It's Carnaval Time!

One of the annual festivals that is always looked forward to by both pupils and staff at Sierra Bernia is Carnaval!

It is a time for dressing up (no school uniform for a day!) and a great opportunity to do some different things at school.

This year we had a wonderful display of food sculpture and some Salsa dancing.

As well as our annual Carnaval Parade. With the theme of Cowboys and Indians there was definitely a sense the Wild West around Sierra Bernia for the day!

International Day In Alfaz del Pi

Sunday 3rd October saw a wonderful event in the grounds of the Polidesportivo in Alfaz.

It was "International Day" with members of our truly multi cultural community here, celebrating and sharing the very best of their respective cultures.

A bright sunny day saw the event packed, and the atmosphere was tremendous. Many SBS pupils and staff were in and around the stalls and all thoroughly enjoyed the day.

Top: Matthew (Lower Secondary) with mum!

Middle: Maths teacher, Miss Kanchan (right), manned the Indian stall. And the samosas were to die for!

Bottom: Olivia (Lower Secondary) about to sample those samosas!

"We Are Not Amused" Victorian Art for the Upper Juniors

The children in Upper Junior have been studying pictures of Queen Victoria including a family portrait by Winterhalter, 'The Royal Family', 1846.

On Friday, they discussed the symbolism of some of the more luxurious items in the painting, then made a sketch of some of the items.

The class used a range of pencils and shading to show texture and light in their drawings and produced some excellent pieces of work.

The children will continue to work on their sketches over the next few weeks adding colour and texture with paints and pastels. They will also make their own golden frames to display them in for a mini exhibition.

Sports Activity Day In Alfaz

On Friday 24th September the whole school decamped to the Polidesportivo in Alfaz for our special Sports Activity Day.

One of the main goals for this day was to promote a sense of school spirit and teamwork, as we encouraged the older students to lead and work with the younger pupils in their teams.

This they did magnificentally and it was great to see the way in which everyone was encouraged to do their very best.

A big congratulations to all the Upper Secondary for their outstanding work on the day.


Sometimes just keeping up with the little ones was hard work for our team leaders!


Members of the winning "Green" team can be seen here with Lewis from Upper Secondary.

Sierra Bernia Live On Cool FM!

What a great time we had on Friday 17th September as Sierra Bernia School went out live on Cool FM - one of the leading English speaking radio stations on the Costa Blanca!

DJ Dave Owens broadcast the whole of his morning show live from the school, assisted by many of the pupils and staff who all contributed brilliantly.

As one listener commented "Sierra Bernia sounded like a school of happy kids who liked to talk about what they do at school".

Congratulations to everyone who took part - but a special thanks to Jodie (Upper Secondary) who acted as Dave's assistant throughtout the morning; Mrs Letchford who had liased with the radio station to make it all possible; Mr Allan for sorting out the technical issues; and Dave who interacted with the pupils so well!

Cool FM can be found on 97.4 or visit their web site on www.coolfm974.com.

Sierra Bernia Goes To Sierra Bernia!

Mr Allan, Sierra Bernia School's Director, believes that every pupil should have the opportunity to visit the range of mountains the school takes its name from.

So, with this in mind, an intrepid group of Upper Secondary explorers took to the mountains on Wednesday 15th, to climb and explore the Sierra Bernia range.

Once again, this was a real team-building exercise and it was great to see how the group worked together to make sure everyone succeeded and enjoyed the day.

After thoroughly exploring the old fort near the top of the range the group climbed still higher until it was time to turn around and head back down.

A tired but elated group arrived back at school just after lunch. The day was a great success and thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Sports Day Awards Ceremony

At the end of an exciting day all the pupils came together for our Sports Day Awards. The event was won by the Red Team who were led brilliantly by Kirill from Year 9.

It was wonderful to see the way the way the older Team Captains worked with their younger team members to lead and inspire them. A big congatulations to Kieren, Josh, Michael, and of course Kirill, for providing such a great example.

There were special awards for individual performances too. The girl's award was shared by Tanja (Year 2) and Sylvia (Year 3) and the boys award went to Alex (Year 4).

The day was a massive success and a special thanks must go to Mrs Letchford who organised the whole event.

Assemblies At Sierra Bernia School

Every week the Junior School has an assembly with each year group taking it in turns to present the work they have been covering in class.

This helps to improve the children's confidence as they are in the "lime light", performing to both their fellow pupils and the many parents who love to come in and watch.

Our assemblies are also an opportunity for pupils to receive public acclaim for their Academic Excellence Merit Awards.

All pupils strive to progress through the various levels of award from Bronze through to Platinum.

Here are a selection of photographs from the excellent lower school assemblies we have had in recent weeks. Congratulations to all the pupils who give such great performances as they share their knowledge with the rest of the school.

John And Yoko Visit SBS!

Years 5 & 6 had some very special guests arrive in their classroom on Friday 7th May. They have been working on a 1960's project which included finding out all about the The Beatles! As part of their studies they staged a re-enactment of John and Yoko's famous "Sit In" in a Paris Hotel room.

Well done to Mrs Letchford and all the pupils for this very clever piece of work. Mrs Letchford is actually too young to remember the original event but was able to draw on real life memories from some of her (more mature) colleagues!

In a surprise turn of events Mr Allan suggested that Year 5 & 6 could play live on top of the school building in an attempt to re-create the Beatles playing on the Apple building in London!

We'll work on that for next year!

Bernia Babies

Sierra Bernia School has launched its very own baby and toddler group, and it is proving to be a huge success!!

Bernia Babies welcomes parents and grandparents to join their children for a fun filled morning of crafts, activities and play in an educational environment.

For only 1.50€ you and your children can enjoy toys, games singing and stories. Mrs Luckhurst holds the meetings every Tuesday morning in the school hall at Sierra Bernia School and refreshments are provided too. If you would like to join them, just come along on Tuesday mornings between 10:30 – 12:00.

Amazing Assemblies

Each Friday the primary classes at Sierra Bernia School are given the opportunity to show the rest of the school what they are learning about by presenting a class assembly. Parents are welcomed to watch the assemblies and many weeks, the school hall is packed out!

This week however, the parents took over when Isaac’s mum came in to talk to us about a book she had written. Sophie talked to the children about the meaning of access and about places being accessible, then read her book about wheel chair accessibility.

The children loved the story, which is also written in French, and Sophie’s colourful illustrations and gave her a huge round of applause at the end. Thank you Sophie for coming in and sharing your book with us.

All parents are welcome to join our assemblies held every Friday at 9:20 in the school hall.

Carnaval - Sierra Bernia Style!

The annual Carnaval Fiesta was celebrated in style on Friday 12th February!

Everyone entered into the spirit of the day with fantastic fancy dress and a wonderful atmosphere.

The Upper School sports afternoon was taken over with some silly fun and games - including limbo dancing and a very wet few minutes with some water bombs, which were mostly aimed at the "lucky" members of staff.

Mrs Letchford in true Fiesta dress and Mr Cowley dreaming of former times when he actually had hair!

The glamourous Mrs Holmes with some of the Year 8 girls.

Year 5 & 6 Writing Assignment "What's In The News?"

As part of our PSHE studies, Year 5&6 have been looking at What’s in the news. We have learnt that people like to read about news that happens in their local area and that articles are written to appeal to a target audience. We have written some articles to appeal to other children in the area who might be interested in what we are doing in our local area. We hope you enjoy reading them!

I go to Sierra Bernia School and next to the school there’s a studio of ballet. I have been going to ballet since 2003. Every summer we practice to do a show in the casa de cultura. I like classic ballet. I go on Tuesdays and Fridays. I like to go there because it’s very interesting. By Ariadna (Year 5).

My name is Ella Mae and I live in La Nucia and I got o Sierra Bernia School. Near my school there is a theatre group called Broadway and we practice at Don Quijote. We did a big performance at the casa de cultura in Alfaz. I was the star of the show, I was Peter Pan. This year will be my third year, it is very friendly and I love it!

Jimbo and Sharon Gaffeny run the Broadway. Sharon was on television when she was younger. We do a pantomime at Christmas and Benidorm’s got talent in February. We also do a summer show, a Hallowe’en show and then back to the pantomime.

The times are Thursday and Friday, 5:30 to 7:30 and on Saturday 10:30 to 2:30. I am ten years old and it’s very fun if you love singing and dancing or acting. By Ella Mae (Year 6).

I am Amalia and when I came to Sierra Bernia School, I made lots of friends and we’ve got kind teachers like Mrs Sweet and Mrs Letchford. You can eat in the comedor or you can bring a packed lunch. I’ve got a friend called Ella, she’s cool. I am a good singer and I like to sing Hannah Montana or Miley Cirus songs, and Camp Rock songs. By Amalia (Year 5).

In Sierra Bernia School we are learning all about spies and the gadgets they use. In Maths we are learning about area and perimeter and in science we are learning about planets and the Sun. I have learned that it takes a year for the Earth to go around the Sun. By Joe (Year 5).

Stop Press! Year 4, 5, & 6 Visit Costa Blanca News

As part of our literacy studies this term, years 4, 5 and 6 have been learning about various aspects of media and journalism. On Friday, they consolidated their knowledge with a trip to the Costa Blanca News offices where they were escorted round by the Editor James Parks.

The children spent an hour questioning the Editor and asking a range of challenging and interesting questions about the history and production of the paper before being given a tour of the offices. The children spoke to some of the journalists on the news desk and looked at how the both the news paper and website are edited and maintained on a daily basis then went downstairs to the print room to see how a newspaper is printed.

Some of the children took a real interest in the running of the paper and were keen to show the Editor some of their own work. Jack, Joe, Matthew and Laurence of year 5 and 6 presented James Parks with a copy of the school news letter they had produced and Ella gave him a news article on the Trojan Horse she had completed over the weekend. The children's work certainly impressed the Editor and he will be keeping his eye on a couple of budding reporters who caught his attention.

As the latest edition of the Coasta Blanca News was out that day, each child was given their own copy of the newspaper to take away with them and the children also had their photo taken outside the offices and with the editor himself!

So watch this space and look out for the next generation of journalists and editors coming for our very own school!!!!

Year 9 Science Trip To The Cuevas del Canelobre

In their science lessons Year 9 have been learning about the formation of rocks. Rocks in a science lab are one thing, but to actually go into a real cave and see some magnificent rock formations is quite another!

The trip to the Caves at Canelobre near Alicante, was a wonderful opportunity to see these powerful processes at work first hand. Leaving a wet SBS at 9.30 we reached the caves by 10.30 and entered the cave itself at about 11.00 am.

For those of you who have never been there the cave is like a massive natural Gothic cathedral! It has a fascinating history stretching back hundreds of years, and many splendid examples of stalagmites and stalactites.

(Now, which way around is it? Which ones come down from the ceiling and which grow up from the floor? Ask any Yr 9 - they will know.)

The class was brilliantly behaved throughout and thoroughly enjoyed their day's exploring!

Year 2 Assembly - Doing The Right Thing When You're Six Years Old!

In a brilliant assembly Year 2 showed us all how they make decisions about how to behave.

We all know that doing "the right thing" can be very difficult at times! As part of their Personal, Health, & Social Education Programme, Yr2 have been exploring the importance of thinking carefully about the choices they make!

This was very cleverly shown in an assembly that had all the lower school really thinking about what was going on. Congratulations to Mrs Luckhurst and all the Yr 2 pupils for a very thought provoking 20 minutes!

Years 7 & 8 Become Greek & Roman Time Travellers!

On Tuesday, 13th October, immediately after the October "puente" holiday, Years 7 and 8 set off, on the School bus, for Alicante, for an all day excursion. Mrs Ana Rico, Year 8's Form Tutor, and Mrs Holmes, who teaches History to both classes, were guides for the pupils.

Their first stop was at the Tossal de Manises, the site of the Roman City of Lucentum, which today, we all know as Alicante City. Archaeologists are still at work on the site, excavating ancient ruins. One of the main points of interest of this part of the excursion was to look at a part of the original floor mosaic, which is situated near the observation point.

The group moved on to the Parque de Palmeras, where they enjoyed some free time and their snack lunches, before going on to Alicante City.

The main purpose of the excursion was to visit MARQ~the Museo Arqueologico de Alicante, where The Body Beautiful exhibition is being held. This excellent display of ancient Greek sculptures is a result of collaboration between The British Museum in London and the MARQ.

The Exhibition, which has been running since April, was opened by Her Majesty Queen Sophia of Spain. The high light for all of the pupils was the remarkable Discobolus, or the Discus- thrower. This sculpture is famous the world over, and the one on show in Alicante is a Roman copy that was found in Emperor Hadrian's villa in Tivoli, Italy.

Year 3 Assembly - Scarecrows

Mrs Martinez's class welcomed the autum season with a display of hand-made scarecrows in this week's assembly at Sierra Bernia School.

They also introduced themselves and their families in perfect English which was great considering that four of the children began the school term not speaking any English whatsoever!

Well done Year 3 and keep up the good work!

Year 5 & 6 In The News.

After producing the school magazine and delivering a wonderful assembly all about newspapers, Years 5 & 6 have found themselves in the papers themselves!

Front page on The Costa Blanca News and inside The Post! So, "Hold the press", and let's look forward to hearing from our budding journalists in the future!

Coughs and Sneezes!

The school was pleased to welcome back Mrs Sweet this week after a few days away with a very bad chest infection. Year 4 were very pleased to see her as were all the art classes who are producing outstanding work under her guidance.

Sadly, Mr MacInnes was unwell on Monday and had to go home. All the pupils and staff wish him a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him back with us again soon.