Author Archives: elianslanucia1

An Extraordinary Year!

Posted on by

The 2020-21 school year has shot by in a blink, yet September 2020 feels like a decade ago.

As teachers, we’re constantly impressed by the resilience of our students, their determination and their creativity. We cheered them on as they did the Run Against Hunger (and raised a thousand Euros for the charity!) and we roared our support at the “mini-olympics”, where they competed against each other at our local, Olympic-level sports stadium (thank you, Estadi Olímpic Camilo Cano! What a privilege that was!)Our annual Science Fair took place outside and everyone agreed it was a huge success. Students from Year 1 to Year 10 explained and conducted experiments, while we watched and listened in fascination.Día del Libro and World Book Day were both celebrated with a host of activities to elevate the written word. After an absence of a year, the wonderful English Libros Book Fair was back, and the bookworms among us adored the opportunity to browse through the titles.

The final weeks of the summer term were filled with socially-distanced graduations (including ceremonies for those who missed out last year during the COVID confinement), excursions (under COVID safety rules) and the end-of-term prize-giving assemblies.All these special activities helped keep the students engaged with their education and the school community — but the nuts and bolts of learning continued throughout. From the youngest to the oldest, we shared our students’ progress with pride. And truly, after an extraordinary year, it’s something we can all be proud of.

All work and all play… (part 2)

Posted on by

Remember our earlier blog, about our Year 13 A Level English Language students investigating Deborah Tannen’s Difference Theory, which proposes that men and women use language differently…?

Here’s what happened next!

Following their Lego Tower experiment, the students spent several lessons analysing the data from interviews and recorded transcripts. They then wrote up their findings formally in a report entitled “What’s the difference? An analysis of male and female use of imperatives and suggestions.”

Their findings were quite striking, and seemed to show that Tann’s predictions, made over a quarter of a century ago, still hold true. Namely: 

  • Women speak less in mixed gender groups than in single-sex groups, whereas men speak more in mixed gender groups;
  • Men are more likely to criticize or negate others while women are more likely to praise or affirm. Men made more than double the number of negations, regardless of grouping;
  • Men are more likely to use orders than women, again regardless of grouping; in mixed groups women hardly used orders at all and even in single sex groupings, the frequency of orders was less than half that of men;
  • In the mixed gender group, it would seem that both male and female participants were unaware of the fact that the male participants spoke over 50% more than the female participants. 

Given the often repeated (false) stereotype that women talk more than men, the first and last findings were particularly interesting: it was men who did most of the talking! 

All in all, it was a successful and enlightening investigation. 

Carnival Craziness

Posted on by

Who says you can’t enjoy carnival season at school during a pandemic?! Not us! Masks, social distancing and fresh air…check, check check. The rest is about colour and creativity! So, for this year’s pre-lent festival, we had a daily theme. On Monday, we turned up to school in silly socks.On Tuesday, we went mad with our hair.On Wednesday, we put on our best hats.On Thursday, we went monochrome and dressed all in one colour.On Friday, it was a free-for-all.No wonder we needed our one-week half term holiday to recover!

All work and all play… (Part 1)

Posted on by

Just because it was Carnival last Friday, it didn’t mean our students shouldn’t do any work; and just because they were working, it didn’t mean our students couldn’t have fun too!

Our Year 13 A Level English Language class had designed an experiment to test Deborah Tannen and Robin Lakoff’s so-called Difference Theory, which describes how men and women use language differently. According to their theory, men are more competitive in their speech, while women are more collaborative.

To test this, our students asked their fellow 6th formers to construct a tower out of Lego together, while the Language students recorded their conversations. If the Difference Theory hypothesis held true, they expected to hear greater use of orders by the male students and greater use of suggestions by the female students.

In addition, in the interviews our Language students held with their volunteers afterwards, we expected the female students to be more concerned by how well they had got on with the others in their group, while the male students would be more concerned with building the ‘best’ tower.

Three groups of students took part: an all-male quartet; a female trio: and a mixed-gender group. To increase the pressure, each group was only given 4 minutes to build the tower. There were some interesting approaches!

And in conclusion? Did the experiment demonstrate the Difference Theory hypothesis? Well, that will have to wait until half-term, when the A Level English Language class has had a chance to analyse the recordings and interview responses.  Check back for Part 2 of this blog in a couple of weeks.

By Mr Berry

We’re In This Together!

Posted on by

“How many of you,” I asked a Year 9 class in September “would rather go back to online school, instead of coming into class every day?”

Not a single hand went up. Because, although virtual schoolrooms give us an effective way of ensuring we don’t slip behind with the curriculum, they’re no substitute for the real thing. And our young people would tend to agree.The novelty of getting up later, attending lessons in pyjamas and sneakily playing video games in school time wears off after a while. It’s simply more fun to learn alongside your friends and get teacher assistance in person, rather than through a screen.Which is why our students have shown themselves to be impressively adaptable to the changes at school, which were designed to keep them safe. Masks are worn, safety distances are observed (albeit with some reminding!) and they’ve quickly got used to the longer breaks, fewer classroom swaps and new one-way systems around our campus.Some of the changes have offered unexpected advantages, too. Thanks to the staggered entry times, arriving at school is less fraught. Older students are allowed to bring in their own computing equipment to help with their studies. And the longer break times have allowed teachers to provide support sessions and extra-curricular activities which simply weren’t possible before. Among other things, our students are enjoying opportunities to learn modern dance; take part in theatre projects; improve their table tennis; participate in the school newspaper; or swap book recommendations.Yes, there are challenges to overcome as we all come to terms with the new school rules and the effects of the switch from lockdown to in-person learning. But, as my Year 9 class made clear: we’re happier when we’re together.

A British Exchange

Posted on by

Exchange trips are a great opportunity to get a feeling for a different country and to make new friends.Despite the chilly February weather, our Spanish and Russian students had a wonderful time with their British exchange partners at Rendcomb College, which is in the picturesque Cotswolds area of England.They joined their new friends in the classroom, took part in extracurricular activities and went on excursions. These included a visit to Oxford University and a trip to the theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. But for all the cultural highlights, probably the best moment was an all-out snowball fight in the wintry English countryside!

Carnival Week!

Posted on by

Carnival week was a great laugh!Themes included odd socks…

…silly hats… …painted faces……and full fancy dress. Any excuse not to wear school uniform!

How To Hit The Road…Safely!

Posted on by

Bikes, scooters and motorcycles.

They’re all convenient and speedy ways to get from A to B. But although it’s exhilarating to feel the wind in your hair, that’s exactly what you shouldn’t do.Our secondary students were treated to an interesting and informative presentation by local police officers about road safety. They spoke at length about the importance of wearing a crash helmet and other types of body protection.Some of our students were good sports and agreed to model the safetywear for the benefit of their friends. Now, whatever mode of transport they choose, they know how to minimise the risks and enjoy it to the full.

Learning By Teaching

Posted on by

A great way to embed your own learning is to teach it to someone else.

That’s why a favourite technique used by many of our teachers is to encourage students to create presentations in order to pass on their knowledge to their classmates.When they are producing a “lesson” for their friends, students often research a topic more deeply than they would otherwise. What’s more, they tend to think creatively about how to put across the information they’ve discovered…which makes it more memorable for the rest of the class.Students take great pride in putting together an interesting, colourful and informative presentation, and, as you can see here, they work hard to achieve it.

Passionate About Poetry

Posted on by

It’s the time of year when our whole school becomes passionate about poetry.

Traditionally, schools in Scotland celebrate Burns Night (the birthday of the famous Scottish poet, Robert Burns) by holding poetry recitals and competitions. Scotland is a long way from our school on the Spanish Mediterranean coast, but a Scottish teacher was determined we should share in one of her country’s favourite cultural events. So now, for the sixth year running, we have held a Burns Night competition, where each class competes to produce a poetry performer par excellence.

Students in every class from Year Two to Year Nine chose a poem to learn and perform for their classmates. The winners were chosen by a mixture of class vote and teacher judgement. Then we all got together in our auditorium to watch the class champions battle it out.Poetry is a great learning tool. All age groups respond to the power of words, and memorising verse is a good workout for the grey matter.As well as learning poems, many classes also wrote their own. The majority of our students don’t have English as their first language, but they were still able to produce some powerful work.Watching them on the stage, we were impressed at the pride they took in their performances, and the enjoyment they gained from sharing some superb poetry.

Skip to toolbar