Baku-Oxford School Autumn Newsletter 2018-19
September 17 , 2018
Baku-Oxford School Autumn Newsletter2018 – 2019 Academic Year |
Dear school community,
Welcome back after the break to a very chilly and Autumnal Baku!
You will find information and pictures in this newsletter of some of the events and activities that have been happening within school over the first couple of months, as well as a few reminders of some procedures and expectations for both students and parents.
At the start of the school year, we were pleased to welcome Alan Jervis from Dragonfly- a PD provider in the UK who specialise in tailored courses for international schools. This year our focus was on active learning and we hope that staff and students will benefit from more hands on type of lessons as we embed 21st century learning skills into our classrooms. https://www.dragonfly-training.co.uk/. Alan gave us many examples of how to integrate active learning, so please ask your sons and daughters about what they are doing in their lessons! Please take note that we often post examples of learning on twitter and facebook.
https://twitter.com/BakuOxford
https://www.facebook.com/Baku-Oxford-School-1559954254091488/
A major non-academic focus for this year will be student mental health and well-being. A global trend aligned with social media usage among young people has meant that pressures on students with peers are different and much more negative than previously experienced. This has worrying consequences for schools and we need to educate and inform both parents and students about maintaining positive relationships and how home and school need to work together in this regard.
https://www.educare.co.uk/courses/mental-wellbeing-in-children-and-young-people
Mentioning the home-school partnership, at the start of the year we asked for parent volunteers to help organise some events and act as assistance on some field trips and other activities that require extra adults. As the response was not very overwhelming we are asking again so that we have a list of people who we can call on when we require some extra help. Please e-mail or telephone divisional offices to move this forwards.
Finally, some reminders for parents regarding routines and procedures. Please ensure that your children are at school by 8:45 in the morning and in the correct uniform. Any time after this and they will be marked late. It is incredibly frustrating for teachers when students arrive late and then disturb the first lesson of the morning- such an important time of the day to establish routines. Additionally, for a child to say that their uniform is dirty as a reason for not wearing the correct school attire is not a reasonable excuse. We would expect that this would be organised at home and if an extra t-shirt is required then we also expect families to facilitate this. We understand occasional lapses but for some this is a habit and while we do not wish to send students home we may have to do this for some of the older students if they do not conform to our expectations. Lastly, and following up from previous reminders, please ensure that your child has a reusable water bottle as we will be removing all plastic cups from this week in line with our implementation of our environmental policy and the UN sustainable developmental goals. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/
Apologies to the 90% of parents who do all of the above!
Best wishes and thanks for all your continued support.
Kind regards,
Alexander Simester
Head of School, Baku-Oxford School
Early Years Foundation Stage
Welcome to the first newsletter of the year from everyone in Early Years!
In September we had a very successful start to the year, with children easily settled into their new class routines. It is amazing to see how quickly they form strong relationships with new friends.
Our first IEYC units are complete and we have already begun our second units of the year. Please share with your child's class teacher any objects and interests from home related to our topics (photographs, projects etc).
It has been a busy time for events already, celebrating UN Day and the Autumn festival. The children were very proud to wear their national dress and represent the cultural diversity across the school. Even weeks later, I hear the national anthem of Azerbaijan being sung in the corridors!
The costumes for Autumn festival were amazing, there were witches, princesses and superheroes to name just a few. We celebrated with a special assembly in the afternoon in which all the children appeared on stage to showcase their costumes.
Each week we celebrate student achievement altogether in our assembly. Every child will receive the Star of the Week certificate this year for academic or personal effort, so please make sure to check your child's bag on a Friday.
Thank you to those of you who came to our coffee morning, it is important to get your feedback so that we can continue to reflect and improve as a school. There will be another coffee morning in the new year, which will be open to different parents to get to know a little more about Baku-Oxford School.
I would like to gently remind some of you that school begins at 8:45am, children arriving to class after this time are late. It is important for them to arrive on time to have the chance to settle in and greet their friends before lessons begin.
Thank you for your continued support, we look forward to seeing you at our Winter performance in December.
Ms Clare Ranns
Head of Early Years Foundation Stage
| Primary School News
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Golden Time
To reinforce positive behaviour, Golden Time has been implemented in BOS Primary School since the start of this academic year. The purpose of GT is to achieve the full potential of all classes by learning the difference between positive and negative behaviour. Every Monday a class from each grade level chooses a set of activities for Friday and follow the Golden Rules throughout the week. There are visual colourful signs in each classroom that display the rules that are interrelated with The Oxford Five. All Primary school students celebrate Golden Time at the same time giving the students the opportunity to end the week in a more relaxed and fun way.
Morning assemblies
Morning assemblies play an important role in communicating information on a daily basis and settling in to school routines. The assemblies are run not only by the homeroom teachers but students themselves who are keen to deliver various presentations on the topics that they are interested in and demonstrate creative posters to their classmates. Each week students set a target of kindness that helps to build an understanding of what kindness is and how they can be helpful to their peers, teachers and family members. During the Fun Day assemblies, students start the day with a physical exercise or Just Dance movements which help to boost concentration. Students should be in classrooms by 8:40am in order to take a full participation in morning assemblies and benefit from interaction with their classmates.
Guided reading in grades 1-2
Guided reading is a lesson where teachers work with a small number of children to read and analyse a text in detail. The focus is on decoding each word and discussing the meaning of both new words and the text as a whole. Children are asked questions about the book and asked to infer and make predictions about what they have read. These sessions ensure that each child has some quality time reading with a teacher allowing the teacher to observe reading behaviours and identify areas for improvement. Mr Stu works with groups from grades 1 and 2 every week which gives the children an extra opportunity to read outside the classroom and continue to improve their reading ability.
Grade 1 trip to Heydar Aliyev Center
Studying ancient constructions and modern skyscrapers may seem a challenging topic for young learners but not for our grade 1 students who have successfully completed the topic ‘Buildings’. The first graders got familiar with various types of “homes” and created their own models which are displayed in the classrooms. Having finished the Unit Ms. G.Namazova, Ms. A. Muslumli , and Ms.J. Aliyeva’s classes had an exciting trip to Heydar Aliyev Center where they got the chance to learn more about one of the most beautiful examples of architecture in Baku. Our young explorers took notes while walking along the corridors of this magnificent edifice and had a lot of insightful questions that were demonstrated in their reflection work. It was an exhilarating experience for all grade 1 students and they are looking forward to having more field trips during the year.
Grade 5 trip to Ichhari Shahar
Ichari Shahar is full of historical artefacts and can offer a wide range of activities to the inquisitive minds of our students. Grade 5 took part in an Azerbaijan History related field trip to Ichari Shahar with one of the best known historians of Baku history, Fuad Akhundov. Fifth graders had the chance to explore narrow streets paved with cobblestones, visited some of the old houses that are protected as a national heritage and listened to the exciting stories of the old city walls. F. Akhundov provided students with thorough information regarding the history of the Old Town which was used in the reflection work during the class project.
Best attendance
There has been a lot of research that proves the positive effect of attendance on overall academic performance. Students who attend school regularly have been shown to achieve higher levels than students who do not have regular attendance. Absenteeism in Primary school can result in negative outcomes and lower achievement in reading, Maths and general knowledge. Consequently, BOS is encouraging students and families to attend school every day and as a way of celebrating best attendance, the class with the least number of absences will win a Movie Night award. During this period, Ms. G. Fataliye’s class (grade 2) watched Alice in Wonderland and had special treats as the winners.
Watching Movie for the best attendance 100% for this half-term.
Autumn Festival
Autumn festival has become a tradition at BOS. All Primary students got involved in various activities to celebrate the turning of the seasons. In Art classes students got familiar with dozens of splendid colours and shades that autumn embraces nature with. Leaves that were collected by students were used as sophisticated frames for the drawings. One of the most interesting activities was pumpkin carving in which each class demonstrated their art skills to decorate their live lanterns. Another activity that was provided for grade 3 students was cupcakes with marzipan. Our little chefs’ decorated cupcakes with special designs and their performance was worth watching.
Aygun Nasirova
Head of Primary School
Secondary School News
Dear members of the school community, we hope that all students will enjoy a successful and fun-filled academic year at BOS. There’s been such a lot happening at Baku-Oxford school over the past few weeks, with lots of exciting trips and visits taking place. Please read on!
Humanities Week Highlights.
Every October BOS celebrates Humanities week and as a part of this week we celebrate the annual anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations. This year, during Humanities week, BOS community organized various events, including field trips, the UN Parade, and also an International Food Fair.
Students from 6th grade conducted a map survey in Huseyn Javid Park, Baku. The idea was taken from an American TV show, where people were asked to point out their country on the World map. The aim of the survey was to engage students in a process of active learning, foster their communication skills, as well as to demonstrate the importance of map skills and general geography knowledge. The other group of 6th grade students, as a part of geography studies, wrote a letter of concern about the impact of climate change to the US President, Donald Trump. The administration of the President had kindly informed students, that they received the letter and will respond shortly.
Students from 8th grade visited the Natural Site - Yanardag as a part of their geography and science studies. Another trip was organized for 10th grades, who visited the Archeological Museum and Museum of Miniature Books in the Old City.
Middle School students also participated in collaborative lessons between Art and History of Azerbaijan, engaging in a pottery activity and creating samples of clay dishes with authentic markings.
The final event held during Humanities week by the BOS Community was the UN Parade, where students demonstrated and highlighted the core role of international collaboration and dialogue for efficient development of a global society, as well as aiming to raise awareness of the significance of the 17 sustainable goals of United Nations. The Parade was followed by the International Food Fair, where students represented diverse cultures and shared national dishes.
BOS students’ Community Service Club.
Our community service team, consisting of 11th graders and accompanied by members of the BOS staff participated in a cultural development trip to Sheki. The goal of the trip was raising awareness about the roots and true history of an Albanian church in Kish. Before the trip, our team prepared informative posters and flyers to provide information for tourists visiting the church, and while we were there we made sure to interview visitors about their knowledge of the topic to include in our movie.
Agharagim Ismayilli and Adela Aleskerova
Student Council Elections
The Student Council is an ideal opportunity for our students to get more involved in the way the school is run and it aims to make the school a better place for each and every member of the school community. At the beginning of October, every class in the Secondary School, as well as Grade 5 of the Primary School, nominated representatives for the Student Council.
On October 3, Council members elected a President, a Vice-President, a Secretary, and a Treasurer for the new school year. After a tight race, the following members collected the most votes:
The Student Council President - Adela Aleskerova
The Student Council Vice-President - Kemale Kerimli
The Student Council Treasurer - Uliyya Heydarova
The Student Council Secretary - Ayla Rustamzade
The elected members of the Student Council spoke about their purpose in the administration and wrote their own mandates and shared the goals they would like to achieve this year.
Student Council members show a great degree of responsibility and self-management by arranging regular Council meetings to discuss pertinent issues and to engage in the planning of future events. They keep the school administration abreast via the Student Council Liaison Mrs. Nigar Kazimova.
Teacher’s Day Celebration
Teachers play a major role in making their students' responsible citizens of tomorrow and good role models. This message was conveyed during the Teachers' Day Celebration at Baku-Oxford school. During the Secondary school assembly, students appreciated teachers and the extraordinary job they do to teach, support and inspire them.
Jamila Chiragzade
Head of Secondary School