Year 13 Graduation Ceremony

You may have noticed the extensive preparations for our Year 13 Graduation Ceremony, and it is timely that we discuss the importance of this event.

The Graduation Ceremony represents the culmination of a remarkable journey. It signifies academic achievement, personal growth and the development of global perspectives. Graduates are equipped with the skills and attributes necessary to succeed in higher education and thrive in an interconnected world. The importance of graduation in any IB school, but particularly BISC, cannot be overstated, as it serves as a gateway to future opportunities, establishes lifelong connections and celebrates the significant accomplishments of our students.

A BISC Graduation Ceremony celebrates achievements and marks what is a very important milestone for our students, parents and teachers. While it is a celebration, it is also a time for all concerned to reflect on the past 14 years and thus should seek to combine joy and contemplation in a setting and atmosphere befitting of this. I would like to thank the Board of Governors and the organising committee for their efforts so far; I have no doubt it will be a highly successful event.

Theory of Knowledge Exhibition

The IB Theory of Knowledge (TOK) is a core component of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme. It is a course that explores the nature of knowledge, encourages critical thinking, and promotes interdisciplinary understanding. It equips students with essential skills, such as critical analysis, independent thinking, and global awareness. By engaging in TOK, students develop a deeper understanding of the world, become more reflective and open-minded, and are better prepared for higher education and active participation in an increasingly complex and interconnected world.

Our Year 12 students held a very successful ToK exhibition yesterday which demonstrated their progress and commitment to a course that is both challenging and thought provoking. I was very impressed by the standard of work and presentation, as were the parents I talked to. A special thank you to Mrs. Estebanez, Mr. Baxter and the ToK teachers for their roles in guiding our students and organising the event.

Year 12 Theory of Knowledge Week

This week the Senior School celebrated Theory of Knowledge Week for the second time at BISC, where students were encouraged to question what they know and how they know it across all their subjects. Our wonderful Year 12 students prepared their TOK exhibitions and demonstrated their impressive critical thinking skills by linking real life objects to TOK concepts. The Theory of Knowledge course is a core part of the IB Diploma Programme and it is important that the skills required for this course are introduced across the younger year groups early on. This will not only help prepare them for the Diploma Programme, but will also encourage BISC students to reflect on their own learning, evaluating different perspectives as well as the various methods used to verify knowledge.

Year 12 IB Group 4 and IA Days

This week the students in Year 12 undertook the Group 4 project and IA days to develop their internal assessments. In the Group 4 project they worked collaboratively to come up with a pitch for an ecological innovation. This was then presented to half of the year group before a final 2-minute pitch from the two most successful groups. Well done to all groups for the quality of the research and generation of ideas. More photos can be seen on this link.

In the IA days, students gathered practical data for their respective sciences, and many students were also able to write up sections of the internal assessment. These days gave invaluable time not normally possible in the timetable. No doubt we will be seeing some excellent internal assessments from this cohort to support their final grades.

Year 9 Science

Under 14 Volleyball 

Swimming Races

Year 7 and 8 students were in the pool this week, taking their swimming strokes into a series of fun races.

To recognise excellent effort and engagement in language lessons, the MFL department has named 20 students from years 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12 as our Language Stars of the Month for May. Their names will be on display on the board outside S204 for the next month to celebrate this achievement. Well done! ¡Enhorabuena! Félicitations!

French - Valentina, Hana (Year 7), Malak E, Seif, Zidane, Mansour S (Year 9) and Omar A (Year 10).

Spanish - Ali W, Yusuf, Nouri (Year 7), Sarah, Samiyya, Shaker, Seif E (Year 8), Mia, Leila (Year 9), Sienna, Mostafa (Year 10), Ali and Lily (Year 12).

Rock Band in the Studio

After our school rock band won a Battle of the Bands contest, they enjoyed a session in a professional recording studio with George Yacoub, the sound engineer for Amr Diab.

The group recorded their individual parts and mixed a track together - on the video below you can hear the amazing results!

Year 4 Trip to Alexandria

Art Exhibition

Class 2C Assembly

Class 2C showed what superstars they are with a performance of song and dance in this morning's assembly. More pictures can be seen here.

Year 3 Art

Class 3D were in the art studio this week, working with red clay to start making Diwali lamps.

Year 5 Swimming

Students have been enjoying the pool during the warm weather, learning stroke technique from our experienced swim coaches.

Year 5 Music

Mr Shaun and Class 5O were practising their percussion rhythms in class this week, using different drums to produce marvellous music.

Key Stage 1 Reading Workshop 

This week we hosted a workshop for parents of students in Years 1 and 2 to help them best support their child's reading development over the summer. 

The workshop covered topics such as understanding phonics, building vocabulary, improving comprehension, and selecting age-appropriate books. 

Junior School ASAs

Reminder: ASAs have now ended for the academic year. Please complete this Google Form regarding what opportunities you would be interested in for your children in future ASAs.

Library books

Next week (week beginning Sunday 11th June) all children are to return their library books. Library will continue as normal but there will not be any borrowing. Ms Vivian and the JS Library team will use the last week to organise the library and send messages about any books that have not been returned.

As we near the end of the academic year, it is time to introduce the Foundation Stage children to what lies ahead for them. FS2 children have been visiting the Year 1 classrooms and have been enjoying the challenges of the adventure playground. The Year 1 teachers have been reading stories and getting to know the children to learn what they can do. Similarly, FS1 children have been finding out about life in FS2, meeting their new teachers and spending time in the classrooms. 

FS2 Teddy Bears' Picnic

In FS2 this week, the children had the idea to have a 'Teddy Bears' Picnic' as a reward for all of their hard work this year. The class worked together to prepare the picnic, making jam and cheese sandwiches, as well as chopping up bananas and cucumbers. Here are children from FS2H enjoying their picnic. See more photos here.

FS2F visited the Nature Garden for their picnic, which involved some running games after their snacks. See more photos here.

Keeping our students safe online is a priority at BISC. We are happy to share advice from the NOS (National Online Safety), to enable parents to understand the pros and cons of various social media, games and digital trends.

This week's advice is about how to use smartwatches safely.

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