December Events Calendar

 Click here for important events coming up.

Upcoming Holiday Activities and Events

Holiday Postal Service will begin today until Friday, 18th December.

Please ensure cards are properly addressed with name and class. Delivery will be after lunchtime each day.

Tonight,  December 7th, Music Concert 6:30 pm in the Auditorium

End of term Music Concert  will be held tonight featuring the three school choirs as well as instrumentalists from Year 10 and Year 12. All  are welcome. Entrance is free for students and other children; $2 for other adults.

Nursery- Year 2 Holiday Music Production "Ballooning Around the World"  December 9 and 10 at 9:30 am. in the Auditorium.  

Please bring tickets that you recieved through your child.

The Winter Festival 2009 will be held on Wednesday December the 16th in the Auditorium from 2.15pm – 4.30pm.

This year the Winter Festival Business and Enterprise Unit will have an Environmental theme to raise awareness of environmental issues. There will be tasty snacks and games to play.  All money raised will be used for the Student Council and Environmental Group projects. Students will be able to purchase tickets from a staff member at the price of 50c per ticket. Each activity or food item will be priced at around 1 -2 tickets. 

Students will participate using the following time frames for space and safety considerations. 2.05 – 2.25 ( Nursery) 2.30 – 2.50 (Years 1-3)  2.55 – 3.10 (Years 4-6) Secondary (3.10-4:30)  All students, teachers and parents are welcome.  

A Focus on Learning - Years 7 to 9

Steve Reid, Lower Secondary Learning Leader, introduces us to a few facts about the Key Stage 3 Curriculum

At BSW we have adopted and adapted, as appropriate, the curriculum that is followed by all State ( Public ) schools in the UK. The “National Curriculum” was first introduced by the government in 1988 with the aim of standardizing the content taught across schools and to implement standard assessment tests ( SATs) at the end of each Key Stage.

The National Curriculum consists of 12 statutory subjects : Art and Design, Citizenship, Design and Technology, English, Geography, History, Information and Communication Technology, Mathematics, Modern Foreign Languages, Music ,Physical Education and Science. Each subject has a number of Attainment Targets which describe the Knowledge, Skills and Understanding that the students are expected to acquire during the Key Stage.

Each Attainment Target is sub-divided into levels from 1 – 8 plus an extra level for “exceptional performance” and the majority of students will reach levels 5 – 6 by the end of Key Stage 3 ( end of Year 9). Recent changes to the National Curriculum have led to less prescription in terms of content and a greater emphasis being placed on skills and life-long learning.

In 2010, BSW will be trialing a new set of external tests in English, Mathematics and Science known as “SOSCA” (Secondary On Screen Curriculum Assessments ). These tests are administered by the CEM ( The Centre for Evaluation & Monitoring at Durham University in the UK ) and will replace the end of Key Stage 3 SATs exams which have been abolished by the government. Look out for more detailed information about these tests later in the Spring Term.

If you would like to know more about Key Stage 3 at BSW, please do not hesitate to contact me in school.

A Focus on Learning - in the Classroom - Year 8

A Year 8 Science Class Approaches the Study of Lungs in a Most Creative Way

First, the class learned a bit about the parts of the lungs including the alveoli, bronchi, and trachea. We learned about what they do and how they work.

The alveoli transfer oxygen and carbon dioxide in and out of the blood, a process called gas exchange. The trachea is the tube that brings air from your mouth to your lungs; it has rings of cartilage that surround it that prevent the trachea from closing off completely when bent. The bronchi are practically extensions of the trachea that branch off like tree branches until they end in an alveoli.

After teaching us about the parts of the lungs, Ms. Higginbottom took out real goat lungs from an air-tight bag. (Several of my classmates had to leave the room because they had weak stomachs). She attached the lungs to a manual foot-pump and inflated the lungs. She did this several times and let the air rush out of the lungs, like they were breathing. After the demonstration, students were allowed to touch the lungs! Then everyone had to wash their hands.

After the lung demonstration, we got to make artificial lungs out of soda bottles, straws, balloons, duct tape, and rubber gloves. Our models demonstrated how the diaphragm helps to inflate the lungs. We cut the bottom of the pop bottle off, placed two straws through the opening of the bottle and taped them in place so they wouldn’t fall all the way through.

To make the lungs, we taped a balloon to the end of each straw that was inside the bottle. Then we stretched the rubber gloves across the bottom of the soda bottle and taped them in place to be the diaphragm.

You can see a finished model that Yasmine is holding.  Over all, it was a fun and memorable way to learn about the lungs!  By Zack, Year 8

A Focus on Teachers

Getting to Know Heather Jacob Year 6 Teacher, IPC Coordinator, and Music Teacher 

I was born and bred in the North East of England, in Sunderland, and I completed my Music degree and PGCE at Bangor University.

My first teaching job was at the International School of Choueifat in Al Ain, UAE. I returned to England and taught for a little while in Yorkshire, before establishing a training scheme for excluded teenagers in Bradford.

Following that, I moved to the South West and worked as a Learning Mentor as well as a teacher. I eventually found a job I loved at a Quaker independent school in a little village called Winscombe. I worked there as a class teacher and as deputy head of the senior girl's boarding house.

Music is my passion and has been for as long as I can remember. Most of my significant memories (both good and bad!) are musically-inclined: from disastrous piano examination ordeals where I had no recollection of the notes I used to play a one octave scale, to regular performances in Durham Cathedral and the Sunderland Empire.

As a teacher, choir and instrumental concerts, pantomimes, musicals and all manner of performing arts have always been my favourite part of school life. Despite my grumbles and complaints regarding lack of time, I feel the irresistible pull of musical activities and quite simply wish there were more hours in the day in which to create even more instrumental opportunities.

Working with Mr. McCall in the Music department is an absolute joy and honour. He has great passion and vision for the life of the Music Department at BSW in school and in the community. I look forward to many more instrumental and choral concerts, pantomimes, House Sing competitions and musicals here at BSW. 

Wonder where Ben Barrs, Year 2 teacher, is this week?

He has gone back to London to pick up his Masters in Education from London Metropolitan University at the Barbican. His final dissertation was a Case Study on how teachers can motivate boys to read for pleasure. The remainder of the course was made up of modules including Bilingualism; Masculinity in Education; Children’s Literature; Foundations of Learning (looking at theories of Piaget and Vygotsky). Congratuations to Mr. Barrs!

A Focus on House Competition- with a bit of Holiday Fun!

The House Sing Competition Even Bigger and Better

The House Sing Competition is one of those greatly anticipated events where everyone in the school participates whether they can sing or not. It is organised by Scott McCall, and he doesn't just challenge the houses to merely humm a tune, but he requires much higher standards, of quality, pitch, phrasing, unity,  involvement,  energy, and creativity.

The four panel of judges, Peter Harding (Chair), K Williams, G Berger, and K White had a tougher job than the judges on Britain's Got Talent or its American counterpart American Idol.  Watching and analysing each performance was daunting as Primary students vied for the best song of the year. In the Primary Section, Potmomac sang Jingle Bells, Chesapeake sang Frosty the Snowman, Shenandoah sang Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and Patuxent sang Santa Claus is Coming to Town.

But, then the sound, energy, and competition began to heat up as Secondary teams competed for the top spot:  Patuxent sang Yellow Submarine, Potomac sang Merry Christmas Everbody, Chesapeake sang Don't Stop Me Now, and Shenandoah sang You Belong to Me/If you Like it .

Whilst it was difficult to chose winners, the panel of judges after a quick deliberation declared Chesapeake in Primary and Shenandoah in the Secondary the winning entertainers!  Congratulations!

For more pictures, visit our House News Section and House Photo Gallery.

A Focus on Community Links

Paulo Valentino, the Bureau Chief in DC for the Italian Daily Corriere delle Serra Speaks to the Diogenes Club

Mr. Valentino spoke at BSW's Diogenes Club on December 2. His  talk centered on the Presidential Press Pool, a group of twelve journalists with the job of following the president with exclusive access. Their main role is to supply the “pool report,” a special report compiled by each Pool to be distributed and which centers on what event or such the pool covered. There are some notable events involving the Presidential Press Pool, such as when President Barack Obama visited Istanbul.

After a Town-Hall meeting, all the reporters except for those in the Presidential Pool were locked away in the charter plane, due to a secret visit by the President to Baghdad. The Pool, while accompanying the President, had all means of communication confiscated until after the visit.   Winston Year 10 

A Focus on Educational Technology

 What are Interactive Whiteboards Anyway?

What is an interactive whiteboard?

An interactive whiteboard is a large interactive display mounted on the wall that connects to a computer and projector. A projector projects the computer’s desktop onto the board’s surface, where users control the computer using a pen, finger or other device. They are used in many schools now as replacements for traditional whiteboards or flipcharts or video/media systems such as a DVD player and TV combination.

The interactive whiteboard is more than a computer, a projector, or a screen–its sum is greater than its parts, and when all the technology is turned off the board surface can be used as a conventional dry-wipe whiteboard should it be required.

So what do they do that is so much better than a traditional whiteboard?

They enable the teacher to project high-quality material on the interactive whiteboard  using software packages,  multimedia materials,  video-clips, board work, data tables, sketches, CD-ROM, and Internet images; and it facilitates simulation activities incorporating pupil input and reasoned discussion, and immediate recording of the contents of the board at any stage in the development of an argument. The boards empowers teachers, affords them creativity, and enables them to provide learning experiences that meet the needs of all of their students.

What are the benefits to my child's learning?

A research review by the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency reports the following benefits for students.

• Increased enjoyment and motivation
• Greater opportunities for participation and collaboration
• Improved personal and social skills
• Less need for note-taking
• Ability to cope with more complex concepts
• Accommodation for different learning styles
• Increased self-confidence

How is this new technology used at BSW to support learning? 

What teachers think.....

The interactive whiteboard has made teaching and learning more dynamic and fun. It is easier for students to visualize and kinaestically apply some of their skills to solve problems. For example students can come and reflect, rotate, translate shapes to understand transformations of shapes . Students can interactively measure angles, and also use it to investigate concepts such as gradient of graphs. Students also love to demonstrate their understanding of a particular topics/question to other students using the interactive whiteboard, which encourages discussion and debate among the students. Neeraj Prabhu

In English lessons, I predominantly use the interactive whiteboard to teach students how to annotate texts. I project the text onto the board and use the electronic coloured pens to highlight certain aspects of the text to help students identify language techniques. The students also come to the board to annotate the text. I then save the annotated version and use it as a revision aid. Kate Foy

It is interactive – pupils can come up and physically move things around, touch things and especially with games (like in maths) – play the games on the big screen.You can hide part of the lesson and slowly reveal words or phrases in Literacy. It has excellent diagrams and a gallery of pictures to be used in class, It stores a whole days worth of lessons which can be prepared at home and everything that is written during the lessons can be printed off for pupils instantly, or given to those who were absent, It is good for brainstorming and moving things around as ideas are given and shared, they can then be grouped etc., Maths enables moving of numbers and shapes – rotating , resizing etc. Chris Horton

In English Lessons, I use it for creative writing; to show different stages of development for purpose of comparison and demonstrating improvement.  Simon A. Bird

Interactive whiteboards provide a simple, effective way of teaching software applications to a group of students. For example, it is easy to demonstrate a specific function, such as highlighting, cutting and pasting a paragraph of text. As a result, I can spend longer with individual pupils, either extending their learning or giving extra help to the ones who need it. Kevin Bowskill

In Chemistry when discussing Energy Level Diagrams for reactions, the board allows us to spend more time discussing and exploring ideas instead of copying down graph after graph. At the end of the lesson we can simply print off each graph (fully annotated from the lesson) and distribute copies to the students. Scott Hussey

In the French and Spanish classes the young children learn and consolidate new vocabulary and sentence structures through interactive games and songs using the interactive whiteboards that engage them in playful, highly motivating and challenging activities. Simone Amselli

In Nursery, we use the interactive whiteboard for the children to self register every morning. Each child has their name on a balloon and they touch their balloon and it floats up in the air – we then know which children are in and also it helps the children to recognise their own name. Jo O'Grady 

What students think....

The smart boards are helpful for our learning as they can display pictures, PowerPoints and you can play fun educational games on them Hannah, Year 8 History student

They make learning more relevant as they allow to students to interact with the lesson content. I like the fact the school is taking full advantage of today’s technology. Ginevra, Year 8 History student 

Parent's Corner

Attention Parents of Performers:  Refreshments Needed for Musical Evening Tonight - December 7

On Monday evening, December 7th, we will be having an evening of music performances to ring in the holiday season, celebrating the talents of the Junior choir, the Cantus Britannicus, and the Girls' Singing Group, and including featured performances by various year 10 students. The programme will begin promptly at 6:30 pm and will last 75 to 90 minutes.

We are planning to have a refreshments table for parents and performers to enjoy after the show. In this season of sharing, we were hoping to ask families of performers to bring a little something to contribute to the spread, which will be modest, as we expect most of you will have eaten prior to the show.

Could we ask the following:

If your surname begins with the letters: A - G - could you please bring: sweet treats for 12?

If your surname begins with the letters H - L - could you please bring: cider or juice for 10?

If your surname begins with the letters M - R - could you please bring water for 10 (individual bottles or gallon sized)?

If your surname begins with the letters S - Z - could you please bring a dozen paper plates each?

We will provide the coffee and tea service, napkins, cups and plastic spoons, and dress the table in a festive way! We look forward to seeing you there and celebrating the gifts of our superbly talented students!