity, design, and using different tools and media.
The Honeybees Class thoroughly enjoyed exploring and experimenting throughout this Topic. We were inspired by artists such as Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian and Henri Matisse. As a class we worked together to create beautiful displays and also independently on our own Masterpieces and constructions. We certainly learned and enjoyed some of the many processes of art and developed an appreciation for different styles.
Did you know?
Different colours can be used to express our soul – feelings and emotions. -Kandinsky
The more basic the colour, the more inward, the more humble – rely on primary colours, lines and shapes. -Mondrian
Everything begins with a ‘dot’. -Kandinsky
Piet Mondrian was inspired by music, particularly up-beat, energised Jazz – listening and learning with certain background music is therapeutic and brain friendly. In class we daily listen to music to stimulate our minds and to create a stimulating yet calm learning environment.
Even though we may be the smallest and youngest in school, we are still able to create spectacular things.
Turkish in EYFS by Ms. Şevval
National EYFS1 students are learning about letter P in Turkish lessons. They have made daisies, parrots and pandas. These all start with the letter P in Turkish (papatya, papağan, panda).
Below: EYFS Students enjoy being creative in the sunshine!
Science Day in the Butterfly Class by Ms. Katrine
In April, we celebrated Science Day in Butterfly Class. We learnt all about how plastic can be harmful to our oceans and the sea animals, and what we can do to help avoid and minimise plastic waste. The children also enjoyed taking part in an experiment to see which objects float and which sink. They practiced using new vocabulary to describe the objects we included in our experiment. Some of the children also dressed up for the occasion and had a chance to tell their friends about what they had dressed up as.
Maths in the Turtles Class by Ms. Louise
In our maths lessons, EYFS2 National have been learning about subitising small amounts. This skill allows children to confidently and quickly judge amounts, without the need for counting one by one. In this particular activity, the children went to the botanical garden and made faces out of natural materials. Their friends then had to try and subitise the items they had used. We tried to say full sentences, such as "I can see (3) leaves for hair" "I can see (2) rocks for eyes" and most importantly, we did this by sight, not by counting out each object!
Year One
Y1 City Overview by Ms. Lorenz
This month 1L at City have been busy!
In Art, we have been learning about sketching using lines and shapes. We observed different plants closely to sketch them.
In Science, we are learning about seasonal changes and observing the changes in Spring. We painted spring trees by adding bright green leaves and blossoms to our trees.
In Science, we also began learning about plants. We discussed what plants need to grow. We learnt that seeds can look different! We then planted our seeds! We will watch as they grow over the next few weeks.
In History, we are learning about Florence Nightingale also known as the Lady with the Lamp. We made lanterns and pretended to be nurses. We helped care for injured soldiers just like she did!
Y1 Students have been busy investigating plants this month! Students in Mrs. Robbins' class set up an investigation table with various soils, seeds, and plants for all of primary to enjoy.
Y1 Students on our Zek Campus are enjoying time in our Botanical Garden! The children participated in a nature scavenger hunt where they worked in teams to find various plants, insects, and gardening items. The highlight was blowing bubbles at the end of the hunt!
Year Two
Y2 City Overview by Mr. Murray
In mathematics, 2M have been learning about the different units of measurement. The children were given a variety of objects and scenarios to investigate. They then had to choose units of measurement and the best equipment to measure this unit of measurement in. As you can see, they had a blast!
In art, 2M have been learning about the Great Fire of London. We investigated what life was like for different people during this time, before creating a portrait. In our next lesson, we used our pictures for our writing.
Year 2 enjoyed visiting the work of the secondary art students!
Science Day by Ms. Alexis
For science day on the theme of climate change year 1 and year 2 came together to conduct an experiment.
Prior to the experiment we talked about the polar regions and the changes it is seeing due to climate change. We discussed what this meant for the animals and people living there.
For the experiment we had 2 tubs each with ice in. One cup was covered with cling film to represent the greenhouse gases and the other was left open.
We made predictions before the experiment and observations for a timed period. We concluded that the ice in the covered tub melted faster - showing the effects of greenhouse gases and climate change and that it represented how global warming is speeding up the melting of the ice caps in the polar regions.
Year 2 Students work on their Turkish animal vocabulary by participating in fun fihsing activity with Ms. Derya.
Year Three
Y3 Science by Ms. Lynne
Year 3B begins exploring forces in science. Students worked in groups to select or design surfaces of varying friction. They then tested each surface by measuring how high the surface had to incline in order for the force of gravity to begin pulling the car downwards. While most of our predictions were accurate, students were impressed with how much friction they were able to create with classroom materials!
Y3 & Y4 Elementary Students have been practising 1st conditional during ESL lessons with Mrs. Güven.
National Y3 Humanities by Ms. Kocaman
In our humanities lesson, we studied natural and artificial environments. We designed our artifacts and shared with our friends.
Year Four
English in 4N by Ms. Newman
In 4N, children have been reading Roald Dahls’ Dirty Beasts as the core text for their narrative poetry unit in English. These comical rhyming poems engaged the children's interest enabling them to perform out loud, showing understanding through intonation, tone, volume and action. Reading, re-reading, and rehearsing poems gave pupils opportunities to discuss language, including vocabulary, which extended their interest in the meaning and origin of words. The activities enabled children to identify the key features of narrative poetry, including rhyme, rhythm and figurative language, such as similes and metaphors, in order to write their own poetry in the same style. You can watch the recordings of their performances here.
Y4 Art by Mr. Wraxall
In April, the National Year 4 class stretched their drawing skills and their minds by completing some amazing surreal rooms using perspective drawing, collaging, and a whole heap of imagination. I hope you enjoy our results!
Year Five
Y5 Students worked outdoors with Mr. Fawcett to create beautiful prints using leaves from the botanical garden. They came out fantastic!
Y5 National Author Activity by Ms. Elif
In our Turkish lesson, we do creative reading hours. The children are reading a book every month. This month, we had the opportunity to interview Bengisu Gençay the author of, 'Zem Sesini Arıyor'. The students enjoyed having a pleasant conversation with her.
Science Day in 5L by Ms. Lloyd
Science Day brought about an opportunity for Year 5L students to get 'hands-on' and practical in the garden whilst learning about Climate Change. Not only is the sun responsible for sustaining plant life on our planet and other valid reasons, but it is as important that we learn about the Sun's positive effects alongside learning about the negative ones, like global warming and the greenhouse effect.
Year 5 Students on the City Campus learn how to shop during a Turkish lesson with Ms. Derya.
Year Six
Y6 House Captains on our City Campus.
ESL Y6D Elementary Students have been busy practising the simple past in lessons with Mrs. Güven.
Students on our City Campus work together to map their route to school.
How Light Travels
written by Diya, Jhea and Maya 6C
In year 6, we've been learning about how light travels. Did you know that you're actually seeing the light ray reflected off the object and not the actual object? There are many types of light sources: the sun, the stars, and electricity.
The light source creates a ray that reflects off an object that then goes into our eyes. Light rays travel in straight lines. The sun creates a light ray and that goes to an object and it reflects off to our eyes and that's how we see the object! Once we learned how light travels we made our own periscopes! Periscopes are used in different ways: spying and submarines.
How periscopes work: There is an object on the top of the periscope. The light rays go to the object, reflects off to the first mirror which is on a 45 degree angle, then it reflects to the other mirror and it bounces to our eye to see what's above. See how much fun we are having!
Students making periscopes.
Students enjoyed trying out their periscopes outdoors!
Please listen to Mr. Vincent's song welcoming spring by clicking here. Students who are able to translate the French lyrics to English will receive House Points from Mr. Vincent!
Congratulations from Mr. Vincent
All of our BISI DELF students passed their French examination
with success and pride! I am very proud of their hard work, consistency,
never giving up spirit and for overcoming their apprehension!
Dis Moi Que C'est Le Printemps
Music, Lyrics, and Video by Mr. Vincent
Dis moi que c'est le printemps
Dis le moi en passant
Dis moi mais c'est le printemps
Qui arrive en courant
J'irai promener tout ensoleillé
Et la mer aura des reflets
Argentés comme les oliviers
Les fleurs tapissent mes idées
Dis moi
Dis le moi
Dis le toi...
Reminders & Upcoming Dates
Monday, May 2-Wednesday, May 4: Ramadan Bayram, No School
Wednesday, May 11: Mother Tongue Drama Performances for Parents (information to come)
Thursday, May 19: Youth and Sport Day, No School
Friday, May 27: School Ends at 12:00pm
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