BULLETIN NO. 11

Upcoming Dates
 

General
 
Book Drive
As a Book Week initiative we will be holding a book drive to collect books that will be donated to the “Compartí tus libros leídos” project created by the University of Costa Rica. This project collects children’s books which are then donated to public schools that don’t have libraries, while also creating reading areas to give more than 10,000 children access to the universe of books. For more information please click on the following link – Book Drive.  Donated books need to be in the Spanish language, in new or nearly new condition and ideally be for Primary or Early Years students.  If you would like to make a donation, please leave the books in front of Reception (by the front gate when you enter) during 7:30 am to 8:10 am each day of Book Week.  
 
Eco-day – Dress in Green
In recognition of Monday’s Earth Day, we invite all members of our Community to attend school wearing something green on Friday the 19th of April.
 
Primary
 
House Competitions in Primary
There is a very exciting buzz in Primary as the students look forward to the next two weeks which will involve some House Competitions and a chance to win House Points for their teams!  Years 1 and 2 will compete in some Athletics activities whilst Years 3-5 will play in a Kickball competition amongst the various Houses.  Photos of these activities will be shared over the following weeks.
 
Book Week: Primary Activities
Please click on the following link to access our poster for Primary Book Week
 
Book Week: Primary Library
To celebrate Book Week, children are invited to bring festive props such as masks and hats only to the Primary Library.  In addition, please note there is time until Monday 22^nd of April (by 12:00 pm) to participate in the photo contest “Reading is a pleasure”.  The instructions for this competition are:
1. Submit a 100% original and creative photograph that highlights the competition’s slogan.
2. You can take the photograph with a mobile phone or professional camera.
3. Preferably send the printed photo to Teacher Adilia with your children or by email to abarrantes@bscr.ed.cr, no later than Monday 22^nd of April (by 12:00 pm).
4. The photographs will be displayed in the library during Book Week and the children will vote to select the best 3 the following week.
 
SDS Workshop
The Student Development Services (SDS) will present a workshop for Year 4 and Year 5 parents on the topic of ‘Puberty, Changes and Challenges’.  The workshop will be on Friday 10^th of May at 8:30 am in the auditorium and will be delivered by the School Psychologists Andreína Azofeifa and Gabriela Gutiérrez. We would like to resume in school presentations (as opposed to virtual) to share with you and also to complement the activities that the students will be participating in during classes. We will send by email more information regarding the workshop and the topics that we will address with the children in the coming weeks. 
 
Secondary
 
Book Week: Secondary Costume Contest
The Spanish, English and French departments, as well as the Library, are organizing several activities during Book Day, which will take place on the week of 22^nd of April.   In Secondary, we will have a costume competition, with costumes based on literary characters, on Tuesday 23^rd of April. We encourage all Secondary students to start searching for or making their costumes for that day.   There will be other activities during breaks and language lessons to motivate the whole community to read, and share their experiences and talents.  Book Day Poster / Costume Competition
 
IGCSE Ceremony
On Thursday of this week we were delighted to award the formal IGCSE certificates to our current Year 11 students. The certificates were presented to our students by Mr. Ben Lyster Binns, current United Kingdom ambassador to Costa Rica and Nicaragua. These are their first international diplomas, which they earned after sitting the November 2023 exams and preparing coursework to send to Cambridge.
 
Getting an A or A* in an IGCSE subject means that a student performed at a very high level in two or more different assessments for the same subject. This year we had some amazing accomplishments, with multiple students passing five or more IGCSE courses with excellent grades.  We would particularly like to recognize the following students for their very high levels of performance: Cristel Haaversen, Leonardo Jiménez, Ally Lin, Daniela Martínez, Cecilia Poll and Edison Wu.  The results that these students achieved will look very impressive in their future applications to international universities.   If you are interested in learning more about the IGCSE program, please do not hesitate to contact Ms. Ana Rojas, our IGCSE Coordinator, or check the information available on the internal IGCSE website:  https://sites.google.com/bscr.ed.cr/igcseatbscr/home
 
Tennis Qualification
Congratulations to Agustin Mejía (Year 8) on qualifying for the XLI National Games singles tennis tournament which will take place in Guanacaste in June and July of this year.
 
Future We Want Model United Nations
Congratulations to Lina Laurencich, who was named the best delegate of her Committee (How Space & Technology can help to meet the Sustainable Development Goals) at the Future We Want Model United Nations (FWWMUN).  The conference took place in New York last week, with over 3,000 participants.