رسالة من أ.د. عالية المهدي، رئيس برنامج مصر والشرق الأوسط

وأتقدم بجزيل الشكر للسادة أولياء الأمور لمساندتهم للمدرسة ولأبنائهم النابعة من اقتناعهم بالبرنامج وأهمية دراسة مواد الهوية التي تنمي وعي الطلاب بالثقافة المصرية والعربية بوجه عام.

وأعرب عن خالص شكري لإدارة المدرسة العليا بقيادة السيد دان دوران، ناظر المدرسة، والسيدة أيلين فيشر، مديرة المدرسة الإبتدائية على دعمهم للبرنامج وتخصيص وقت للطلاب لدراسة المواد الثلاثة.

 أخيراً وليس آخراً، أود أن أتقدم ببالغ التحية والتقدير لأساتذة اللغة العربية والتربية الدينية والدراسات الاجتماعية بالمدرسة على المجهود الفائق الذي بذلوه والذي انعكس بدوره على النتائج الطيبة لأول امتحان رسمي من وزارة التربية والتعليم يقام في المدرسة الدولية البريطانية بالقاهرة.

 مع تمنياتي بدوام التوفيق،

أ.د. عالية المهدي

رئيس برنامج مصر والشرق الأوسط

A Message from Professor Alia El Mahdy, Head of Egypt and Middle East Programme

I am pleased to congratulate our Year 5 students for their well-earned success in the MoE exams for identity subjects (Arabic Language, Religious Education and Social Studies), run for the first time at The British International School, Cairo. Success rates reached 100% in the three subjects: Arabic Language, Religious Education and Social Studies. The school received a Certificate of Merit in the subject of Social Studies.

I extend my sincere thanks to the parents for their support of the school and their children, emerging from their conviction in the programme, and also the importance of studying identity subjects that develop students' awareness of Egyptian and Arab culture in general.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the School Leader Team, led by Mr. Dan Dorran, Principal, and Ms. Eileen Fisher, Head of Junior School, for their support of the programme and for allocating students the time to study the three subjects.

Last but not least, I would like to offer heartfelt gratefulness and appreciation to the teachers of the Arabic Language, Religious Education and Social Studies at the school for their outstanding efforts, which in turn were reflected in the good results of the first official exam from the MoE to be held at The British International School, Cairo.

With my best wishes,

Professor Alia Mahdi

Head of Egypt and Middle East Programme

End of year examinations will be taking place in the coming weeks for KS3 and Year 10.

As a school we are doing a number of things to try to help the students prepare so that they can do as well as possible. We are running ASA subject revision sessions after school, we have uploaded a number of resources to our Google Classrooms, teachers are reviewing exam practice questions in lessons and our PSHE curriculum is linked to study skills and good routines.

We are also attempting to address students' mental health this term with regards to exam stress. We will be running a series of fun break time activities for students to take part in to encourage them to be active and have fun. Last week we addressed the issue of exam stress through a presentation entitled Exam Stress: Tackling it Together highlighting what to do, and what not to do, during exam season. There is also a slide with some useful links to applications that students could use to help them feel more confident as exams approach.

Battle of the Bands

Last Friday our school band took part in the Battle of the Bands competition in Mivida, New Cairo. Competing against the other schools in Cairo was tough and the standard was extremely high.

However, a talented group of music students from BISC came first and won the whole competition! We now hold the title of Best Band in Cairo! The children were absolutely delighted that their hard work and talent paid off and are also excited about the prize: 15,000 LE and a session in a professional recording studio. Well done, everyone!

The band also performed in assembly for their peers

They were also congratulated during our flag ceremony this morning, with a celebratory gift from the school.

Open Mic Performances

Senior School students picked up an Open Mic today to perform in front of their peers. As ever, their musical talent lit up the school campus. More photos can be seen here.

News from the Careers Department

Lots of activities have been taking place in the Senior School to help students decide on careers and university courses.  

Year 7 and 8 Careers Assembly: Another gentle reminder that parents and guardians are invited to attend this session taking place on Monday 15th May starting at 11:45 in the Theatre. The Careers team will explain the importance of summer camps and extracurricular activities. 

Year 12 Careers Meetings: these will commence on Sunday 21st May. We will discuss the university course options and tailor-made advice will be provided. Good luck to the students with their IB mock examinations. 

Year 12 students attempted the IELTS paper-based test on Saturday 6th May at BISC. Mr. Dorran and I were really impressed with the students' maturity and overall self-discipline. 

American College Test (ACT) preparations in BISC commenced today for seven Year 12 students. Experienced tutors of Newton Education Services will lead the two-hour preparation sessions every Monday & Wednesday until Wednesday 7th June. Students will attempt the ACT exam on 10th June. The majority of US universities are still ACT/SAT optional, but it is good for students to attempt these tests in Year 12 and only submit if they have competitive scores. Please see the photo above of the first preparation session.

Year 12 students are in the process of gathering all the necessary documents such as requesting the Letter of Recommendation from their teachers. The deadline for this job is 1st June.

On Monday 5th June, Dr. Goldfinch will lead a session on the personal statement during the Careers lesson. 

A polite reminder to Year 13 students to choose Conditional FIRM and Conditional INSURANCE university courses on the UCAS portal. Good luck to them with their IB exams. 

Mr. Raza 

Year 6 El Alamein Trip

This week the Year 6 children went to El Alamein which linked to their topic of World War II. It was especially exciting as this is the first time for many of the children  to experience a residential trip. Throughout the trip the children demonstrated their knowledge, independence and resilience as they visited the Alamein War Memorials and the Museum. They also took part in the team building activities and had time for a swim. Great fun was had by all!

Thank you to all the Year 6 Team, Mrs Fisher, Ms Bukhari and Mrs Kilpatrick for accompanying the children.

Year 2 and Year 3 Music Performances

Wow, what a week of wonderful musical performances! All the classes performed a range of solo and group performances to their parents, including pieces they had written themselves and some lovely songs. It was great to see happy, smiling faces from both parents and children alike as the children sang and played their instruments. A special thanks to Mr Shaun for all his hard work, encouragement and effort. Below are a few highlights, and all photos can be seen here.

Year 3 and 4 Pen Pals

On Tuesday a selected group of children had the opportunity to do a video call with the Lyminster School in Surrey, England. This is part of a writing enrichment programme where the children will write to a pen-pal on a weekly basis over the span of 6 weeks. Each week the children will write and receive an email based around a topic provided. This initiative is hoped to both enthuse and improve the children’s writing skills.

Year 4 Natural Disasters Topic

Students collaborated using boxes, tape and glue to build sturdy buildings able to withstand a natural disaster. More photos here.

Sadly, it looks like nothing in the classroom could compete with the natural disaster that occurred at breaktime!

Class 5S Assembly

It was the turn of Class 5S to perform for their peers today, in a spirited show all about being a risk-taker. See all the photos here.

Here's a replay of their performance:

STEM Displays

After all the hard work of STEM Week, we were proud to display some of the wonderful results in the Junior School. 

Well done to the Year 1 and 2 students for designing and building transportation models, from the traditional to the futuristic!

And following the theme of Connections, here are a few of the best posters designed by Key Stage 2 students, showing a wide variety of topics and interests.

Creative Arts Week

Next week, the Junior School will be celebrating Creative Arts Week, promoting creativity and learning through a hands-on Art project. 

Each class from KS1 and KS2 will use their photos of Cairo as the basis for their own original works of art. They will have the option to paint over their photos, or create a collage using different media (paint, oil pastels, add collage) in a different range of styles.

In Class This Week 

FS1 children have taken to their swimming lessons "like ducks to water". We do not recall a better start to the swimming programme - well done.

Rehearsals have started, and costumes are being designed for the end of year FS1 Production. Please make sure you have the date in your diary: Wednesday 21st June at 10.30.

F2G have been practising their number bonds, counting to 10 using numicon shapes. 

14 May 2023 Y5+ Y4E+Y4T Egyptian Cinema Club

If parents would like copies of any of the photos you have seen in the Bulletin, please email s706@bisc.edu.eg.