Message from the Head
It has been a brilliant and busy week in school. It was great to spend some time in Key Stage 1 this week and watching parts of their maths lessons. I was greatly impressed with the number bond work, greater than lesson than, and the line addition and subtraction problems the children were solving! It was also a pleasure for parents and staff to visit Year 3 students this morning to listen to the stories the children have been writing over the past few weeks. The children read very confidently and we were very impressed with their use of speech marks, exclamation marks, pronoun use, and similes!
Following on from last week, we are pleased to announce that together we raised 24000 Czk for the Bahamas from last Friday. Thank you once again for your generous donations. It was great to have one of our parents Mr Sevcik deliver an assembly to our Key Stage 3 students this morning on fundraising. A huge thank you to Mr Sevcik.
Also, a huge well done to our new student council team. They were announced last Friday in assembly but we didn’t get chance to share the photograph with you last week.
For next week, please be aware that we have the school photographer in from Monday to Thursday taking individual photographs. More details below:
Individual photographs 30th September - 2nd October
Next week from Monday to Wednesday we have our school photographer at Vlastina. He will be based in the library. He will be taking individual class photographs for all students. To see which day each class has their photographs on see below. There is also the possibility for sibling photographs. Please book those through this form: https://form.jotformeu.com/92605006158352
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30th September |
1st October |
2nd October |
3rd October |
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EYFS 1b 1c 1a 5a 2b 2c 3b |
3c 4a 2a 4c 9a 8b 5b |
8a 6c 5c 6a 7a 7b |
3a 6b 4b |
Students who cycle to school
Please note the bicycle rack is now located inside the school playground behind the gym. From next week, if you cycle to school and wish to leave your cycle at school please tell our security guard as you arrive. Marketa Stepanova, our school administrator or Nikola Rihova our school receptionist will then open the side gate for you. At the end of the day they will unlock the gate for you as you are ready to leave.
Student Lunch accounts
Please be aware we have the following policy regarding lunch accounts:
· For children in Year 6 and below a negative balance of up to -1200CZK per child is tolerated.
· For children in Year 7 and above accounts must always have a positive balance (ie. students will not be able to purchase items in the dining room if they do not have sufficient funds on their cards)
The instructions on how to charge student accounts are HERE
Please note that this policy will be applied strictly from the end of September.
Car Parking around Vlastina
As you may have noticed, some blue lines have appeared on the roads surrounding Vlastina. This is a part of a city wide expansion of zoned parking which limits parking to local residents. Of course this would represent a logistical challenge for our school community and we are working closely with the relevant local authorities to find an acceptable solution to this issue.
We will keep you updated of any developments, however for now please note that the proposed changes do not take effect until November 18th . This means you can continue to park in the streets around the school as at present.
Acorus Charity Walk
A huge thank you to everybody who supported the ACORUS charity walk last weekend. It was great to hear our students and staff perform as part of the musical entertainment.
International coffee morning cancelled
Unfortunately we have had to cancel our international coffee morning which was scheduled for Wednesday 2nd October. Should you wish to lead an international coffee morning to represent your country please contact our events and family liaison lead, Mr Peachment anthony.peachment@pbis.cz
Save the Date!! Ceilidh at Libus
On 18th October we will be hosting our annual Ceilidh. For those who don't know, a ceilidh is a Scottish social event with dancing. A useful opportunity to practice your Gay Gordons for Burns Night. More information coming next week.
Early Years
We have had a great week in Early Years and we all especially enjoyed our first trip out of school to the agricultural museum. The children had lots of fun driving some small tractors, shopping and working the till, planting and cutting down trees, learning about fish and going fishing, as well as testing their senses of touch, sound and smell.
Lions’ class
The lions have been looking at fruits and vegetables this week with the help of “Oliver’s Vegetables”, “Oliver’s Fruit Salad”, and “Oliver’s Milkshake”. We decorated many different pictures using a variety of techniques and the children really had fun. It was perfect to visit the agricultural museum and practise shopping for our favourite healthy foods. Finally, we looked at different fruits, feeling them and cutting them up to smell and taste. What a deliciously delightful way to end the week.
Tigers’ class
This week the tigers’ went on their first walk in the local area. We explored a local park and all of the children (and adults) enjoyed playing on some different playground equipment. In our phonics work this week, we have been making sounds faster and slower, and louder and quieter. We particularly enjoyed playing a game called ‘sleeping giant’, where one child had to creep up on a sleeping giant and try to ‘steal’ some bells from under his chair. The children had some fantastic strategies for how to move the bells as quietly as possible. In our number work this week, we have been writing the number 2, and we have started exploring the number 3. We have also been talking about the size or objects and ordering objects by their size. Our kitchen area changed into the home of the 3 bears during the week, and some of the children enjoyed dressing up as Goldilocks and bears and acting out the story of Goldilocks and the 3 bears.
Year 1
We had a terrific and busy week in Year 1. In English, we continued to travel on our bear hunt and we even became cave explorers. The students worked in small groups to create some gloomy, narrow, spooky and magical caves. The cave was empty and the bear had run away, so we made posters, showing off our adjective skills, in order to find our friend.
In Maths, we met Chomp the Crocodile who was hungry for some big numbers. The children learned to compare numbers using greater than, less than and equal to.
In CC, we learned about the seasons and what we wear in different types of weather. We continued to explore materials and their properties and we went on a classroom scavenger hunt to find all things rough, smooth, transparent, shiny and stretchy. We learned about the artist Paul Klee and practiced creating tints in the style of his work.
Please come and see all of our wonderful creations!
Year 2
Another week has flown by in Year 2!
In English this week we wrote our very own versions ‘The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig.’ We each planned our own versions, changing the characters to cats, dragons or even unicorns. We also changed the materials of the houses ranging from diamonds to cakes. When writing the stories, we worked hard on using our plans to ensure we wrote them in order. We used capital letters, full stops, adjectives and even some pre-cursive handwriting.
In maths we continued to apply our bonds to 10 to apply far more challenging problems to 100 and beyond. Some of us started to use number lines to add and subtract numbers independently.
In CC we started our dens project by having the afternoon at Divoka Sarka. In teams we worked together to make dens for humans and animals using the natural resources. The next den we decided to make smaller dens, looking at different structural styles and exploring which materials made our dens strong and stable.
Year 3
It has been a busy week in Year 3 as usual but the definite highlight had to be our trip to Divoka Sarka. The children were absolutely phenomenal during the entire outing and there were very few complaints even though we clocked in over 10,000 steps! Instead the kids were busy admiring the natural beauty around them and trying to identify the geographical terms they learned about including meadow, forest, hill, cliff, stream and river. Towards the end of the visit the teachers managed to squeeze in a game in which all three classes participated. It included more running but the children and teachers didn’t seem to mind!
As if that wasn’t enough for one week, the children spent a good deal of time writing a first draft and final draft of their remake of the Rainplayer. All students put a lot of effort into their story to make sure they were finished by our Friday morning deadline. We hope you enjoyed celebrating their work this morning as much as the children did!
Year 4
And in what seems like the blink of an eye another super fun, busy and creative week has passed by in Year 4.
In CC the children have put their metaphorical building hats on as they have studied rainforest homes. After thinking about the materials and fastening techniques these homes employ the children worked well in groups to produce their own versions of a rainforest home with impressive results.
In maths we have all been humming a variety of catchy tunes as we have studied tricks, tips and techniques for recalling times tables facts. Linked to this we also spent some time working on fact-families and inverse operations.
In English we began our book study of ‘The Great Kapok Tree’, we spent some time using dictionaries to revise any words we weren’t sure about and then we predicted what would happen at the end of the story.
Finally in computing we continued our coding work by creating code to add a stopwatch style counter into our games.
Year 5
In English this week, the children have continued to identify and use the features of recounts. The children used their Drama skills to continue the story of The Water Tower. In their groups, they planned, scripted and acted out a scene using what they knew about the characters of Spike and Bubba. They included dialogue, body language and facial expression. The children showed amazing acting, directorial and script writing skills. The Year 5 teachers agreed that we may have some future Oscar winners amongst us. In our ‘Wonderful World’ Creative Curriculum topic, we have been focussing on planet Earth. The children worked together in groups to create fact files about the various oceans, continents, landforms, climates and habitats on Earth. They were both eye-catching and informative and the children presented their findings excellently. In Maths, the children have been looking at mental and written addition. They have built on the skills they developed last year and have been applying them to Mastery level questions in class. In IT, the children used Purple Mash to plan, design and create their own computer games. They then challenged their friends to complete their games.
Year 6
Year 6 have had an exciting week. There is a real buzz in the air as rehearsals for our show have begun in earnest. All children are doing a fantastic job of learning their lines, stage directions and cues.
This week in English, children have become advertising extraordinaires to convince Michael from Kensuke’s Kingdom to buy their new lifesaving product… a plastic bottle! They have had to use all their persuasive devices to make this an appealing offer.
In maths this week, children have been learning algebra. For many children, this was their first time tackling the topic but all are growing in confidence. Children are now able to balance equations, solve equations with one or two missing numbers, and express missing number problems algebraically.
On top of all of that, children have continued to research their islands and developed a detailed tourist map showing cities, topography, attractions and local wildlife.
Classes of the week
Well done to 2a and 3b for earning the most class points this week to become classes of the week!
EAL Y4,5 and 6.
This week in EAL we have been learning about different classroom objects, using It is…. for one thing and They are….for more than one thing. The children completed different activities around the classroom applying their new knowledge.
They also had great fun interviewing each other about their houses and reporting back using the present simple.
Primary Music
Whole School Maximum Music Weekend - Sign-up still open!
With only one week to go, sign-up is now open for the PBIS Maximum Music event on Saturday 12th October. This is the first event of its kind, gathering together musicians in years 3-13 from Vlastina, Libus and Kamyk, for a day of music making and workshops. All the PBIS music teachers will be there, leading choir and instrumental rehearsals, with some visiting musicians dropping in throughout the day.
https://pbis.fireflycloud.net/the-arts-3/music/pbis-maximum-music-weekend
School ensemble clubs are already rehearsing and the singing repertoire can be found on the Maximum Music page on the VLE. Ms Higgins is already teaching the songs to members of ‘Singers Unlimited.’
Songs we are learning
Parents are often asking which songs we sing at school - please click this link to find YouTube videos, lyrics and backing tracks:
https://pbis.fireflycloud.net/the-arts-3/music/vlastina-music/songs-we-are-learning
Senior School Extra-Curricular Achievements
We were delighted to read news of some international sporting successes for our students this week, and Mr Buckley has started to create a small display to celebrate this. Sometimes our students can be a little shy about their talents, and we don't always hear about these things. Mr Buckley would love to hear from any parents whose children have success stories in the arts or sports (or any kind of initiative really), so please drop him a line and also send a photo if your child has done something special out of school. Recent noteworthy successes (that we know of) include:
-Filip Sykora and Elias Pokorny placing 1st and 3rd respectively in the IronKids race at IronMan Zell Am See.
-Artem and Aleksandr Zaytsev winning 1st place in their age categories in the recent European Brazilian Jiu Jitsu championships.
Well done boys - we’re proud of you!
Year 9 Art
Year 9 have started their year with an illustration/typography project that celebrates some absolutely wonderful use of the English language: collective nouns (see here for a fantastic list: https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/word-lists/list-of-names-for-groups-of-animals.html). Students have begun producing visual research and sketching out some simple graphic letter forms. They will be using their best creative instincts to develop these into final pieces over the coming weeks. See below for early work in progress.
Humanities
Year 7 have been continuing to hand in their family tree homework and it has been wonderful to see the effort that students have made. In Geography pupils are continuing to develop their map skills, with some excellent pieces of work being produced.
In Year 8 History pupils have been developing their knowledge of the Renaissance, with a focus on art this week. Some very thoughtful reflections on the content and meaning of renaissance art have been produced. In Geography students are continuing to work on the map skills and are demonstrating steady progress. In Global Studies we are looking at the different beliefs surrounding the creation of Earth and the Universe. The Big Myth (http://www.bigmyth.com/) is a fantastic online resource students can access at home to explore these issues in more detail.
Next week Year 9 will be having a class debate on the global goals and I really look forward to hearing the different points of view students put forward on the motion: “The global goals are a waste of time”.
English
This week in English, Year 9 have continued their reading of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and have started to conduct their first explorations of character and context. These took the form of colourful character profiles combined with their first attempt at higher level essay writing. Next week, we will be continuing with our reading and will start to ask some more challenging questions about themes and characterisation.
French news
It has been an exciting week in French because the children have been learning many new useful words, questions and sentences. Year 3 students are able to describe how they are feeling as well as count to 10. Year 4 learnt a new rap and clothes vocabulary while year 5 and 6 ended their revision of time with a board game. Year 6 can talk about themselves in depth. They have also revised the French alphabet, impressing me with how many words they were able to remember from last year!
Year 7 - 9 Digital Studies and IT news
All Key Stage 3 students have now received their usernames and passwords and access to the VLE and Office365. Office365 is an online version of the Microsoft Office suite and has a number of unique functions which can help your children develop their skills in IT further. Students also have the ability to download and install Office (including Word, PowerPoint and Excel) on their home PCs/laptops.
Over the next couple of weeks, students in Year 7 will dissect a computer to learn about the hardware components, Year 8 will work on a collaborative learning project and Year 9 will learn more about how data is produced and processed by computer and digital technology.
All students have been given a half-term Homework project via the VLE. It is expected they spend four to five hours on this during the half term. The output (the work they produce) is up to them, so students can produce an essay, a poster, a presentation, a website, a movie, a podcast or even an interpretive dance.
If there are any issues regarding student usernames and passwords, they should speak to their form tutor or email Mr Bagnall as soon as they are able to.
Maths
This week in Maths, both year 7 and 8 worked on similar areas of maths. They learnt to work out the Area and Circumference of Circles. Year 7 concentrated on the Volume and Surface areas of Cuboids where as Year 8s worked on the Prisms. Furthermore, Year 8s moved on to Index rules…
Drama
In Year 7 we are continuing to explore the basic building blocks of staging, looking at structure and staging.
In Year 8 we are being very creative in devising Frantic Assembly based movement pieces, which will be expanded on into Frantic Assembly chair duets to be performed a the end of half term
In Year 9 we continue to prepare knowledge needed at iGCSE, studying and applying the the techniques of Jacgue Le Cog, Auguost Boal, and Berholt Brecht as we take an indepth look at important drama practitioners.
KS3 Drama Club has begun well, with students learning improvisational skills to be showcased in a show the second week of January!
Prague British International School
Address: Vlastina 19 | 161 00 Prague 6 | Czech Republic
Tel: + 420 226 096 200 | Mob: +420 775 695 337´
paul.kurczij@pbis.cz
www.pbis.cz