the british international school

EYFS & Primary Newsletter

March 2023

director's note

Dear Parents,

This term has gone by in a flash. We have had some wonderful events. I would like to thank all the teachers for their hard work. Global Citizen's week set the tone with a wonderful array of learning activities orchestrated by Ms Newman, demonstrating our interconnectedness with regard to sustainability and equality. This was closely followed by Years 3 and 4 Science Fair, where our students had the opportunity to collaborate in teams and share their projects.

World Book Day gave the students in Primary the opportunity to dress up as their favourite character and explore their love of reading.

I would like to thank all our parents and especially our PTA for the Food Court event which was held in the main gym. The purpose of this was to celebrate our international community and enjoy the specialties on offer. It was a great success and enjoyed by all who attended.

I wish you all happy holidays!

Best wishes,

Natalia Ambridge

Pastoral Care & Wellbeing

All students from Year 1 to 6 were introduced to Mindfulness this month during our assemblies and Wellbeing lessons. They had so much fun learning several strategies to help them self regulate. Year 3 worked on their breathing, bumblebee breath, dragon breath and bubble breathing. Year 5 were guided through a body scan meditation and were able to identify how their bodies felt whilst being mindful. KS1 also found a way to calm their monkey mind with mindful colouring following a body bubble guided meditation. A workshop was also arranged for parents and will be repeated next term should you have missed it. This was a wonderful introduction and will continue over the Summer term. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions about Mindfulness or any other areas of our Wellness curriculum.

Lynne Jenkins, Head of Pastoral

Global Citizen Week

BISI primary celebrated Global Citizen week from Monday 27th February to Friday 3rd March 2023. During this week, all 330 primary children took part in a series of activities as part of ‘The World’s Largest Lesson’.

https://worldslargestlesson.globalgoals.org/

The aim of this week was to empower learners of all ages to be more aware of global issues and to be motivated to make our planet more peaceful, sustainable and fairer for everyone. Pupils learnt more about the United Nations 17 Global Goals which aim to:

Fight extreme poverty
Fight inequality and injustice
Tackle climate change

https://www.globalgoals.org/

Each year group studied one Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) in depth, then decided upon their own pledge to address this issue:

Year 1 Clean water and sanitation
- Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth
- Take short showers instead of baths
Year 2 Life on land
- Don’t waste paper
- Plant more trees
- Use Ecosia as your search engine instead of Google
- Don’t wear animal fur or buy animal products
Year 3 Responsible consumption
- Don't take or buy more than you need
- Don’t throw away food
- Put leftover food on a compost heap
- Recycle waste
Year 4 Affordable and clean energy
- Turn off the lights and electronics when you leave a room
- Turn down the heating and air conditioning
- Walk, cycle or take public transportation instead of using the car
Year 5 Health and wellbeing
- Eat a healthy diet
- Encourage other people to reduce their alcohol and cigarette consumption
- Get enough sleep and exercise
- Get vaccinations to prevent diseases
Year 6 Gender equality
- Challenge gender stereotypes such a toys, clothes, jobs or roles in household
- Do not treat boys and girls differently

Activities in primary over the week included whole school assemblies, singing a song called ‘Save our Planet’, class discussions and debates, book and online research resulting in children sharing their chosen pledge of action. Children who complete their pledge of action can send a photograph or short testimony to Miss Newman e.newman@bisistanbul.org for us to display on the humanities board to share stories of positive activism.

EYFS also took part by listening to a range of stories and looking at photographs which enabled them to learn more about the lives of children around the world, to develop an understanding of the importance of friendship and the similarities between people, as well as a positive attitude towards difference and diversity, plus cultivating feelings of responsibility towards our world.

It is vital for children to develop the values, attitudes and behaviours that support responsible global citizenship, including an understanding that our actions and decisions can affect people around the world and the sustainability of our planet. They need to understand how we all share common humanity and are of equal worth, meaning we must recognise and challenge stereotypes and prejudice. We need to use and share earth’s resources in a responsible way without creating excessive waste or damaging the planet.

We hope our students enjoyed Global Citizen week and learnt how we can all contribute to a better future for everyone and our planet. Please continue to speak with your child about the important lessons they have learnt in school and discuss the ways in which your family can make a positive impact on the world. Every action you take, no matter how small, has the power to make a difference.

Emily Newman

Head of Humanities

Watch our primary school sing here!

Please keep scrolling to read about the International Food Court and Primary Flag Parade as part of our Global Citizen Week celebration!

World Book Day

We had a wonderful time celebrating our favourite authors, books, and characters on World Book Day. The students looked amazing! Can you guess which books these costumes are from?

Outdoor Woodland Learning

What a fantastic time in the woodland!!!! The past half-term ECA Program has been spent with Year 6 Students. They have actively been constructing woodland items using safe and controlled use of tools such as hammers, hand drills, mini-saws and cutting knives. They have made mini-bug pods to encourage insects into the woodland, dream catchers, catapults and fence posts for making a fence.

The Summer Term Outdoor Woodland Learning (OWL) ECA is now open for new recruits from Year 1-Year 6 for Summer first half....sign up soon to avoid disappointment!!

Karen Lloyd

EYFS

Miss Lisa: EYFS1

In Fish Class we’ve been making the most of the great weather days and exploring our outdoor spaces - from having our snack outside, to walking in the gardens, to finding treasures to investigate back in the classroom. The magnifying glass is a firm favourite with all of our learners, especially when we find things like a dead bee to marvel at.

If your child finds something of interest when you’re out and about as a family - please feel free to send it along to school for our budding scientists to look at and ask questions about.

During our painting sessions we’ve recently focused on the process (rather than the end product) and explored the way different materials and colours come together on the page.

In our number work, we’ve been identifying items to represent numbers 1 - 10 and beyond. The students have enjoyed sharing their skills and abilities with each other.

It’s been great to see relationships building, not only within Fish class, but also with Dragonflies too! As communication skills and confidence grow we are seeing a lot more role playing, creating games and students clearly enjoying each other's company.

Miss Lauren: Reception

We have had a busy month in Dragonflies!

We have had a wonderful term celebrating our global citizenship and we had the opportunity to dress up for Global Citizenship Day with the rest of the school.

We made our own pasta from scratch and then ate it for lunch!

We have explored the globe using Atlas, Google Earth and Maps. We have looked at animals and people from around the world.

We learnt about Charles Darwin. Following this, we made bug hotels and homes for the animals, we also went on a plant and animal hunt and drew pictures of what we found.

Year One

Miss Katrine: 1D

This half term, the students in Flamingo Class have been learning about printing in Art. They have explored printing with a range of natural and manmade objects found in the classroom and outside. Additionally, they have been revising and exploring the primary colours and colour mixing. You can see their creative process and some of the wonderful results in the photos.

Students in Flamingo Class also took part in a class assembly, where they shared their learning with their parents and other students from KS1. The topic of our assembly was Planet Earth, and the students shared how we can keep our home planet safe and why they love Earth. A lot of work went into making the props and learning the lines, songs and actions for the performance. For most of the children, this was their very first time performing on stage and they did a wonderful job.

Miss Lizzie: 1S

This month we tried something new and exciting! A year 5 class made a special visit one Thursday afternoon to help support Toucan class with their reading! Toucans loved reading to someone new, and some of them even made a new friend in such a short amount of time. As it went so successfully, we have now decided to incorporate reading partners with the older children into our weekly learning! Every week, a child from Toucan class will have a new reading buddy to read with and will have the opportunity to get to know another friend! Thank you year 5 for supporting our reading and comprehension skills!

In Art this term we have been focusing on manipulating various tools. For the last few weeks we have been practising different techniques using clay such as rolling, squeezing and pinching. Here are our amazing clay animal sculptures.

Year Two

Ms. Verralls: 2V & Ms. Aycan 2A

2V and 2A

Year 2 went back in time to the Prehistoric era. During the week, the children participated in many different activities. They worked as a team to build their own shelter in our forest school area. They made and researched fossils, made a craft axe and their own clay pot for their food. Everyday the children gathered and hunted their food for the day, understanding where fruit, nuts and food comes from. The children enjoyed daily musical activities and joining a drama reading session led by our secondary students. It was a really successful week and the children enjoyed understanding what history is and its importance. The children worked really well together and we were proud of all their work, contributions and ability to act in role.

On March 8th, the Holi festival was celebrated in India. Naira from 2V helped the Year 2s to learn all about Holi. She kindly brought in some coloured powder from India and we had fun creating art work and celebrating. Happy Holi!

Year Three

Mrs. Robbins: 3R

This term Years 3 and 4 worked together to put on a Science Fair. Students choose their teams from across year groups; and topics from across the Year 3 and 4 Cambridge curriculum. Through this project based learning experience, students worked on critical developmental and research skills such as;

Orally presenting
Writing
Reading
Organization
Collaborating
Problem Solving
Design and art
Analyzing
and so much more!

The students presented fantastic projects. Their hard work shined through their presentations. The fair was a great opportunity for the students to demonstrate their knowledge and share what they have learned with all of Primary and parents. This event has benefited our whole Primary community and we look forward to making this event a part of BIS for years to come.

Bethany Robbins

Ms. Adesanya: 3A

In Y3A, we made spinners from hard paper and we used paper clips for dials. We cut five different colours into rectangular shapes and numbered from 1- 5. We spun the spinner three times and added the sıngle digit numbers that the clip landed on. We compared our partners' results and we also wanted to investigate what number was the highest recorded number.

Year Four

Ms. Newman: 4N & Ms. Lincoln: 4L

Year 4 trip to the Beykoz Glass Museum

On Thursday 9th March, all of Year 4 enjoyed a day trip to the Beykoz Glass and Crystal Museum to enhance their understanding of solids and liquids in Science. The museum only recently opened in 2021 and is located in 395 acres of pristine garden and woodlands, in which there were lots of seating areas for our picnic, with rabbits and peacocks roaming freely around us. Children were fascinated by the stunning pieces of glassware from different time periods of history in Turkey and across the world, all of which were explained to them on their own English audioguide. The most stunning pieces include stained glass windows, glass fountains and chandeliers and a huge dining table with gold and crystal dinnerware. Children also had the chance to watch a glass demonstration during which experts melted glass rods to make intricate figures such as animals and insects. Pupils enjoyed being able to make their own glass bead using this method. They also got to enjoy playing on the fantastic playground before returning to school. We were lucky to have the perfect weather and children commented on how much they enjoyed the day out at this beautiful museum.

A video from our assembly can be viewed here.

On Monday 13th March, 4N performed their class assembly for their parents and KS2 children and teachers. They shared their new knowledge of environmental issues obtained during Global Citizen Week. They began by reading the poem 'The trouble with dragons', which explains how humans are damaging the planet and then performed a play based on the book 'George saves the world by lunchtime'. They finished by singing their favourite song 'Save the planet' and the whole audience joined in the second time around. It was lovely for the children to share their knowledge and display their clear speaking and expressive performance skills, and it appeared that parents, teachers and students throroughly enjoyed their assembly.

Year Five

Ms. Lloyd: 5L

In Year 5L, this month, students have been learning about volcanoes at home and in the classroom . They conducted research, compared similarities and differences between volcanoes, made models and tested volcanic eruptions. Here is some evidence of their learning.

Mr. Fawcett: 5F

Year 5 are currently studying the Human Digestive System in their science lessons. They firstly looked at the parts of the Human Digestive System and are beginning to look at the function of each organ. A few of the children have also challenged themselves at studying the digestive system in animals and have discussed the key differences to humans.

As part of 5F's PSHE Education, they have been discussing and formulating ideas as to how they can help their school community. In March, they helped to protect the school environment including setting up a student environmental group called the 'Earth Guardians'. The Earth Guardians are currently focusing on pointing out the importance of recycling!

Their second act to help the school community was to assist year 1 students with their daily reading. Each member of 5F was assigned a reading buddy to help and enjoy reading with! They were absolutely fantastic role models and they decided that they wanted to continue reading with year 1 throughout March. Well done 5F!

Year Six

Ms. Cosnett: 6C & Mr. McCann: 6M

Everyone experienced and tasted new and fabulous food from different countries and cultures. This was truly fascinating because this was the first time we got to react to and compliment all the food next to each other.

Next, we learnt about all the food groups: Carbohydrates, Dairy, Protein, Fats and Fruits & Vegetables. Did you know that nuts and beans are Protein? The one that shocked the whole class is that coconut milk goes into Fruits & Vegetables and Fats. After this lesson, we had one of the best lessons in Primary.

After knowing all the food groups and tasting food, we cooked three vegetarian dishes from around the world (in groups). This was most of the class's first and best cooking experience. Everyone was helping each other, like explaining how to do it. There was a bit of mix ups and my group left out ingredients but it was still the best lesson in Y6.

Afterwards, we started designing a fusion food dish for a competition in groups. This basically means that we will make our own made up recipe in groups of 4 or 5. For example, you can make a hot dog but on top you can put ingredients from a different culture. But that's not all; you can name it too. We are not going to eat it ourselves: we are going to make it and then give it to some teachers to judge and they are going to place them 1st, 2nd or 3rd so it’s basically a Master Chef competition.

Written by Eltaj 6C

Miss Merve: KS1 Music

We played many music games in this month. We practiced songs, we played tambourine and caves, and we sang songs about St Patricks Day, bees and rabbits. Echo games, singing performances, and freeze dance were fun for the kids.

Mr. Dennison: KS2 Music

I have shared three documents with you that is separated by year level. Each name is linked to a short composition they created using an online composition tool called Chrome Music Lab. Our students experimented with various sounds, speeds, instruments, etc. Some students copied famous songs, while a few experimented with what it would be like to paint a picture and listen to what that picture would sound like. You should be able click on each name and experience the different experiments throughout Key Stage 2.

Y4 Songs from Chrome Songmaker

Y5 Songs from Chrome Songmaker

Y6 Songs from Chrome Songmaker

Year 6 has been trying to expand their own creativity by experimenting with musical form. We have learned songs with interchangeable sections and rearranged those sections in different ways and added previously learned skills in order to create new music. We are discussing "MAKING music, and not just PLAYING music."

Year 4, as well as all many other year groups, are constantly working on traditional music literacy. There are always new and fun ways to challenge each other!

Year 3 continues to practice a wide variety of skills that get their bodies and minds activated. Movement activities not only work on rhythm, melody, and steady beat, but also build teamwork, listening, direction following, and empathy.

Languages

Mrs. Gwilliam: ESL

ESL March – International

Collaboration and competition play an important role in our learning and were important themes in February and March. In the pictures Year 6 enjoyed a student made vocabulary game for a reading text, before being tested on the new words. Year 3 worked together on listening comprehension questions and their writing. Year 2 drew and wrote about their monsters. They were interested to read each other’s and share ideas.

Congratulations to our students who graduated from ESL this month!

Ms. Hatice: Turkish

Reception: We learned about animals and played a memory game with our young students.

We learned about animals, played games and made our origami cats and dogs with Y1.

With Y2, we did our likes and dislikes activity using smiling and crying faces.

We learned about school objects with Y3. We played the guessing game by describing.

With Y4, we learned about household items and parts of the house. We repeated what we learned by making posters.

Mr. Vincent: French

Bonjour à toutes et à tous!

On 20th of March DELF students went to French Embassy to sit for their DELF French examination after working very hard throughout the Spring Term. Congratulations to all the students for their hard work, perseverance and never giving up spirit! On the 27th of March we had our MFL assembly where we celebrated languages through songs, videos and dialogues both in French and Spanish. In the meantime, in the French class, Y6s designed their dream houses and wrote a paragraph to describe it; Y5s worked on school subjects, designed their own timetable and learned how to give opinions and why. Y4s worked on parts of the body, and are preparing a speaking assessment on going to the doctor, giving symptoms and remedies. Lastly, after working on animals, Y3s, on a world map, are locating animals related to each of the seven continents.

Mr. Jeremy: Spanish

This month in Spanish, we learned about the different modes of transport, academic subjects, Hispanic culture, the present and past tense, personal pronouns and how to give our opinion.

International Food Court

Our amazing Parent Teacher Association (PTA) holds a yearly International Food Fair to celebrate the cultural diversity within our school community. While our student body is richly diverse, one thing we all have in common is a love of delicious food! Our PTA, Primary, and Secondary school parents volunteered their time and efforts to prepare traditional dishes that are unique to their home country. Students and families had the opportunity to sample savoury and sweet delicacies and learn about the traditions of nearly fifteen countries represented in our school. It was an amazing day that highlighted the beauty of international communities, diversity, and global citizenship. A huge thank you to Tracey Rich, our PTA, and parents for their support and efforts in making this day special for all!

Primary Flag Parade

Each year during the spring term our Primary School holds an annual flag parade in our beautiful botanical garden to mark Global Citizen Week. This year was no exception! There was a buzz of excitement upon arriving at school to see students and staff dressed in their National Costumes and traditional colours of their respective home countries. As our Primary students represent over 40 nationalities, our flag parade is a wonderful way to celebrate the rich diversity of our community. Students and staff joyfully participated in this event, tying in beautifully with our goals to promote global citizenship, tolerance, and respect for all. Well done, Primary students!