Half Term 4

All the news from this half term

Wednesday 17th April

Spring Term concludes with an International celebration

As we come to the end of another term filled with a huge range of different activities, events and achievements, it is important to take a step back and reflect, in order to consolidate the learning process and identify areas for further development. Teachers go through this process every day and always try to get the students working in the same way to maximise their potential. Today's international celebration was a beautiful reminder of the 87 different nationalities that we now host in the school, which is a unique and wonderful opportunity to work with and learn from people from such diverse backgrounds. The fashion show and flag parade was a fantastic end to proceedings, reminding students to be proud of who they are and where they come from. I would like to thank Kaviesh, Charlotte, Nadia and Emanuella in Year 10 for their planning and organisation of the days activities and assembly. Also, to the facilities team, Mr Nelson and Ms Jones, for their invaluable contributions in bringing everything together.

We also announced our Head Boy and Head Girl for 2019-20. Outgoing Head Prefects Zeina Galal and Zaher Al Mudhaweb announced Smayan Sharma and Mehnaz Maqbool as Head Boy and Girl, with Mohamed Ali and Vian Rifat as their deputies. The Senior Prefect team is completed by Dana Abdulnabi, Suad Ismael, Edward Erhunmwunsee and Aryaman Arora, who will lead the various committees along with the deputies, and assist the Head Prefects with their main task of running the student council and ensuring that the student voice is heard. We wish Zeina and Zaher all the best in their next chapter at University and thank them for all of their hard work, supporting admirably by Julia Sheikh and Rishi Malhotra. We know the new team have big shoes to fill and are very excited that they will be up to the task!

Our Year 11 French and Spanish students completed their oral examinations over the last week, including some last minute weekend catch up sessions. The dedication and commitment of Mme Brault, Ms Watson, Mr Calveri, Ms Encinar, Ms Ruiz is simply first class and we are sure the students were well prepared and gave their best.

A few students took part in the St Christophers music festival recently, with some students receiving medals for their wonderful musical talents. Congratulations to Laneash De Souza, Maria Salah, Nyall Thoppil, Rose Baslious, Maria Salah and Dalia Al Bakry, who won a gold medal. More images below.

Mahdi Tohami (Y7) has been representing the Bahrain U14 National Football team and has been their captain for recent tournaments. A wonderful achievement! More images below of Mahdi with his BSB and Bahrain team mates.

Mr White and Ms McKee have arrived in Sri Lanka with a group of students for an adventure trip and Mr Hughes and Ms Gorick are in Oman for the Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award expedition. We are very grateful to our staff for giving up their precious holiday to support such wonderful opportunities for the students, who are having a wonderful time. Ms Gay and her tutor team took most of our Year 8 students on a rewards trip to Wahoo yesterday, to celebrate the end of a successful term.

Finally, a special mention must go out to Layla Al Ammari (Y13), who has been a huge part of the debate club for many years. She organises debates, teaches and turns up religiously every week to support students voluntarily. She will be leaving us to go to University and will be sadly missed by all those students who have benefited from her experience and expertise in debating. She has helped shape the talk, minds and attitudes of many. I'm sure she will not be forgotten. Layla gave one final 'showcase' performance at the debate club on Monday and wowed the audience with her calm but coercive tone. We thank Layla for everything she has done and wish her all the very best at University.

Wishing all families a safe, restful and enjoyable holiday, wherever in the world you may be.

Mr Ridgway, Mr McHugh & Ms Jones

BSB International Day 2019

MASH Foundation Donation

A few weeks ago a DHL delivery of books, donated from the BSB community, reached the MASH foundation in Kenya. They were delighted with their new books and wanted to share their thanks with everyone who supported them. This would not have happened without the coordination of Ms Cullen and the generous support of Mr ElBarshoumy and DHL, who shipped everything free of charge for us.

MASH Foundation Thank you 2.mp4

Thursday 11th April

Year 10 out and about on Work Experience

Year 10 students have spent the week in various places of work across Bahrain as part of their work experience. Many students sourced their own placements, supported by Mr Abbas throughout the process. All students visited were having a great time and learning lots along the way. A full report will be included in next week's blog! A selection of photos below.

International Day @ the BSB

As you may already be aware, on Wednesday 17^th April, we are holding our Annual International Day. We would like to invite the students to leave their uniforms behind on this special and unique day and either come to school wearing their countries national dress, the colours of their national flag or the national dress of another country. The day is about celebrating the rich cultures and heritages of our school. Throughout the morning there will be lots of different event going on from an International market place to an International extravaganza and fashion show hosted by our wonderful Year 10 Community Ambassadors. We are also very excited and privilege to be hosting a visit from the British Royal Marine Band who will be performing to all three school during the morning.

The school will be finishing at 12.30 pm on this day. Kindly make arrangements to pick up your son / daughter from the school at this time.

Mr Ridgway

Head of Seniors

Thursday 4th April

New Assistant Head appointed

I am delighted to announce that Mr Adrian White has been appointed as Assistant Head, Head of Academics, from August 2019. He will take charge of the curriculum, timetable, assessment and reporting. Adrian has been a highly effective Head of Year since 2017 and has a wealth of experiences that will enable him to contribute to the continued development of the senior school. I am very lucky to be working with such a wonderful leadership team and wish Mr White all the very best in his new role.

Mr Ridgway

Head of Seniors

Sports Stars of the Future

Liam Marshall from Year 9 travelled to Scotland last week to take part in the Scottish National Swimming Championships in Glasgow. Liam who is a member of the BSB Swim Squad, the Bahrain National Elite Swim Team and the Stirling Swim Club took part in the 50m butterfly and freestyle, 100m and 200m butterfly where he made the final. In the final of the 100m butterfly Liam took fourth place just missing out on a bronze medal by a finger tip. During the Championships he broke 6 personal best in both the qualifying rounds and also the Finals. Well done Liam we are very proud of your achievements.

Yasmeen Al Zurikat from Year 7 has been selected to play in the Bahrain Women Football League for the Raven's football team. Yazzy is the youngest ever player to play in this league and has scored in every game she has played in for the Raven's team. Last night against the Bahrain Sparks she was awarded player of the match. Well done Yazzy.

Sports League Athletics Success

A fantastic effort from both students and staff culminated with The British School of Bahrain's athletics team winning their athletics meet that was held over two weekends.Our medal winners are shown in the table below with fantastic distances and times achieved by the students. Please watch the video below of the students in action and we would like to thank all the parents for their support with special mention to Mrs Hassett and Mrs Young for taking the fantastic photographs.

Athletics 2019.mp4

World Scholar's Cup update

One of our highly successful World Scholar's Cup competitors, Maya Almoataz, has written a wonderful reflection on the experience from her own perspective. She is both eloquent and thoughtful in her piece, which has been published on the Humans of WSC website. Please feel free to have a read of her article here.

Congratulations to Maya, a fantastic achievement!

World Autism Awareness Week: 31st March-4th April 2019

In the Seniors this week we have held a range of activities to raise awareness and show our support for the World Autism Awareness Campaign. There has been lots of different event going on throughout the week including assemblies, a treasure hunt, and quizzes for students to get involved in. A special thanks to Ms Husain, Ms Gay, Sheikh Rashed Al Khalifa (Y11), the Year 8 form and charity reps and the 6th form charity committee who have been busy organised the charity events for today. These have included a charity mufti day, a bake sale, a pledge wall and a dodge ball game between an All Stars Student Team and and All Stars Staff team led by Mr Ridgway. The All Stars Student Team won the game against the teachers. All the funds raised today will be donated to a local Bahrain charity that supports individuals with Autism. The charity is called the Bahrain Society for Children with Behavioural and Communication Difficulties (BSCBCD).

Thursday 28th March

Arabic Week showcases a beautiful language

Last week the Senior School Arabic Department joined the Infant and Junior Schools and put on a magnificent celebration of the Arabic language, that lasted for the entire week and incorporated a number of events and activities. We owe immense thanks to the authors and VIPs who visited the school to tell students more about their work, and special thanks must go to Mr Mzoughi, Head of Arabic, and the Arabic Department: Mr Attia, Mr Mairchi, Ms Sabbah, and Ms Saghrouni. The accompanying video shows some of the highlights of the week; for those of you who understand Arabic, you may find the radio interview with Mr Mzoughi of interest!

pholody_sd (3).mp4

CiDA Students celebrate outstanding results in style

The CiDA students in Year 11 (and 10!) enjoyed some outstanding final results for their course a few weeks back, with the Year 11 cohort achieving 21% A*, 34% A*/A and 100% A*-C grades. The students deserve a lot of credit for this achievement, as do the computing team. Dr Al Jourani has expertly guided the students, going above and beyond to support them, offering Saturday sessions to help see them through. We are very lucky to have such a dedicated teacher!

The students were rewarded for all their hard work with a trip to take them on an educational trip to MJ Bowling in Saar to see the technology and learn more about where ICT can be used for controlling games and display.

The students were split into 6 lanes for their bowling experience and there was a lot of friendly rivalry followed by a quick meal before our return to school.

We, staff and students, were impressed with the hospitality of MJs Bowling and really enjoyed our afternoon out.

"I enjoyed the trip very much and it was a great celebration of our accomplishments!" - Mardah ElShazli 11F

"It was great spending time with our peers and teacher!" - Maryam AlAgha 11A

"The CIDA celebration trip was a really good experience, and it was very well organised as well as a good way to end our CIDA IGCSE course! Thank you DR. Al!" - Leenah Asim

"The trip was nice because it felt like we were being rewarded after months of hard work in order for us to do well in CiDA. It is highly recommended to go to this trip if you have the option." Mustafa Radhi

"Thank you for the amazing trip. The trip was really amazing and educational, after months of hard work and after getting a good gcse grade the reward was really amazing and I really appreciate all the hard work Dr Jourani did for us. Thank you so much sir." Ebrahim Alderazi

"We had so much fun engaging in bowling and celebrating our hard earned grades for Cida. It was such a fun experience!" Arwa Naser

Students enjoy epic Duke of Edinburgh trip

Last week 44 students from years 10 & 11 headed to Ras Al Khaimah to complete the Adventurous Journey portion of their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh International Award. Meeting early morning at Bahrain airport on Monday the 18th, they made their way to the secluded Challenging Adventure campsite in the Hajjar mountain range in the northeast of the UAE. Over the course of 6 days they made 2 treks (one practice and one qualifying journey) and travelled over 50km while sleeping in tents and cooking their own meals (during the journeys). There were wrong turns, sprained ankles, blisters, pulled muscles, some very questionable looking meals and an array of challenges the students had to face in order to succeed in their Adventurous Journeys. However, the culmination of 4 months of training and planning saw the students tired, weary but happy when heading home on the 23rd of March having grown more independent and rich in memories from a fantastic trip. Each and every one of them can be proud of what they achieved and I hope all will consider moving on to the Silver Award next year, as they are more than capable. Highlights of the trip included a 2km detour for one team in order to replace an animal skull, a singing session with the camp instructors before heading home, climbing RAK's "Via Ferrata", chasing tents across the desert in galeforce winds and one group's map getting eaten by a goat! A special thanks must go out to all the volunteer staff who joined us on the trip (Ms Gorick, Ms Asserpota, Mr Garwe and Mr Venter), without whom none of this would have been possible. Also a special thank you to Challenging Adventure (https://www.challengingadventure.com/) who once again provided BSB with a well planned and wonderful outdoor experience for our students.

If you're interested in learning more about the International Award at BSB see Mr Hughes or check out the website at https://britishschoolbahrain.com/seniors/beyond-the-curriculum/

BSB debate competition a huge success

This week our fabulous Mrs Hughes-Swick, and Year 9 student, Pratham Mehrotra, organised a debate competition for many of our future World Scholars. They were ably assisted by the English department, and a number of older students whose experience and expertise was invaluable during the rigorous adjudication process. What was fantastic was just how many students put time and effort into their debate preparation, meaning all of the debates were well evidenced, persuasive and eloquent. Afterwards, it was nice to have several parents join us for pizza and enjoy a showcase debate delivered by some of the older students.

Finally, if you fancy making some pancakes this weekend, while at the same time learning some French, please do watch this video, courtesy of our amazing Modern Foreign Languages Department!

Faire des cr-pes (Mar 24- 2019 at 6-56 AM).MOV

Thursday 21st March

Shrek draws the crowds!

Last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday saw the long anticipated performances of Shrek the musical, which was a wonderful success. The performance was simply breathtaking from every aspect, stage design, costumes and make up, sound and lighting, the music and songs, to the magical performances from the cast. It is hard to believe that this was a school production in a sports hall, which was truly transformed into the movie! Every aspect of production has been largely controlled by the students themselves, through a team of backstage crew to support the performers and musicians. The incredible number of hours that have gone into the production were truly worth it as everything came together perfectly for a truly wonderful evening for everyone watching. The students were a credit to themselves and the school. That said, this would not have been possible without the vision and leadership of Mr Barry Kerr as director, who did a phenomenal job of coordinating and bringing it all together through the rehearsals and performance. He was supported expertly by the dedication and expertise of Mr Lee Bissell and Mr Scott Hughes. The school are very lucky to have this team of talented staff and are most grateful for their endless hours! If you don't believe us, check this link to an independent review of the show!

Shrek 2019.mp4

2019-20 Senior Prefect Team announced

Eight Year 12 students have been selected to be the Senior Prefect Team 2019-20. From the Team, the Head Boy and Head Girl will be elected next month by the entire Senior School. They are busy now preparing their presentations to give over the next few weeks. Congratulations to Mohamed Ali, Aryaman Arora, Smayan Sharma, Dana Abdulnabi, Vian Rifat, Edward Erhunmwunsee, Suad Ismael, and Mehnaz Maqbool.

International Read to Me Week 2019

Hi, my name is Hana Khadir and I’m in Year 7. I am an Ambassador for International Read to Me Day which falls on 19th March and is a campaign which promotes the importance of reading to younger children. A few weeks ago, I approached our Head of Middle School, Ms Jones and asked her whether we could celebrate this day at school. She agreed and since then, I have been busy helping to organise a special event at our school. This week a group of girls and I did guided reading with the Year 1 classes. During the sessions we listened to students read and other times we read to them. Working with the younger children was fun and I’ve enjoyed working on this project. I am so glad that I have introduced Read to Me Day to the BSB and I hope we can continue this connection between the infant and senior schools. Special thanks to Ms Jones, Mr Hadwin and all the year 7 girls who pitched in to help!

Hana Khadir Year 7

World School Games Students Honoured

The PE Department put on a presentation for the competitors from the World School Games 2019, including some snacks and beverages while they viewed the photos from their weekend away. So that you don't miss out, the same presentation is below for your viewing pleasure! Another huge thank you to Mr Macmillan and Ms Gay for all of their work accompanying the students, and to the rest of the PE team for their support in preparing the students for the tournament.

WSG 2019.mp4

Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award well underway

Mr Hughes, Mr Garwe, Mrs Gorick, Ms Sunil and Mr Venter are currently in the UAE desert with 46 students from Year 10 & 11 as they undertake the expedition portion of the Duke of Edinburgh bronze award. This involves a trek through the desert, marking their journey at a series of check points, setting up a camp for an overnight stay, followed by further trekking on the second day. All of this armed with a map, compass and all equipment they need to eat and sleep on their back. Congratulations to all students for your efforts, you will have earned your rest when you finish!

Thursday 14th March

Shrek: The Musical opens, and it is still not to late to purchase tickets!

Last night saw our much-anticipated school production, Shrek: The Musical, open to great acclaim. The production, which has been meticulously planned by our staff and students, runs tomorrow and Friday night too, and there are still limited tickets available on the door, with the performance beginning at 7pm both evenings. To whet your appetite, do feast your eyes on the following pictures!

In lessons today the students have been demonstrating their learning in ways other than written work, which is always a welcome change for them. In Mrs Motara's Biology class Year 12 students investigated the tensile strength - the maximum stress caused by a pulling force, that a material can withstand without breaking - of plant fibres. Meanwhile, Mr McHugh's Year 10 Economists presented their research work on different types of businesses. From sole trader to co-operative, the students learned about how each type of business has different characteristics and how they may impact upon economies in different ways.

Thursday 7th March

Sports Days a resounding success

This week saw the postponed (due to weather) sports days, which this year were split into a day for Years 7-9 and a day for Years 10-13. Held once more at the rugby club, we were blessed with blue skies and warm weather, and so the sun lotion was slapped on and bottles of water held close to hand. The PE staff planned and managed two wonderful days enjoyed by all, and out Year 9 and 12 helpers were magnificent score keepers and runners. Our big congratulations to Dragon House, the winners of the KS3 Sports Day; and Phoenix House, the winners of the KS4 Sports Day.

KS4.mp4

KS3.mp4

This week our Year 13 Biologists spent even more time out in the sun, completing fieldwork with Ms Motara and Mr Nixon. The students used quadrats to measure species distribution in the local vicinity.

On the trail of Al Andalus … Madrid, Seville, Granada & Cordoba

In the way too early hours of Wednesday morning 20^th of February, a group of 28 intrepid travelers set off for a whirlwind tour of Spain! On arrival in Madrid we went for lunch, followed by a tour of the Real Madrid stadium and an impromptu press conference. The following day we had a royal appointment at the palace! After the tour we had lunch at the Hard Rock and then on to Plaza Norte shopping centre, with the resulting impact on Spain’s GDP! The next morning it was an early start to catch the AVE to Seville which reaches a top speed of 310km/h! In Seville we took a boat trip along the Guadalquivir River and had a guided tour of the Cathedral, a World Heritage Site which houses the tomb of Christopher Columbus. We climbed up to the top of the Giralda for a spectacular view of the city. Next, we travelled by luxury coach through the Andalusian olive groves to Granada, home of yet another World Heritage Site, the Alhambra. We also visited the amazing Parque de las Ciencias which houses more than 250 species of plants and animals: we swam with the sharks and hung out with the lemurs! We also saw inside the human body and experimented with different instruments in the interactive musical exhibition. Then on to Cordoba and the renowned Mosque-Cathedral. From Cordoba we once again took the fast train AVE back to Madrid and then home to Bahrain for a well-deserved rest.

World Book Day at the BSB

Today at the BSB we celebrated World Book Day. World Book day is a global event and the philosophy and mission behind the day is to celebrate authors, illustrators, books and most importantly it's a celebration of reading. World Book Day is an actual registered charity whose mission is to give every child and young person a book of their own. Our students and staff today pulled out all the stops when it came to dressing up as characters from their favourite books.

International Women's Day 2019

Today at the BSB we hosted a very important event to celebrate International Women's Day. The campaign theme this year was 'Balance for Better'. Mrs Julia Knight Head of Year 10 organised a panel of influential Women from different sectors of the Bahrain community to speak to a selection of students from the BSB community. The event was a huge success and a big thank you to Charlotte Rodney from Year 10 for hosted the event. For more details please read Mr Smith' Blog.

World Book Day and International Women’s Day 2019

The World School Games 2019

It is absolutely crucial that sport is used to represent the school on the international stage. This year we competed in the Senior World School Games 2019, held in Dubai (28th February - 2nd March) led by Mr Macmillan and Miss Gay. The team consisted of 9 boys and girls from Year 7 and 8, who had gone through a rigorous selection process and training regime. We competed in football, athletics and swimming. We gained a bronze medal for 1200m (Eva McAuliffe), a bronze medal for girls breast stroke (Lucy Hassett) and a bronze medal for the girls swimming freestyle relay team (Alexandria Baillie, Ella Stenson, Dafni Themistocleous and Eva McAuliffe). Overall the team finished in 12th position and demonstrated outstanding attitude, sportsmanship and ability. All staff are very proud of the team!

International Read To Me Week 2019

Hi, my name is Hana Khadir and I’m in year 7. I am an Ambassador for International Read to Me Day which falls on 19th March and is a campaign which promotes the importance of reading to younger children. A few weeks ago, I approached our Head of Middle School, Ms Jones and asked her whether we could celebrate this day at school. She agreed and since then, I have been busy helping to organise a special event at our school. This week a group of girls and I did guided reading with the Year 1 classes. During the sessions we listened to students read and other times we read to them. Working with the younger children was fun and I have enjoyed working on this project. I am so glad that I have introduced Read to Me Day to the BSB and I hope we can continue this connection between the Infant and Senior school'. Special thanks to Ms Jones, Mr Hadwin and all the year 7 girls who pitched in to help!

Hana Khadir

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