#04 BSN NEWSLETTER. A newsletter for parents, students and friends of our school. December Visit our website on

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1 THE BRITISH SCHOOL OF NAVARRA BSN NEWSLETTER Issue #04 The A newsletter for parents, students and friends of our school. December 2014 DOCENDO DISCIMUS Visit our website on

2 2 School Newsletter Headteacher s Message Fantastic Month! Dear Parents, December is always such a fantastic month at school, with the many activities planned around the joys of Christmas. This year the children were very fortunate to have a visit from Father Christmas once again and although some of the little ones did not want to get too close, and preferred to remain attached to my side, they were certainly happy to receive their little gift. The singing being heard throughout the school fills us all with happiness and it is amazing how well our children sing and how quickly they learn the words to the songs. They certainly proved this with the wonderful singing that was included in all our Christmas productions this year. As we strive to get better each year, the three Christmas plays were a true testament to this. I can say nothing short of; THEY WERE FANTASTIC!!! I think you will all agree that they left us all with our mouths hanging open, and many of us even shed a tear or two during the performances. The amount of hard work and dedication that went in on behalf of the teachers and the children make us all very proud. Next year we shall have to include some dancing too! The moms on the Events Committee also worked very hard and made the most magnificent props for the plays. We thank you so much for your hard work. Our Christmas Fair was also magnificent, very well attended and thoroughly enjoyed by all. Through your kindness and generosity, we were able to raise around 900 Euros, which will be used to buy some necessary items, for Xilema (a local children s home in the area). Any remaining money will be added to the ever-growing amount to be sent to the Philippines, to aid the victims of the typhoon, which hit in November of last year. Thank you for your support! In amongst all the hub of activity, the children still managed to get their work done, which you will be able to read about in the articles. I would like to wish you all a very happy holiday and look forward to your return in January, where we look forward to a new term, full of more fun and learning! Kind regards, Nieves Sciulli Headteacher The British School of Navarra

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4 4 School Newsletter Foundation Stage Production: The Smallest Christmas Tree By Miss Rachel This year the Foundation Stage children at BSN were delighted to perform a production entitled The Smallest Christmas Tree. Teachers and students worked very hard to produce a professional and exciting show! The story begins with three fir trees, standing alone in a forest. They all hoped to become Christmas trees. One day, a family came along and decided to take home the largest Christmas tree. Then, another family comes to the forest to take the medium sized Christmas tree. The smallest Christmas tree was left all alone, feeling sad. Some animals visited her so that she didn t feel so alone. The bears, birds, bunnies, squirrels and owls promised to keep the smallest tree company. The birds and squirrels brought items from the forest to decorate the tree. Finally, some stars came and the smallest star sat upon the tree to complete it. Throughout the performance the audience are taken back to a time long ago, when Mary and Joseph were visited by some Sheppards and Kings who saw a bright star in the sky. That night, the baby Jesus was born. All of the children joined together in song, to celebrate the birth of the baby Jesus and to share some Christmas joy. As you can see from the photos, the parents worked tirelessly to make their children s costumes! We also had a wonderful group of parents who prepared the props for our stage. On behalf of the Foundation team, I would like to say a big Thank you to our wonderful parents! Without you, our production would not have been possible! It was wonderful to watch how excited the children were, as they became their characters, with the help of their amazing costumes! I am sure you will all agree that the children looked amazing and they performed magnificently! We are all so very proud of them! Last but not least, I would like to thank the whole Foundation team of teachers and assistants, Ms Elena, Ms Eva, Mr Dylan, Mr Nathan, Ms Caroline and Ms Rosa who worked so hard to prepare the children. Well done everyone!

6 6 School Newsletter Pre-Nursery Festive Fun Christmas is a magical time for children, especially for Pre- Nursery at BSN. This month we had lots of fun with our Christmas topic. We enjoyed doing many seasonal crafts and activities. One of our favorites was when we chose the presents we would like from toy magazines and then we made a letter for Santa. We also prepared for our Christmas play which was such a huge success. On the last day of school term we celebrated by having a party. We ate lots of yummy treats, danced and and sang our favourite Christmas songs. What an exciting month it has been! It just leaves us now to wish you all a Happy Christmas and we look forward to seeing you on the 7th January.

8 8 School Newsletter Nursery Christmas Preparations The Nursery All Stars have been very occupied this month with all the Christmas preparations. To start with they made some Christmas ornaments for the tree, using clay, sequins and also lollypop sticks. We also made lovely Christmas cards for our family using shiny stickers and black cardboard. Then we had a good look at some toy s catalogues to try to decide what we wanted for Christmas. Once we decided what we wanted, we cut the toys and glue them onto Santa s letter. We have also been calculating how many days are left for Christmas using this Advent Calendar that Miss Eva brought us from England! The chocolate inside is delicious and we have learned to wait patiently for our turn to eat the chocolate!

10 10 School Newsletter Reception Christmas Fun By Miss Rachel Reception had a wonderful time preparing for Christmas. There have been so many exciting things happening in class! The children and teachers really enjoyed making a variety of Christmas biscuits. First we made the dough, rolled it out and cut them. After Ms Elena baked the biscuits, it was time to decorate them. We decorated reindeer, Christmas trees and snowman faces. The children used a large selection of items to decorate and they really enjoyed being creative with the decorations. We made special Christmas Stars using special crayons and a smudging technique. We also made and decorated clay Christmas decorations and reindeer Christmas cards using the template of our feet and hands to make the face and antler. As you can see from the photos, we are very careful workers. Finally, we wrote letters to Santa Claus. We each looked through a variety of toy catalogues to select some toys that we would like him to bring us. December was such an exciting month for Reception; we really wish that every day was Christmas!

12 12 School Newsletter Key Stage One Production: The Nativity Key Stage One put on a production of The Nativity for their Christmas Play this year. They were very excited to retell the story of the birth of Jesus, especially when they saw their costumes for the first time. The children worked extremely hard and were able to learn all of the lovely songs and their own lines. The play was a great success and I am sure that you will agree that all of the children that took part did a fantastic job! A huge thank you to all of the parents that made beautiful props for us, they were all amazing and we are very grateful. Another thank you must go to Mr. Jonathan who recorded the performance for us, a DVD will be available to purchase in the New Year. We hope that you enjoyed the show! Well done Key Stage One! Merry Christmas!

14 14 School Newsletter Year One Working Hard for Christmas! The Year 1 s have all worked really hard this term, and have produced some wonderful work. We have also been preparing for Christmas by doing all sorts of Christmas activities and Father Christmas got letters from all the children. Our Nativity play was a great success and enjoyed by all. The Year 1 s made beautiful Christmas trees and lovely cards for their parents. To celebrate the end of term, we all had a wonderful Christmas lunch and certainly had a lot of fun. Well done for a fantastic first term, keep up the good work Year 1 s. Merry Chrismas and a Happy new year.

16 16 School Newsletter Year Two Very Busy December December has been a very busy month in Year 2 as we have been working hard on our performance of The Nativity. I am sure you will all agree that their hard work paid off and they did a fantastic job! As well as the Christmas performance, we have also been preparing for Christmas by looking at how it is celebrated around the world, writing letters to Father Christmas and making Christmas cards. We have come to the end of our topic on Dinosaurs and now look forward to our new topic, Superheroes, which we will begin after the holiday. In science we will begin looking at keeping fit and healthy. What a fantastic this first term has been in Year 2, they have certainly worked extremely hard and I am very impressed with the work that they have done. It has been a lot of fun and I look forward to seeing what the new term will bring. Enjoy the holidays! - Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

17 School Newsletter 17 Year Three & Four Christmas Time! December has arrived! The season for singing and dancing, sharing and caring is here. We have been busy practising for our Christmas Play this month, which has been great fun but also has been a big responsibility for the class. The class has learnt many songs and dances, which looks and sounds fantastic! It has not been all singing and dancing this month, we have also been reviewing our writing and numeracy targets ready for the new year. The class were being self-reflective and considering what the next will be to better their level of work. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

18 18 School Newsletter Year Five & Six Super-Sleuths Join Detective Club In amongst all the preparations for Christmas; performances, fair, and more, Y5/6 managed to find time to launch their very own Detective Club. Armed with super-sleuth worksheets, clipboards, and of course popcorn! The children set themselves up ready to unravel one of Hercule Poirot s famous cases in the form of the film Tragedy at Marsdon Manor. Eventually, after much note-taking and whispers of discussion, everybody proposed their thoughts as to whodunit and the murderer was revealed! Following the success of the first showing at Detective Club, a contrasting second film was aired; Death in Paradise - Episode 2 set in modern times in the Caribbean. The children had great fun trying to work out the means, motive and opportunity for suspects at a beachside hotel after a newly-wed bride was murdered! Well-done to Frank who was the only one to suspect the butler! It s always the butler isn t it?? These films have provided the stimulus for some excellent writing work within the genre of crime-thrillers; specifically building up themes before writing in a twist to a story. The children have been captivated by the topic and have all elevated whodunit s to their favourite fictional genre while attending to their individual writing targets. Learning can be such fun at times!

20 20 School Newsletter Key Stage Two Production: When Sasha got swept up the Chimney! December was a month full of acting, dancing and singing! We had great fun rehearsing as the Year 3/4 and Year 5/6 classes came together. Each role was important and each of us had a big role to play in the success of the play. It was a difficult play to carry out but we all worked together as a team and produced a phenomenal Christmas production. The teachers were amazed by the development of all children in their ability to speak clearly and act in front of an audience. Remembering what to do and when was also a big task and we succeeded. Our special guest as the Tooth fairy certainly had fun playing his role and helped us out in a difficult situation. Also a big thanks must go to Mr Thomas, Mr Steve and Mr Jonathan who worked as a team to deliver a successful Christmas Play!

21 School Newsletter 21 Spanish Christmas and Organs! Reception children and Year 1 have been working hard and learning popular Christmas carols for this very festive and traditional time of the year. The Year 2 students wrote a letter to the Three Wise Men, in Spanish asking for the gift they would most like to receive. In Year 3-4 and Year 5-6 children learnt all about the internal organs. They were lucky enough to be shown some real organs and whilst wearing gloves even got to touch the kidneys, heart, liver and lungs of a pig. It was a very interesting experience!

22 22 School Newsletter Music Weekly Music Lessons The younger children at BSN also have their music session every week.. During these sessions children are discovering the instruments of the orchestra, with the help of a small-animated character, called Alex, who every week show them a new instrument. Throughout these sessions we also have time to sing and dance. Children are learning simple popular songs accompanied by a small choreography. During the month of December in addition to singing these melodies they have also rehearsed the songs for the Christmas play. Children really enjoy discovering new musical instruments and of course singing and dancing. Well done little ones, you are all stars!