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!

End of Term Fun Day in Benidorm.

Yay - we've reached the end of the term!

After all the hard work (and especially those dreaded exams) it's time to relax a little. And what better place to do that than at the Bowling Arcade in Benidorm!

Upper Primary joined the whole of the Upper School and all had a very enjoyable time with everyone showing off their bowling skills.

I think some of the staff must have enjoyed a very misspent youth - Mrs Holmes, where did you learn to bowl like that?

This was followed by lunch and a time to relax on the beach before returning to school in time for 4 pm.

Well done to everyone - you all behaved so well throughout 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.

Swimming Gala!

One of the most enjoyable events in our annual calander in the school swimming gala. This year was no exception and a wonderful day was had by all who took part at the open air pool in Alfaz.

The pupils were divided into teams and, once again, Kirill in Year 9 showed his leadership qualities by powering his Red team to yet another outstanding victory.

Kirill is Russian and his motivational style is very simple yet very powerful. He was overheard coaching some of the younger pupils with the following gem:

"You want medal?" The two year 3's said "Yes" Kirill then replied with a simple "Then win"! It worked - they did! Perhaps we should get him to manage the woeful English football team!

This was a thoroughly enjoyable day and well done to everyone who competed so splendidly.

School Prize Day

With the school year nearing an end it was time to look back and celebrate all the great achievements of the pupils at Sierra Bernia.


So, on Thursday 24th we arrived at the Casa de Cultura in Alfaz for our annual Prize Day.


Mr Duncan Allan, school owner, set the tone for this wonderful celebration by reminding pupils that school is about preparing for the future. His opening address was followed by Years 7 and 8 reading poetry in English, French, and Spanish.


Each class then performed something to show the work they have been doing, and individuals received prizes for their attitude and achievements throughout the year.


In addition to the individual awards, every pupil received a certificate for successfully completing the school year.


This was truly a celebration of all the great work that happens at Sierra Bernia School and there were certainly some emotional tears of pride from the parents who supported the event so well.

Sierra Bernia Sports Day!

Friday 18th June saw the whole school attending the Polidesportivo in Alfaz for our annual Sports Day.

This is a really fun day where four "house" teams compete against each other to be crowned champions at the end of the day.

Everybody has the opportunity to gain points for their team and, although it is always good to win, the real fun is just in taking part.

Many parents and friends came to add their support to the day as the pupils went through a variety of sports events, both serious and fun. I'm not sure there is currently an Olympic category for "Egg and Spoon" race!

Enjoy the photographs of our future sporting stars in action!

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.

Pirates Of The Caribbean!

After four intense weeks of rehersals, Sierra Bernia School's Summer production came to a wonderful climax at the Casa de Cultura in Alfaz del Pi on Wednesday 19th May.

What a wonderful show it was! With children from reception through to the exam class taking part it really was a "whole school" event.

Congatulations to everyone who worked so hard to make this possible and a special thanks to Pascalle and Victor from Street Wise Productions for making it all possible.

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!

The Pirates Are Coming!

There is great excitement building within the school as we prepare for our annual music and drama production - this year based around "The Pirates Of The Caribbean"! Here's a quick look behind the scenes at rehearsals .....

Watch Your Heads - King Henry Visits Sierra Bernia!

Year 4 took us all back to Tudor times with a wonderful assembly on the life and times of King Henry VIII.

You remember? Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived! And that was just his wives! Tough times for a king's wife in those days!

Ahh! I can't watch! This was how to divorce your wife Tudor style!

This was a full production with wonderful costumes and great acting shown by all.

The Hall was filled with parents and friends of the school, who all thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle.

Congratulations to Mrs Sweet and all the Year 4 pupils (plus guests) that made this such a thrilling assembly.

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.

Saint Patrick's Day Fun - Spot The Leprechauns!

Our wonderful Mrs Vaughan - always full of Irish mischief - was visited by a whole family of Leprechauns on St Patrick's Day. It turns out that her class have another life with the little people. Have a good look at the picture and see if you can spot your favourite little friend!

World Maths Day!

Wednesday 3rd March saw the whole school throwing its collective mental muscle behind World Maths Day.

This is a truly amazing world-wide competition with children from all parts of the globe competing against each other in a series of graded mental maths challenges.

Everybody had great fun throughout the day and there were some great results from many of our pupils.

If you look carefully you can even see Mr Allan, School Director, having a go!

The day was made possible by the re-launch of our Computer Suite which handled the work load really well.

Our thanks go to Mrs Letchford who organised and set up the whole day.

Special congratulations go to the following pupils:

Name (Year) Number of correct answers

Kirill (Y9) 7210
Ahmar (Y4) 4782
Maksim (Y5) 4023
Alex (Y4) 2911
Daniil (y7) 1328
Faye (Y4) 1043
Maite (Y7) 827
Lucas (Y1) 806
Dylan (Y8) 747
German (Y10) 695

And finally... A quote from the World Maths Day Site. "World Maths Day is all over! Congratulations on a new World Record! 1,133,246 students and 56,082 schools from 235 countries have united to set a new world record by correctly answering 479,732,613 questions."

Brilliant!