Our primary musicians were kept busy composing movie music before and after our holiday based on John Williams’ epic movie music. Foundation and KS1 were asked to watch then compose music to suit a Superman or Superwoman video. KS2 were asked to watch Harry Potter’s First Quidditch match. They then had to try to compose their music to suit the events and mood in the movies, using a variety of online composing programmes. Please enjoy listening to our composers’ pieces. 

Our October TBS Primary Composers of the Month, as judged by Mr. Smith, are:

F2: Jeongwon – ‘a nice sense of rhythm to match her superhero’ – https://www.loom.com/share/01f543e787954e4b941c83c91793fcc8

KS1: Karunesh – ‘loved how this matched the scenery and had a great sense of flow’ –  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cRAhKOsyOIOiJysJBrF78thc6w4EjzJ4/view?usp=sharing

KS2: David – ‘I liked the variety within the clip which added to the drama on screen’ – https://www.loom.com/share/5d93481adf694efcb9e012cc7ff02cd6

Congratulations to Jeongwon, Karunesh and David.

If you have any queries or issues that need attention from the ICT department, please send a message on this WhatsApp number- 9851215794 to talk to them. Please note that this support will only be available during school hours and only for messages, not calls. 

F1 and F2 started their new topic ‘Around the world’. We learned that we all come from different parts of the world and as a task children drew the flag of their home country. Bilashita drew the flag of Nepal and Lucie drew the flag of Indonesia and France.

This week the students of Foundation 2 have been learning the letter ‘t’ in Phonics. They went for a ‘t’ object hunt around their house, made silly soup, practised writing the letter ‘t’ in a tray of flour and made their own t…t..t.. tiger mask. Look at our little tigers!

The Year 1 students are learning about maps and the home countries of their friends and teachers. Have a look at their fact files to see what they found out about India, Malawi and the Netherlands!

This week in IPC the Year 2 students have been looking at what makes a balanced meal and then designing their own healthy pizzas – they are excited to make them next week! Here is Muntiaqium’s amazing bear shaped pizza and Nolah’s  and Mayuk’s super balanced pizzas.

Just before Tihar, Year 3 turned their hands to writing limericks. They created poems using a complex set of rules: five lines; an AABBA rhyming pattern; typical language (for example, ‘There once was…’); and of course, amusing content!

As part of their Paintings, Pictures and Photographs street art topic, Year 4 have been investigating light and shadow, sorting objects into ‘transparent’, ‘translucent’ and ‘opaque’ and examining the effects of moving a light source on the size and shapes of shadows. 

Year 5 and 6 have both been very busy, jumping straight back into their learning after the Tihar holiday. Year 6 have been exploring adding and subtracting fractions in their Maths lessons, and have started to research Rosa Parks and the influence she had on the American Civil Rights movement. In Year 5, meanwhile, students have been learning about democracy in Ancient Greece and how to multiply two digit numbers to two digit numbers. Both year groups were exploring the festival of Tihar in their Nepali lessons prior to the break – creating cards, learning vocabulary and getting creative!

I hope everyone had a happy Tihar holiday and enjoyed their time spent with their families. Although this week has been short, it is clear to see that the Key Stage 3 students have not let up on their standards of work. There has been some fantastic work across a whole range of different subjects that deserves to be shared. 

Also, Key Stage 3 have been taking part in their Parent Teacher Conferences for the last two weeks and it is safe to say they were a success. It is a great way for teachers to discuss with parents and students the progress they have made so far this year through all the hardship that has been going on. I would just like to say a huge thankyou to everyone involved for making it so successful and running so smoothly.
The Y8’s had an extremely successful study skills session this week.  They showed great understanding of the cognitive science behind great revision and immediately applied it to some of their own revision for science. It is great to see that these sessions can be implemented immediately to aid the students.

In PSHE, the students were tasked with looking into the importance of rest and sleep. It is crucial for students to understand about this to ensure they have a positive mental wellbeing. The students were asked to design their own app and try out some of the existing ones to help them rest and sleep.

In Y8 and Y9 Science, there have been some amazing presentations that have been made talking about a specific subject. In Y8, the students were learning about the uses and dangers of UV light and had to discuss this. Whereas the Y9 students were looking at pressure and how this affects not only us, but tools that we use in our everyday life.

Last week, the school commemorated Remembrance day. Secondary were shown a video that looked into the meaning behind Remembrance day and how people are still being affected by conflict around the world today. The Y9s have been working on writing effective speeches. Lise  looked into the difficult subject of whether war can be justified. She created a thought provoking and balanced speech that was extremely impressive. Her delivery was confident and calm, as well as showing real passion for such a difficult topic.

This week’s student of the week goes to Benji in Year 8. Right from the start of Year 8, he has been consistently great. All his work is handed in on time and he has been going above and beyond to ensure it is of the best quality. So many of his teachers have commented on how impressed they are with his dedication and willingness to learn. Benji is currently living in the US and is facing such a challenge with the time difference being so different. However, he never lets this get to him and is a testament to the resilience he has already developed. Well done Benji and keep up the great work!

When asked for some advice to give to the other students, Benji said this:

“Don’t give up even if you are really struggling, especially if you are in a different time zone which is difficult at times. One tip that has really helped me stay on top of all of my work and help keep me organized with online learning is by taking a screenshot of my lesson planner and putting it as my wallpaper (screen background). This means I can always look at it if I am ever confused about which lesson I need to attend next.”

I hope everyone had a lovely Tihar break.  It’s always such a pretty festival with the rangolis and all the lights.  With the Tihar break, it has been a short week this week, but that hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm and hard work of our KS4 students.

The mock examination timetable is under way and this serves as a timely reminder to our Year 11 students to ensure they are not only continuing with their current learning in lessons, but also revising previous topics.  Food security continues to be the theme for PSHE this week, and next week, KS4 students will be looking at study skills and revision techniques.  It would be very beneficial for parents to be talking to their children about revision timetables, and helping to ensure students have a suitable calm and quiet area to help with effective revision.

In Geography, Year 10 students have now moved on to studying settlements and urbanisation; looking at settlement patterns, and where would be a good place to locate your settlements. Students have had to think about various historical factors such as fuel supply, food supply, water supplies and various other factors as to why, what are now some of the largest settlements in the world, are located where they are. Do you know the original factors that saw Kathmandu grow where it has?

In DT, students have been continuing to look at the sunglasses/glasses designs.  

While in Psychology, Year 10 students have been considering fixed growth mindsets, a skill very valuable to all of us as we are in Continuous Learning. Elana has combined Psychology and Art with these cartoon images about fixed and growth mindsets.

This week’s KS4 student of the week is Shridha in Year 10.  She has continually impressed her teachers by completing all work to a very high standard, and has, in many cases, often gone above and beyond what is required.  Here is what Shridha has to say:

In school,  I have been enjoying all my classes, to be honest. Like a lot of people, I am looking forward to going back to school, as well as the upcoming MUN. My advice for other students is to keep revising their notes, because online school is definitely hard, and making sure you know everything makes it much easier. I also find it good to make a schedule, especially on those weeks I am busy, as it lets me plan out my day and stops me from procrastinating. Of course, it is still important to take a break as well! I like to read a book, do some equations (which I personally do find relaxing) or watch a show.

Well done, Shridha!  Keep up the good work.

Here are some of the highlights from late last week and this week:

• Shridha Year10: Psychology. Lovely interaction through private comments in Google Classroom about the short and long term usefulness of different approaches to assignments. She showed great insight into her learning and cognitive processes.
• Isaac Year11: Excellent answers to physics questions in independent lesson
• The Year 11 Geographers doing very well in their end of topic test about Tourism.
• Abayaa, Manawi and Meghna in Year 11 who contributed to the remembrance assembly with a beautiful and poignant reading of Hosseini’s Sea Prayer. They even made poppies at home to mark the day. They are excellent role models to younger students!

I hope everyone has a good weekend, ready to start next week refreshed and raring to go.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday and have had a good short week back at school. Thank you to all students who have shared their UCAS personal statements with me and their mentors. They have been a pleasure to read. 

University:

UCAS Applications: TBS UCAS deadline is today. Ensure that you have uploaded your personal statement and shared it with your mentor and Ms. Hemelik. 

US Applications: Students interested in applying to the States in 2021 should ensure that they take the opportunities to find out more about the application process and different colleges by attending virtual events. 

Students will be emailed more about these throughout the year. 

Student of the week 

This week’s student of the week is Harira Lim.  Harira has been voted student of the week unanimously by her teachers for her consistent high-quality work and her active engagement in lessons. 

Harira’s advice to other students: “If you are satisfied with what you have done that day, spend the rest of the day doing what you want”