Seniors 2019-20
Mr Ridgway's Update
As the curtain closes on one of the most remarkable academic years there ever has been or likely ever will be, it will be important to take some time to reflect on all that we have learned from these last 18 weeks. Education has certainly changed forever and much of what has become our daily routine will remain so even when the school site is reopened. We are all absolutely looking forward to finally returning, as the strength of BSB lies in the community and connection of all.
Having said that, now is not the time to reflect or return. Now is the time for students and parents to give themselves a big pat on the back on a job fantastically well done. It is time to relax, switch off those screens and recharge ready for September.
To our wonderful Year 13 class of 2020, you have been an absolute pleasure to guide through the senior school. I have many fond memories with you as a year group going all the way back to Year 7 and I hope that many of you keep in touch with us and visit every time you are back in Bahrain. We wish you all the very best and hope to see you all in December when we can properly celebrate your graduation.
To all of our students who are leaving BSB to continue their journey elsewhere, we thank you for your contributions and wish nothing but success for you in the future. We hope that BSB has had a positive impact on you as a person and has helped open doors for you in the future.
To our amazing staff, you have been an absolute pleasure to work with this year. I am very sad to see some of you leaving us and hope that you continue to inspire and challenge the students you teach and continue to grow as educators.
Wishing everyone a safe, relaxing and enjoyable Summer break; we all deserve it.
Mr Ridgway
Sunday 28th June
Breakthrough Junior Challenge
Two senior school students, Lobdhak Dey Argho and Yajur Nanda, have entered the Breakthrough Junior Challenge. They have prepared and submitted videos on complex topics from maths and sciences. Both have done an amazing job and I invite you to view their videos below.
Student Work
Please enjoy below some of the fantastic work that students have been completing over the last few weeks. Some highly impressive work indeed, including a sample of the Year 11 and 13 project work that has been taking place as part of the enrichment programme. The quality of work is incredible and I am immensely proud of all of the students who submitted a project.
Husam Al Qallaf_Can Nuclear Energy Save the Planet from Climate Change.pdfOliwer K_How did the Idea of Witches Influence Society_ - Oliwer K. 11E.pdf
Spanish students in Year 8 and 9 have been using the language learned all year to learn about festivals in Spanish speaking countries around the world. They were very proud to show off their 'Calavera' masks that they made as part of a project learning about how 'El Día de los Muertos' is celebrated in Central America. If you want something to do over the holidays, you can make one yourself with items that you already have in your house and Mr White will show you how in this video.
Y8 FGHJ.movStudent Poems Y7.pdfSunday 21st June
Thank you
Our ancillary staff received a wonderful surprise last week when Kaviesh and Krishew Kinger presented individually packed parcels and goods for everyone. It is such a wonderful act of generosity and the ancillary staff are extremely grateful. A special thank you to Krishew and Kaviesh and the Kinger family for their lovely act of kindness.
BSME 19_20.mp4Sports Awards 2020
Although the Bahrain School Sport League was cut short this year we are proud to be able to celebrate the achievements of our students across a range of sports including Volleyball, Football and Basketball. As a school we have seen an increase in participation and the standard of our teams has become very competitive. We have had an overwhelming number of students coming to trials and hoping for an opportunity to wear the school colours with pride, in some cases, the abundance of athletes has meant that we have been able to field the most number of teams that we ever have before. We would like to say thank you to everyone involved in assisting with extra curricular sport this season and we look forward to picking up where we left off in the next academic year.
Summer Solstice in all its glory
For anyone who missed the wonderful partial eclipse this morning, this is the image captured by Ms Cullen. Thank you Ms Cullen for sharing.
Humanities Presentations
Ms Timmer Arends last week gave her students the opportunity to give presentations to their peers. It is wonderful to see the quality of work our students are producing.
Year 7 Humanities speeches
Reading in Weird Places!
Reading is such a key element of education, so it is great to see our students engaged in books, even in these most strange places!
Sunday 14th June
Go Karting Success
Congratulations to Lewis Smith, who has once again performed at the very highest level to take second place in the very latest Go Karting race. He also clocked the fastest lap of the race. There is another "Lewis" who springs to mind when speaking about motor sport, and our very own Lewis seems to be staking a claim to follow in those famous footsteps...
Well done Lewis!
Sunday 7th June
TradeQuest Success
An exciting year for sixth-form began with a visit to the Bahrain Financial Harbour, as eight of BSB’s best finance students were selected to participate in the annual Bahrain Bourse Tradequest program. This was an opportunity for A+Lina Al Ammari, Zaid Haddad, Abdulla Kaiksow, Mohamed Abdulla, Kamal Haddad, Karthik Arun, and Atta Yousafi to use their theoretical knowledge of business and economics and apply it to the Bahrain and New York stock exchanges. As the year progressed, the students delivered four presentations detailing their strategy and performance. This, combined with their financial gains, meant that the BSB team finished second and were awarded a prize of 3000bd; an impressive performance given it was the school's inaugural performance in a long-running event. The students are already eager to pass on their advice to next year's participants.
Congratulations to the team!
Sunday 31st May
Performances of the day
Vocalise_Nirvan De Sousa.mp4DonggeunHan.MOVRose Basilous.MOVRyle Hassett Minuet.MOVPE Performances and work
Wednesday 27th May
Please enjoy a range of student work from English and Food Technology over the last week or so.
Video Review (May 17, 2020 at 12_38 PM) (1).MOVVideo Review (May 19, 2020 at 10_17 AM).MOVSunday 17th May
Sam A Level PE
Recording your own myth (Apr 8, 2020 at 10_08 AM).MOVRecording your own myth (7 Apr 2020 14_39_42).mp4English story.mp4Extra Curricular Opportunites
On the KS3 Year Group Google Classrooms, an optional Food Technology Extra-Curricular challenge has been posted.
Week 1 - Eggs: Can you boil a perfect egg?
Deadline next Sunday - post a picture of your boiled egg. Think about how to present/garnish it.
House points will be awarded to the best in the year group.
Look our for further opportunities coming over the course of this week.
Sunday 10th May
PE - Virtual Stars of the Week
Arabic Work
A selection of Arabic work from the past few weeks.
نشاط مستقبل الطاقة 2 الصف التاسع - (2 (1) (1).pdfنشاط حروف الجر (1).pdfمراجعة الصف التاسع (2).pdfمستقبل الطاقة (1) (1).pdfFood Technology
A variety of breakfast menu project offerings from students. Click here to view Sara Sharaf's presentation.
Tuesday 5th May
Audio Stories
They wrote them as part of the Myths and Legends unit studied in English over the past weeks. You can also listen to Kawthar's story here.
Heidi Edelmann
Heidi Edelmann's Audiostory.MOVChristina Massri
Christina Massri.m4aAli Al Mohsen
Ali Al Mohsen Audio Story.mp4The English Department reminding us that everything is going to be alright! Includes some special guest appearances.
English Department Video.mp4Sunday 26th April
BSB COBIS Nyall Thoppil.MOVNyall Thoppil: Poetry recital and solar system project
Solar System Project_Nyall Thorpill.MOVMaya Mahmood Food Tech project
Flapjack Evaluation (Apr 21, 2020 at 12_53 AM) (1).MOVSara & Ayse's humanities project
Ayse&Sara-Kyoto Protocol.mp4
Collaborative student notes on the cardiovascular system in PE
Tuesday 21st April
Mr Ridgway's Update
Welcome back to everyone, I trust that it was a safe and relaxing break for all. I hope that all of our students are excited to return to our excellent virtual school and reengage with their teachers. I sincerely hope that we are all able to safely return to school very soon so that I can see everyone in person.
This term sees the Holy month of Ramadan, which was addressed in Mr Maguire's letter to all parents. We also have our end of year assessments coming up this term, including Year 11 and 13 due to the current situation. We have invested in an online platform to conduct assessments as part of our continued efforts to become a fully integrated BYOD school and will provide students with further guidance in due course. This will serve us well throughout this term should we need to stay virtual, allowing us to fairly and objectively assess the excellent progress that students have been making.
Year 12 students are still eagerly awaiting an update regarding AS level examinations, which is still not clear from all awarding bodies. I will therefore provide this update as soon as possible for students and parents. Students should rest assured that all entries have been made and they do not need to do anything more until further guidance is issued.
Wishing you all a great virtual week ahead.
Mr Ridgway
Update from PE
EXCITING NEWS! PE are moving from Google Classrooms to a whole-school virtual classroom. Go to https://sites.google.com/thebsbh.com/www-bsbhsport-com/virtual-classroom where you will find ALL the details. Be careful to read, watch and listen carefully regarding submissions. Any questions, get in touch with one of the PE staff. There are 3 sections to explore and work from: Head, Heart & Hands.
You should still be in the existing PE Google Classrooms using the following codes:
Year 7 - aio3ucg
Year 8 - w3mxmea
Year 9 - us4aslk
Years 10-13 - exdd557
Music
Through the student daily notes, Mr Preddy has been entertaining students with a variety of performances sent in by our talented students, which you can view below. He also started the initiative with one of his own performances.
Bader AlRefai: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1pNonZ8mN7Xl14CdUfJB9_KEn544UCsCZ
If anybody else would like to make a video (or just audio) and email it to preddyc@thebsbh.com and then it will appear in the daily notices!
Don’t worry if you’re not musical or if you don’t have your instrument - a performance could also be reading a favourite poem, or an excerpt from your current book. You could do a display of football skills or ‘wow’ us with your knowledge by sharing facts on your favourite topic. Be as creative as you like!
*House points will be awarded to everyone that sends a performance*
Mohamed Abdulla
Yajur Nanda
Laneash De Sousa
Laneash De Sousa.mp4Mr Preddy
Performance of the Day Mr Preddy.MOVBahar El Abyad
Bahar El Abyad.mp4Rayyan's Orchestral Composition
Rayyan's Orchestral Composed Music.mp4Thursday 2nd April
PE
All students should have joined the PE google classrooms for their Year group with the codes shown below. We have been providing a range of activities and challenges throughout the virtual school and have already had some amazing videos submitted by students that have appeared on our social media. Don't miss out on your son/daughter keeping fit and taking part in the competition/challenges set each week. For example, Year 8 are completing a HomeCourt app challenge this week with fantastic prizes on offer. Students are even able to challenge anyone else in their household!
Year 7 - aio3ucg
Year 8 - w3mxmea
Year 9 - us4aslk
Years 10-13 - exdd557
Keep active, keep competitive and keep fit!
Great work
Here are a range of examples of great work from across the senior school over the last week.
Thursday 26th March
Mr Ridgway's Update
It is hard to believe that we have already completed four weeks of virtual school. All of the teachers are really missing being in their classrooms with their students and getting back to some kind of normality. However, the continued commitment and hard work of our students during this virtual schooling period is helping everyone to get through it. In addition to the ongoing lessons, students (and teachers!) are learning a whole range of new skills in utilising technology, time management and organisation, which will benefit us all forever. We will come through the other side of this more resilient, stronger, more knowledgeable and more appreciative of social interaction and communication.
Wishing you all a great virtual week ahead.
Mr Ridgway
Psychology
For one of our Year 12 lessons this week the focus was on how constant hand washing is affecting OCD sufferers during the current worldwide situation. We read the following article in our lesson: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/13/why-regular-handwashing-can-be-bad-advice-for-patients
Following discussions students created pamphlets explaining the links and psychological impact this is having on OCD sufferers.
OCD Mahika .pdfOCD pamphlet Ayesha .pdfOCD Pamphlet Yahya .pdfInformation Phamphlet Psychology Rashid .pdfOCD sufferers during COVID-19 (1) Magda .pdfOCD and COVID-19 Xena .pdf Lara How COVID-19 is affecting people with OCD.pdfScience
Students have been busy putting their physics knowledge to the test by creating their very own wind powered cars.
Jana's Balloon Car.MOVMar 24, 2020 at 2:11 PM.MOVMar 24, 2020 at 2:55 PM.MOVPsychology
Ever wondered what a black hole is or how it is formed? Well, wonder no more thanks to Adam Shukayr. Great job, Adam!
Adam Shukayr - NASA Video Project.mp4Thursday 19th March
This last week has seen a number of students rewarded for their efforts during virtual schooling, including the students below receiving a virtual Headteacher's commendation from me.
Well done all!
Some fantastic examples of student work completed in Humanities this week.
Well done all!
Beast from the East.pdfHurricane Katrina.pdfBangladesh flooding.pdfAfrica droughts.pdfAustralia bushfires.pdfThursday 12th March
Mr Ridgway's Update
After another exceptional week of virtual learning, I continue to be blown away by the efforts of our staff, students and parents during these difficult times. Despite the lack of normality, our virtual school environment seems to have enabled a degree of routine and normality that is otherwise missing currently.
Advice from the exam boards remains that our exam season will be going ahead as normal, so our advice to all Year 11 and 13 students is to continue to prepare as you have been, we will keep you updated if this guidance changes. Throughout this closure period we have been focused on supporting our exam classes in particular, as we aim to ensure that they are not adversely affected, which I feel we are currently achieving. We will continue to work as hard as we can to provide support above and beyond the normal curriculum and will announce details regarding additional provisions shortly.
The school is eerily quiet without the hustle and bustle of our students in the corridors and classrooms, and we certainly hope that we will be able to resume as soon as possible.
Mr Ridgway
A selection of outstanding pieces of psychology work completed by Year 10 students. The task was to create an NHS leaflet aimed at pregnant women on how nature and nurture factors may affect their unborn babies brain development. Ms Parveen was most impressed with the standard of work produced, which was actually completed and handed in before the final deadline in these 3 cases.
Well done all!
Brochure prepeptua .pdf
Pyschology Homework - Nicole 10C.pdfThursday 5th March
Mr Ridgway's Update
A truly groundbreaking and remarkable week that will never be forgotten. In the space of just a few short days, during the school holidays, we were able to set up, and successfully run a virtual school that has seen students make significant progress in their learning, despite not being able to attend school. The coordinated effort of the leadership team, staff, parents and students to overcome the challenges we have been faced with has been staggering; I have never been more proud to be a part of this wonderful school community.
Our learning and adjustments this week have enabled us to resolve some of the minor issues faced and develop a lesson delivery that has been truly world class. I am very grateful to the superb BSB teaching staff for their efforts.
I strongly encourage all students and staff (and parents!) to make the most of this weekend to get away from their screens and take some time to relax and recharge ready for next week. You all really have earned it.
Please note, this will be the last blog release on a Thursday; we will move to Sundays from now on.
Wishing everyone a pleasant weekend.
Mr Ridgway
Scholarship Awarded!
We are very pleased to share that Yasmeen Ahmed, one of our A-Level Art students, has been awarded a scholarship to the University of Creative Arts London, in recognition of her undisputed abilities. We are very proud of her and, given that she gained a grade 9 at GCSE, there was no surprise that the University also saw Yasmeen's talent and snapped her up before anybody else could. Even more impressive is the fact that Yasmeen is in Year 12 and still has another 15months of study before being ready to take up the University position!
Marathon Challenge Heroes
Some of our BSB endurance athletes participated very successfully in recent events held outside of school. Layan Esfahani, Ella Enslin and Aden Enslin had the courage to accept the challenge of one of Bahrain's most gruelling endurance events: Spartan Kids, held on 21st February. We are impressed that they all encouraged each other to complete the distance and all obstacles. Full respect to them!
Thursday 20th February
Mr Ridgway's Update
Another action packed half term complete, another half term closer to our Year 13 students concluding their BSB journey, another step closer to Year 11 completing their GCSE courses, another step closer to the end of the academic year. I am incredibly proud of the achievements of our students during this half term, from sporting success to musical wonder, from academic brilliance to compassion and charity; well done to each and every student for their contribution to the school. Well done to Abigail Roots, Heidi Edelmann, Yisi Gao, Tharanimurugu Soupramanien and Joshua O'Neill, who are the first students to reach 100 house points!
Highlights to look forward to next half term include World Book Day, our International Family Fair, the production of Aladdin the musical, Clue on stage; the entirely student led play for your viewing pleasure, and much much more. All the best to our students who are off to Italy for the annual ski trip this weekend; we look forward to hearing all about their trip upon their safe return.
Wishing everyone a pleasant weekend and a restful, safe and happy half term holiday.
Mr Ridgway
Future F1 Star in the Making!
Well done to Lewis Smith (Y9) on his continued Go Karting success, a talented yet humble young man indeed. Here is Lewis' take on his recent success:
"Ever since I started karting, I have enjoyed life more than ever! It has helped me academically and mentally, I am very thankful to get these opportunities to travel the world and race with multiple world champions. Hopefully in the future I can be one the the world champion but at the moment I am very happy with what I am doing, I have been able to manage my schooling and my racing and now the next aim is to be the next Bahrain rotax junior champion and finally after to go to the rotax world finals. At the moment I am leading the championship by 21 points and aiming to keep the lead until the end of the championship but I couldn’t be here without my family and my team. Round 1, was a disappointing one and practicing for the whole summer ended up being for nothing, simply I got taken out, but I didn’t quit, I persevered and managed to fight back to third, that day I learnt one very special thing and I think it was captured amazingly in this quote, "you must always strive to be the best, but never believe that you are” -Juan Manuel Fangio. From then on I stayed confident but never too confident and managed to stay on an 8 race winning streak This year I got a very special opportunity to race in the 3hr, 6hr, 12hr, 24hr endurance race. I raced with the team called Racing Bahrain, this team has lots of very talented people, I was in a team with two Bahraini champions and surprisingly I managed to hold my own, after countless hours of practice and being a lot less experienced then everyone else I was the fastest in my team and by the end of the 2 season I was appointed the number one driver due to this I was able to start the race and finish it, I have to say it was a massive honor to race with these guys and hope to continue this in the future."
Running Success
Congratulations to Heidi Edelmann, who finished first in her age category at the annual Al Areen road running race last week. Fantastic work!
Stimulating Science!
A selection of images from the vast range of practical experiments being undertaken in Mr Garwe's science lab.
Let's talk Science!
Miss Jones had her students prepare a debate this week, to discuss real world issues and the associated science behind them.
F1 Grand Prix Competition
As the Formula 1 season is set to begin and the Bahrain GP edges closer (19-22 March), our students have been invited to take part in a competition organised by the Bahrain International Circuit to give a name and colourful design to their BIC sweeper, which keeps the track clean and free of debris. Should students wish to enter, they should send their entries to the email address in this accompanying letter by the deadline of March 4th. Good luck to all who take part. Below is an image of the sweeper to help those creative minds, and you can visit the official site to view the competition details here.
SWEEPER - LETTER - OFFICIAL.DOCX
Aladdin_Poster2.pdfThursday 13th February
Mr Ridgway's Update
Congratulations to our World Scholars Cup students, who had a very busy weekend last week to contest the regional round. They were once again very successful and you can find a full report below. This week has very much been a spotlight on school sport, as we celebrated Bahrain National Sports day with a dedicated full week of sport for our students. Monday saw our Key Stage 3 boys contest their annual swimming gala, which was an event full of exceptional competition and sportsmanship from all competitors. On Wednesday, Years 7-10 made their way to the rugby club for our annual sports day, with rounders, benchball, capture the flag, athletics and dodgeball fiercely contested, alongside the incredibly brave few who contested the water polo tournament. In truth, it was actually warmer in the water than out of it! The colder than usual weather did not dampen spirits or enthusiasm throughout the day, which concluded as always with the house relays and tug of war, followed by the presentation. Today concluded the celebrations with Years 11-13 competing in their sports morning here at school. We had a group of runners head off towards the BDF to contest a new and challenging long distance running course, alongside football, volleyball, basketball and benchball. The relays and tug of war concluded the morning with the undefeated staff tug of war team finally having their streak ended by the 6th form team.
Congratulations to all students involved and a big big thank you to the PE department for their fantastic organisation and to our staff for their support of the events.
Wishing everyone a pleasant weekend.
Mr Ridgway
Sports Days 2020
See below for the full results and some images from the 2 days. Please also click here to view the full folder of images, which will be added to over the coming week. A big thank you to Ms Cullen and Mr Nixon for taking such expert photos and video for us.
Winners!
Year 7-10 house captains and deputies with the PE staff and the trophy.
Champions!
House Captains and deputies of the victorious Phoenix Year 11-13 team with the PE staff.
Sports Day Results
7-10 Overall: 11-13 Overall:
1st: Dragon 1st: Phoenix
2nd: Phoenix 2nd: Dragon
3rd: Pegasus 3rd: Griffin
4th: Griffin 4th: Pegasus
Charity Work
Last weekend, Khaled Sayed delivered biriani to as many people as possible as part of his commitment to giving back to his community. He raised the funds by hosting a sale of his famous Karak tea at school, which was so popular he was asked to sell it for a second day, which he sold out in equally quick time. We are all very proud of Khaled and the values that he holds dear. Special mention also goes to the 6th form charity committee for supporting Khaled with his sale, and to Mr Yunus and Ms Fadia for their very kind donation and offer to support Khaled with his next biriani distribution.
IMG_7330.MOVMental Health Talk
The Year 9 students have been studying mental health in PSHE lessons this term. Today, they were lucky enough to have a guest speaker, Eman Nooruddin, come in and talk to them about mental health. Eman is a psychotherapist in Bahrain, and the owner and founder of Insights Therapy. She empowered the students to understand their thoughts, feelings, and emotions in order to be able to cope with these better. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological and social well-being and is such an important part of human development at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through to adulthood. We encourage you to have open conversations with your children at home. Miss Gay
Key Stage 3 Boys Swimming Gala Results
Year 7: Year 8: Year 9:
1st: Griffin 80pts 1st: Phoenix 63pts 1st: Griffin 79pts
2nd: Pegasus 76pts 2nd: Dragon 59pts 2nd: Pegasus 26pts
3rd: Dragon 74pts 3rd: Griffin 46pts 3rd: Dragon 24pts
4th: Phoenix 48pts 4th: Pegasus 34pts 3rd: Phoenix 24pts
Overall:
1st: Griffin 205pts
2nd: Dragon 157pts
3rd: Pegasus 136pts
4th: Phoenix 135pts
Great start to the race!
IMG_8639.MOVGood Morning Performing
This week, seniors students Lauchlan Baillie and Benjamin Roots joined the good morning performing playlist, both showing off their piano skills. They were also presented with their recently achieved examination certificates. Well done boys!
BSME Golf Success
Congratulations to Javier Rubio, who came in second place at the BSME golf championships held at the Royal Golf Club. A fantastic achievement.
Thursday 6th February
Mr Ridgway's Update
It has been another great week, with plenty to celebrate. We have had our Year 9 parents evening followed by the sharing of the GCSE options form with students, a number of students took part in their LAMDA public speaking exams, GCSE PE students completed their practical sports moderation, we had a very successful fire evacuation inspection from the Civil Defence and our World Scholars Cup students have been making their final preparations for the regional round over the weekend.
A reminder for all parents and students, as a school we promote healthy lifestyles and eating habits among the student body, and we respectfully request that students do not bring in large quantities of cakes or doughnuts to school to celebrate their birthdays. We suggest more healthy alternatives to be prepared and distributed among their friends should they wish.
Wishing everyone a pleasant weekend.
Mr Ridgway
Our awesome sports leaders have been helping with Infants' sports days
Year 9 Parents Evening in full swing
GCSE Students get busy mapping out the respiratory system
Parent Information Talk: Internet Safety
We look forward to hosting parents on Monday 9th February, 3:30-4:30pm in A14.
Thursday 30th January
Mr Ridgway's Update
Congratulations to our BSME U13 team who returned from Dubai this week, after representing the school across the sports of football, netball, volleyball and athletics. The highlight was Heidi Edelmann, who won a silver medal in the girls 200m race. The PE department and the students have worked tirelessly over the last few months to prepare for this prestigious event and have laid a very solid foundation for future success in this event. A big thank you to the staff, students and their parents for their commitment and support.
Wishing everyone a pleasant weekend.
Mr Ridgway
A selection of highlights from the BSME Games
Here are some pictures from our Year 8 assembly this morning. We have:
1- our fantastic form (8H) for this term
2- our good eggs for each tutor group (some were missing)
3- the winners of the year 8 English short story writing competition
4- the year 8 BSME participants
We celebrated all of their achievements and also learned about the negative effects of their internet use (thank you Mrs Tapscott) while learning how to keep the bad bacteria and viruses that are going around, away.
As part of our commitment to offering BTEC Sport and A Level PE students experiential learning opportunities that are relative to their courses and potential future university pathways and/or careers, we secured a visit to the Health and Fitness Department at RCSI.
During the visit we met with the H&F Dept Manager, David Smith, about his role, took a tour of the facilities, discussed how the H&F Department contributes to student welfare, met with the Sports Coordinator about the teams and activities at RCSI, and participated in a Q&A seminar about how personal trainers conduct testing, plan, monitor and evaluate exercise programmes for clients.
Mrs McHugh and Ms Gay
Young Musician of the Gulf
This year’s event marked the 20th edition of the reputable competition, and began with a lovely introduction from Head Judge Rowan Cozens, within which competitors were encouraged that all the judges had been in their position - have all had good competitions and bad competitions - and understand the difficulties and challenges involved. Competitors were reminded that the only true competition was with themselves, and doing their very best.
Right from the start we were treated to a number of thrilling performances with pupils from 13 different British Schools from within the BSME group, encompassing 57 solo instrumentalists.
Performer number 18 was our very own Year 12 student Yajur Nanda, playing the piano. His choice of piece was Liszt’s Liebestraume, with a famous romantic melody sitting over intense and dramatic (and extremely challenging) broken chords and scales. Yajur gave us a fantastic performance, portraying the theme of unconditional love with dexterous finger work and using the cadenzas to show off his solid technical skills.
Performing at number 25 was Donggeun Han from Year 7 on the violin. Playing a Scherzo, Donggeun treated us to a lively and captivating performance skilfully alternating fast, light scalic passages with heavy, dramatic chordal interjections.
Donggeun was successful in going through to round two the following day. Playing the set piece, which all violin competitors must perform, the first movement from this Bach Sonata in G minor gave him an opportunity to portray a different style, with fast scalic passages and full chords this piece requires the solo performer to exhibit and carry a piece by themselves, whilst also drawing out the melody in a demanding manner. Donggeun played fantastically, demonstrating both composure and skill beyond his years, however with only eight performers progressing to the semi-finals from a total of thirty-two, he missed out by what was surely only the narrowest of margins.
Both of the boys performed truly fantastically, and represented BSB on and off-stage in a manner that we all, and more importantly they themselves, can be proud of. I’m sure you will join us in looking forward to hearing them perform again in the near future.
Copy of Donggeun YMOG.MOVCopy of Donggeun Han YMOG Round 2.MOVCopy of Yajur YMOG.MOVHuawei Presentation
Dr Aljourani secured an important collaboration with Huawei Middle East to give a talk on the new 5G mobile technology to the students of BTEC ICT and computer science here at the BSB. The talk was very well received and thanks to Mr Massod and Mr Alrashed from Huawei for this opportunity at the BSB.
MUN Presentation
On Tuesday BSB students had the privilege of meeting Mr. Vankdari from Harvard MUN. He taught the students valuable lessons that they will be able to take with them into their own MUN experiences. He went from teaching them the main organ systems that made up the United Nations and how these are executed into MUN conferences to mimic the UN, to explaining the purpose of each individual council. These skills are very important and future delegates walked away feeling educated on the world of MUN.
Thursday 23rd January
Mr Ridgway's Update
As another busy week comes to an end, I am simply in awe of all the amazing things that are going on in the classrooms and around the school on a daily basis. Our Year 9 students have completed their GCSE taster week, experiencing GCSE lessons and introductions to support with their subject choices for Year 10; Year 11 students attended a carousel of talks led by our sixth form students, to give them a flavour of what to expect in various A Level and BTEC subjects; our U15 boys football team secured a league and cup double with a 5-1 triumph over IKNS; our U13 boys football team secured their trophy on penalties after a 0-0 draw with St Chris; Year 7 parents and students attended their annual parents evening, where feedback from teachers and parents was exceptional, and our U13 student athletes jetted off to Dubai for the BSME (British Schools of the Middle East) games this weekend, consisting of athletics, football, netball and swimming. We look forward to following their progress over the weekend, which you can follow on instagram, @britishschoolbahrain_sport.
Wishing everyone a pleasant weekend.
Mr Ridgway
Year 11 attend student led talks about 6th form options
Go team BSB: Our U13 BSME team ready for departure
Year 7 Parents Evening in full swing
U13 boys football champions!
Learning Enrichment Week update
Thank you to all parents and students who submitted the Google Form for our inaugural LEW, to be held in the week beginning 14th June 2020. The enthusiasm for this opportunity has been outstanding and has brought much excitement to the majority of our students. Please note that as many of the trips and off-site activities have been hugely oversubscribed, and it is therefore taking a little longer to allocate final places for the students. Please remain patient in awaiting the letter of confirmation, in which details of final costings, deposit and payment schedule will be released. I hope to send this next week, adjusting the deposit payment deadline to ensure a reasonable time period is provided. Mrs McHugh
Thursday 16th January
Mr Ridgway's Update
There was a sense this week that the school has settled back into the normal routines of term time, with the winter holiday a distant memory. Examinations, both internal and external, continued this week and will conclude by the end of next week. Year 11 students received the majority of their mock examination results, which were largely very pleasing. Staff and students will now be planning strategies to maximise progress over these final few months. Our Year 9 students were finally able to enjoy their end of term 1 rewards trip today, having to wait since the unexpected holiday to celebrate the Bahrain football team success in the GCC cup. Finally, best of luck to our under 15 boys football team, who will contest their league cup final on Sunday against IKNS. We would love to have as much support for the team as possible, so any students who wish to go can complete this form to let the PE team know.
Wishing everyone a pleasant weekend.
Mr Ridgway
Year 9 GCSE Taster Week
Next week, Year 9 students will experience some GCSE lessons as part of our efforts to help inform them about GCSE subjects before we ask for options choices for next year.
You will see that the attached document outlines a timetable for every form group. Tutors will have a hard copy of their forms timetable for next week on Sunday morning.
Please look at this timetable in advance. Students will either have:
1. Normal lessons (in white)
2. A GCSE taster lesson in your normal classroom, most often with your normal teacher (in light blue)
3. A GCSE taster lesson in a different classroom to normal, which is indicated on the timetable (purple)
I hope that you enjoy the experience, and that it helps you make the very best choices for next year.
Mr McHugh
Year 9 GCSE taster week - Sheet1.pdfNurana Island Cross Country Fixture
The Marathon Challenge club members were excited to have the opportunity to leave the dusty streets of Hamala behind and enjoy a beautiful sunset cross country seaside race on Nurana Island on Thursday 9th January organised by Mr Swick. They competed on the 3km sand course against teams from St Christopher's School and Ibn Khuldoon National School. Team BSB is currently in second place but anything could happen in the next cross country race on 20th January. We look forward to a larger field of racers!
Year 9 Rewards Trip
Please enjoy a selection of photo's from todays trip to Funland!
Thursday 9th January
"The new year is like a blank book; the pen is in your hand, it is your chance to write a beautiful story for yourself"
Welcome back to everyone. I hope that all of our students have returned refreshed and excited about the term ahead. For our Year 11 and 13 students, they have hit the home straight, the final few months of the GCSE, A Level and BTEC courses and start looking ahead to the next phase. For Year 11, we welcomed students and parents to our options evening to talk through the next steps and gave some tips and hints on how to ensure a successful transition into 6th form with a long term plan to get to university. Sunday saw our Heads of House take the opportunity to meet with their students across the whole school and talk about the exciting events coming up this term and build some momentum from the outset as we prepare for sports day next month. The house presentations and chants they created can be found below.
Finally, students have returned to see two new study areas for our Year 12 students and a new library equipped with reading areas, work areas and computer stations to cater for our junior and senior students. The students have also been getting used to a new one way system in the corridors, which has been implemented to reduce congestion in the corridors between lessons. With the added benefit of a few extra steps on their fitness trackers, students are benefitting from a feeling of more space to walk in the corridors.
Wishing everyone a pleasant weekend.
Mr Ridgway
Griffin House Presentation and chant can be accessed here
Marathon Challenge Club Success
The BSB is proud of the continued success of endurance athlete Layan Esfahani in 10F who came first in her age group category of Female Under 20 in the Rotary Club Duathlon in Dilmunia on 28th December 2019. She completed the four stage race that consisted of 24km of cycling and 7.5km of running in 2 hours 24 minutes.
Parent Community Committee News
The PCC wishes to invite you to the first coffee morning meeting where we would like to introduce the PCC members and to introduce our International Family Fair 2020 to you.
Our theme this year is CARNIVAL and we are very excited. As this is a parent-driven event, we would like to invite you to participate and help make this a successful event. There are many ways to participate, by joining a team or volunteering a few hours of your time.
Please join us on 14 January 2020 at 8 am in the Atrium and see how you can be part of this fun, exciting event.
You can also find this information on the PCC blog page.