Dear Parents,

As the school year comes to an end I thank all children, teachers, support staff and parents for their enthusiasm, hard work and contribution to the BSB community. It has been a pleasure to watch these wonderful children learn and grow. The poise and maturity of the children in Year 2 at their graduation assembly was clear evidence that the Infants' has done its job. They spoke clearly and confidently, sang beautifully and behaved with a decorum fitting of the occasion. Different cohorts of children have a distinct personalities, some year groups are particularly easy going, others full of original ideas, others a complicated blend of excitable personalities. This particular Year 2 group will be remembered for their wonderful generosity of spirit. They truly look out for one another and rejoice in each others' successes. We are proud to send them up to the Juniors where we know they are in excellent hands.

Dear Parents,

The week seems to be rushing by as we move closer to the end of the school year. There is an air of excitement in the Year 2 corridor as the children prepare for their graduation assembly on the 1^st of July. Many thanks to the Arabic department for decorating the corridor so beautifully. I hope you enjoy the preview as the children were practising in assembly this morning. There were definitely a few tears in the eyes of the teachers as the children were singing so poignantly.

Winners all round!

Congratulations to the winners of the Ramadan quiz. We were delighted with the response and are very grateful to out sponsors Victoria Dance, Build a Bear, Yellow Submarine, Dr Tariq Hospital, Budget, HSBC, Playsy and the Gulf Hotel. Well done to Rayan and Lilly Hinderdeal, Hamad Al Ayad, Ali Ahmed, Tony Zeitounie, Antonio Zgheid, Yousif, Thalia and Khalid Ahmed, Ali Al Halwachi, Naya Khawaja, Layan Ali, Dana Mohammed, Nour Tannous, Saisha and Gayatri Vohra, for answering so many questions correctly. Thank you too to all other participants. We hope to make the BSB Ramadan quiz an annual event.

Nursery Concert

It has been lovely to see the confidence of children in Nursery grow as the year has progressed. They positively glowed with self belief during the Nursery concerts- dancing and singing their hearts out! Different classes chose different stories as the basis of their productions, but Cave Baby, The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Giraffes Can’t Dance all provided the perfect, age appropriate inspiration. The attention to detail in the costumes and the humorous and original props set the tone even before the children started to perform. Encouraged by some of the most enthusiastic audiences ever, the children threw any inhibitions to the wind and gave their all on stage.

Many thanks to Ms. Jess and Team Nursery for creating the scripts, preparing the children and giving us all such a treat!

Bravo Ellie!

The Reception production had a beautifully simple storyline. Ellie the Elephant wanted to leave the circus to explore the world. On her way to the airport in a taxi, Ellie had a dream about her friends and family in the circus. She then came to the conclusion that home is where the heart is and decided to ask the driver to return her to her loved ones in the circus.

During Ellie’s dream the audience were treated to performances by acrobats, lion tamers, magicians, clowns and a marching band. Children in Reception did their teachers proud! Their enthusiasm as they sang, danced, twirled and recited was infectious and it wasn’t long before hands were clapping and heels tapping in the audience.

Of course such productions only happen with tremendous effort from all involved. Many many thanks to Mrs Robson, Ms Fearon, Mr Mark and all the teachers and assistants involved in the creation of ‘Ellie the Elephant’. Thank you too to all the children, for spreading their enthusiasm and good cheer.

Thank you Year 2

The Holy Month of Ramadan seems to be passing very quickly this year. There has been the usual warm atmosphere in the school marking this special time of year. However, only this week, there is a definite sense that many of our community - parents, teachers and children alike, are starting to tire. So many people are absolutely stretched to capacity, which is why what happened this morning was so touching!

I was invited to visit the library by children in Year 2 for a surprise! Almost overnight the space had been transformed into an exhibition of the children’s learning about the ocean as part of their journeys topic. Great thought, creativity and care had on into the exhibition- as well as many man hours. Thank you Year 2 for going above and beyond to create a little bit of magic.

Dear Parents,

Year 2 had an impromptu movie streaming in assembly this morning. The theme was kindness and looking after one another. The video says it all really- children stumble and their friends rally to help them straight back up again. Their home made movie led to deeper conversation that if someone is feeling down, it is still a good idea for their friends to look after them and be there for them. I couldn’t help but remember my very first Reception class. New to the school, I was trying to elicit from the children what was special about BSB. The first, very astute response from four year old Kristine was “At BSB, we look after one another.” Thank You Mr Collins and 2.9 for making the movie and for reminding us of the important things in our school community.

Ramadan Appeal

Thank you to those who contributed to the Ramadan Appeal for the Migrant Workers Protection Society and to the generous parent volunteers. I am delighted to report that we have a huge number of shoebox gifts of items for donation. If you would still like to contribute next week, items can be delivered to the Infants head teacher office and I will take them to the collection point in seniors.

We are continuing to enjoy the Ramadan Spirit at school and wish you a relaxing weekend.

Dear Parents,

Many thanks to all the parent volunteers, children and teachers who have worked tirelessly to get the Ramadan Charity Appeal off to such a great start. We already have a good number beautifully wrapped shoe boxes full of essential items ready for distribution and the mountain of dried foods we have requested is growing daily.

We will continue to receive donations for migrant workers until Thursday 23^rd May. Items can be dropped off between 7:30 am and 8:00 am in the nursery corridor.

There is a reminder of the required items below, but even one item for a shoebox, or indeed an empty shoebox is also very gratefully received. The team are compiling shoeboxes as donations come in.

Surprise Visitors

Teachers in Year 2 were unable to come into school this morning. There was a hushed silence in the Year 2 corridor as Mr Brant and I explained the situation to the children, asking for their cooperation and a promise to be on their very best behaviour, particularly as the teachers absence coincided with a formal visit to the school by some VIP guests.

Then the fun started. I was reminded of the power of the element of surprise when trying to engage children. The Year 2 assistants took their classes on a guided tour, to meet the VIP guests. All VIP guests were waxworks of famous maritime explorers. On closer inspection, Ms Zara was Jacques Cousleau who co-developed the aqua-lung, Ms. Adrian was Mary Read, one of the first female pirates. Ms Nanda was Roald Amundsen, Mr Collins was Robert Ballard, a marine archaeologist who found the Titanic and Mrs Dashti was Christopher Columbus. I thank all the teachers concerned for making the learning such fun for the children.

Groups of children in each Year 1 class were given a particular decade to explore, ranging from the 1920's to the 1990's. On Monday they were invited to either dress up or make something representative of their particular decade and come to school prepared for a show and tell session.

The variety of responses was phenomenal. Some chose to be actresses, performers or singers from their decade - Charlie Chaplin, Jackie Kennedy and Elvis Presley all made an appearance. Others chose home entertainment such as radios, videos, televisions and the invention of the internet. There were traditional games like Monopoly and Scrabble or fast growing fads, like the Rubik's cube. And then there were some absolutely magnificent flashes of originality - the invention of the roller coaster in the 1930's and of AstroTurf in the 1960's. I congratulate all families and teachers involved. One thing is for sure, as Walt Disney himself said, this topic will be 'Making People Happy'.