Year 3 students had their own special trip to Yabeela Play Park at Al Liwan, next door to BSB, on Sunday. I think they are very brave, going on the thrill ride, as you can see in the ten-second video. Thanks to Mr Maguire for the video.

It really is wonderful to be able to have our end-of-year trips as a special treat after all the diligent work and learning that the children have done over the thousand hours of the school year.

Many thanks to Mr Travers and Mr Doyle in Years 5 and 6, and all the teachers in Years 3 and 4, for this week's super-advanced Science Fair presentations. Parents kindly visited to watch their children and classmates share the results of the scientific investigations they have been carrying out in recent weeks. Many of us were surprised by our findings. Science is driven forward by hypotheses being proven false, so have no fear if your results and conclusions were the opposite of what you thought they might be.

Here is a Google photo album of the Science Fair.

There was a real air of excitement across BSB this morning as we all spent the first part of the day in our new year groups for September.

Here you can see Ayaan, a BSB Senior School Prefect (and a past member of the Junior Head Student Team) giving our Year 6 students a talk on life in the Senior School. Ayaan is in Year 9 now. Straight after today's transition meetings, he headed off to travel to the World Scholars Cup event in Dubai this weekend.

It was a pleasure to welcome this year's Y2 students into the junior school, to get a taste of life in Year 3. Now we can all have a happy summer, knowing that there are wonderful things in store for us at BSB in September.

Clubs have now ended for this term.

There are no after-school clubs next week.

A new season of clubs will be announced in the new school year.

Term ends at 12:00 midday on Thursday 30 June.

Children should be collected at 12:00 midday from their usual pickup point, please.

School buses will leave at 12:10pm on that day.

Bahrain Tennis Club (BTC) organised a Junior Circuit Tennis Tournament on 1-17 June, in which 55 players of all ages participated in the Under-12 Boys' Singles category.

Atif in class 6.10 played a series of awesome games and became the overall champion.

Well done, Atif! The Wimbledon Championships start soon - maybe we shall see Atif win a Wimbledon final in a few years' time.

Report from Mr Drennan

Sean, one of our Year 6 students and the captain of our football squad, traveled last week to Turin, Italy to take part in a Juventus invitational training academy. As well as training alongside some of the best young players in Italy, he was joined by the leading Juventus Academy players from as far afield as the USA and Canada. Sean experienced the lifestyle of a professional footballer as he spent the days at the Juventus training ground under the guidance of top Italian coaches and I am sure that he impressed the coaches with his skill and determination. Sean enjoyed eating lots of pasta and even picked up a few Italian phrases. We wish Sean all the best and, who knows, we may see him playing in Serie A one day... watch this space!

Year 3 students revisited their Roman Humanities topic this week by going on a trip to The Mosaic House! They were very creative, designing their very own Roman style mosaics.

After a short bus trip with their friends they arrived at the Mosaic House and got to choose their own template. Some students chose unicorns, others chose bats and some chose butterflies! There were so many fun templates to choose from. After that, the students were given step by step instructions on how to design their own patterns on their templates using little colourful tiles and glue. After designing very creative mosaics, the students had their lunch outside in the beautiful Mosaic House garden. The Year 3's had so much fun and smiled and laughed all day making mosaics and memories.

Here is the photo album.

On Monday 13th June, the junior boys' and girls’ basketball teams hosted Nadeen Junior School to take part in a friendly tournament. Both teams played many quick-fire 4-minute matches, gaining further experience of playing in a competitive environment.

Jena AlZenji: “The girl's team had great chemistry. We all worked hard for each other and played with a great tempo. I was so excited and proud of the whole team.”

Momin Ghani: “We got off to a great start in the tournament. The first win made us feel as though we were unstoppable! It was an amazing feeling to play on our home court with the support of our friends and parents.”

Thank you to Nadeen school for attending the tournament and thank you to the parents who came along to support.

Photos

Next week is the final week of clubs for this term. Clubs end on Thursday 23 June. I hope everyone has had a super term of clubs. I have been amazed by the progress my simulator pilots have made in Flight Simulation club on Tuesdays. They can all control their aircraft well, with gentle control inputs, making steady, smooth turns and even some numbers landings, right on the runway centreline. They have experimented with the autopilot and learned a lot about flying.

It's Maths Day and we have had a wonderful time. Instead of our usual Thursday timetable, we have taken part in a carousel of mathematical activities, learning, teaching one another and having fun at the same time. We have practised Countdown challenges throughout the week, leading to the day's spectacular finale. Thanks to Mr Smith and Mr Drennan for making Maths Week possible.

Here is a Photo album of Maths Week.

On Monday 6th June, the junior boys’ football team traveled to St Christopher’s Junior School in Saar to take part in an indoor friendly tournament. The boy’s played many quick-fire 2 minute matches, gaining experience of playing a different style of football, using the heavier futsal ball.

The BSB Eco-Rangers reminded us yesterday about World Ocean Day. It is vital that we look after the world's oceans, and we can do that even if we spend all our time on dry land. We have to make sure that we do not throw plastic waste into regular dustbins, or leave it lying around. If we do, it will find its way into the oceans, and all living things will suffer, including us.

Reduce the amount of plastic you use. Recycle anything you have to use, in a proper recycling bin that you can trust.

For a moment, as I was walking down the corridor, I thought I was on the North Sea, aboard a Viking longboat. I'd been entranced by the hypnotic seascape mural, made by Year 4 students, in the style of the artist L S Lowry. Following the roaring success of the Viking exhibitions last week, the students and their teachers still found the energy to create this wonderful work of historical art, and to display it proudly for us.

Congratulations to Hamnah in class 6.10 on achieving her Red Belt in Taekwondo, a martial art that you can learn through the BSB Elements programme.

Taekwondo is a discipline that shows ways of enhancing our spirit and life through training our body and mind. Today, it has become a global sport that has gained an international reputation, and stands among the official games in the Olympics.

Maths Week is coming up next week. Mr Drennan and Mr Smith have put together a super compendium of mathemagical activities, including visits to Al Liwan mall, and a numerical tour of the school building.

Looking forward to some cracklingly calculating fun and learning.

In accordance with national guidelines in Bahrain, it is no longer mandatory for students to stay remote from school if a member of the household is in isolation, although we do advise every precaution against creating potential contact situations. Any student who has symptoms must stay remote from school until fully recovered, please. Thank you for your support, over the past two years and moving forward, in the battle against COVID-19.

We are enjoying our outdoor break times very much. Students who like to play football on the astro pitch at break time are welcome to bring a football, to play fairly and kindly with their classmates and friends. Tennis balls are allowed on the basketball court at break times.

The Vikings are coming! Polish your war axes and light up those longships - Year 4 will be in full Viking mode next week, proudly displaying their Viking exhibitions in the admin foyer for all to see. You can find specific details for each class's exhibition on Google Classroom pages.

Unfurl the sails and watch out for those fearsome figureheads. If you live in Lindisfarne, be extra vigilant for flying spears and oncoming longships. Let battle commence!

A note to parents who use the u-turn pick-up at the end of the school day: if you would like to leave your car and collect your child on foot, please make sure your car is parked in a marked space near the far wall, or parked alongside the safety chain, not obstructing the roadway.

If you intend to pick up your child at the u-turn, please notify your child's teacher. Then, we can have your child ready, supervised by staff, at the u-turn area, so there is no need for you to leave your car. Used properly, the area can accommodate many vehicles passing through in a short time. Thank you for your help and cooperation.

This week, we were visited by Ms Akylah Rodriguez, host of the Breakfast Show on Radio 99.1 BFBS. Ms Akylah worked with a group of children on a describing activity - they each wore a blindfold and were then given an object to hold. They described the objects without being able to see them, and were invited to guess what object they were holding.

Radio BFBS will be broadcasting the audio descriptions over the coming weeks, starting with 6.10 Molly's description on Monday 9 May.

This week, we said a big 'thank you' to last term's Head Student Team, Lara, Ben, Molly and Efe. They did a super job, running the weekly assemblies and keeping me updated with everything going on around the school. The outgoing team handed over their roles to the term 3 team, pictured below. Check out the newsflash video to see the handover in action. The new team ran their first assembly this afternoon - well done, and welcome to your roles!

The booking window will close to parents on Saturday 7 May, 23:55.

Sunday 8 May is a staff development day, therefore the school will be closed to students.

Term 3 clubs will start on Monday 9 May.