BISC Calendar 

A reminder that BISC events 2023-24 are visible on the Engage Portal calendar. This includes all trips, events and key academic dates such as parent evenings. Some dates are subject to confirmation. Any changes to published dates will be communicated to parents via email. 

Winter Uniform

The winter uniform is now available in the uniform shop. Students should be in full school uniform from the 1st November. Please note that we will not allow any other hoodie to be worn from this day. Can we also request that parents please ensure that students have, and are wearing, their ties every day.

Clocks Changing Reminder

Please note that the clocks go back by one hour on Thursday 26th October at 12:00am.

Thank You

As we approach the end of the first half term, we wish to thank all our parents for their ongoing support. Well done to our students and staff for their hard work, effort and achievements. It has been a busy term, with many exciting events. Well done, everyone. We wish everyone a peaceful and restful half term break.

Half Term Break 

Half Term Holiday: Friday 20th - Saturday 28th October.

Celebrating Success

At the end of the first half term we have a lot to celebrate. Students have worked really hard and made a lot of progress. Particular mentions should go to the students who have achieved the highest numbers of positives in the Senior School:

• Seif A. in Year 9 has 63 positives.
• Adham and Masa in Year 7 both have 52 positives.

Another fantastic achievement is our top readers in the Senior School:

• Maria in Year 7 has read almost all the classics in the library and has even begun writing quizzes for her peers.
• Jiayi in Year 7 has been exceptional and read the most books in the whole Senior School! Well done.

Health, Safety and Security Notices

Increasingly, we are seeing students leave their bags in the corridors at break time instead of on or in the lockers. This causes a trip hazard as well as students’ laptops/phones being damaged. The BISC Security team is now moving the bags, for everyone's safety, and students can collect them from tables next to Gate 5. Students will be warned that AFIs will be awarded if they continue to discard their bags in areas that could cause a risk to other students.

We have also noted some students are losing valuable items in School. Parents should please be aware that jewellery and accessories are not part of the School uniform and should not be worn. Also, please note that other valuable items such as AirPods, iPads, laptops are also the responsibility of the student. 

Creative Art Week

This week, a range of activities have taken place for Creative Arts week. These have included tutor time hand murals entitled ‘All About Me’, art competition (pictured below), to celebrate musical performances, drama showcases, and musical costume and set design displays. We have some incredibly talented students at BISC and this week has been a great opportunity to celebrate and share those talents.

GCSE Music Performance

On Monday 16th October evening, our Year 11 GCSE Music students had the opportunity to share their talents and achievements with an appreciative audience. They performed a variety of pieces including piano, voice and guitar. Performing is an important part of their GCSE course so this was a chance to showcase their skills in front of an audience. More photos here.

Instrumental Music Performance

Instrumental lessons are an integral part of the curriculum at BISC with nearly 200 students learning to play an instrument. On Tuesday 17th of October, during a BISC concert, some of our very best musicians performed pieces on piano, drums and marimba from, Bach to Liszt and Beethoven to Bruno Mars. They performed with exceptional skill and passion, producing a wonderful and entertaining concert full of quality and creativity. More photos here.

Jazz Band Performance

On Wednesday 18th of October, our Jazz band and guests entertained an appreciative audience with their pieces in preparation for their upcoming appearance at the Cairo Jazz Festival. From Stevie Wonder to Dean Martin they played with enthusiasm and skill. Accompanying them in the concert, were some of our singers including a début performance of a song for Palestine written by Maya S. in Year 10. More photos here.

KS3 Drama Showcase

On Tuesday, students in Key Stage 3 were able to showcase the work they have been rehearsing for over the last four weeks in their Drama lessons. Some really creative and funny scenes were performed to our audience, showing great confidence and an understanding of different Drama techniques such as freeze frames, thought tracking and direct address. More photos here.

Year 7 History Projects

Year 7 students were tasked to challenging themselves creatively this week. They were asked to produce a project about Ancient Rome and were given complete creative freedom when it came to how these projects would be presented. 

One parent wrote to the History department highlighting the success of the project: 

“The boys spent their Thursday afternoon and a large portion of their Friday working together, and were completely immersed. I saw a side of them that I hadn’t seen for a while, away from electronics, away from the football pitch. They’re truly just young boys, hanging together, getting creative and cheering each other on for “cool” suggestions and ideas. They had a blast, and are so proud of their work! A weekend well spent!” 

Year 8 Arabic

In their Arabic class, Year 8 students were creating a wallchart about the challenges of having pets. More photos here.

Día de la Hispanidad - Hispanic Heritage Day

In Spanish lessons, students have been learning about Hispanic Heritage Day, which is celebrated in different ways in Spanish speaking countries around the world. Students across all Key Stages have had lessons discussing the pros and cons of this festival as well as learning about different Latin American countries. 

Students in Y8A worked in groups to create some fantastic, informative presentations on a selected country, which they delivered to their classmates.

House Sports Week

Senior School students represented their Houses in a variety of sports this week. Click on the links below to see photos of the action.

Cairo Schools Swim League

BISC hosted the first of three swimming galas as part of the Cairo Schools Swim League last Friday. There were nine different schools taking part, with more than 200 swimmers participating in the U11, U13 and U15 age groups. BISC finished the event in fourth place overall. More photos here.

Under 19 CISSA Volleyball

BISC hosted our first U19 volleyball tournament last Friday, as part of the Cairo International Schools Sports Association (CISSA) season. Both BISC boys and girls’ teams should be proud of their efforts, with thanks to the referees, organisers and supporters for making it a highly enjoyable event. More photos here.

Med Cup Teams

Our under 16 boys’ and girls’ football teams will soon be competing against schools from across the world at the Med Cup in Verona - Italy. We wish them the best of luck.

Readers of the Week

Year 7: Ethan has completed more than double the set reading for this term. He has become an expert on his favourite author and has now moved on to a different style of book, and a new challenge. Well done, Ethan!

Year 8: Laila has read several books recently and gained great scores on her reading quizzes. She has taken proactive steps to build on this success by choosing advanced reading material for her next challenge. Fantastic work, Laila!

This week, Mr Issa’s Year 7 class celebrated being the first class in the School to read over one million words. Students in this class also have the highest number of 100% quiz results, which shows the excellent attitude to reading of everyone involved. It is great to see the whole class enthusiastically working together as a team to reach these incredible reading goals. By the end of the lesson pictured here, they had topped 1.7 million words. Well done to everyone in this class! More photos here.

We have many more successful quiz results to report too. The following students have achieved at least one 100% quiz result during the past two weeks:

Year 7: Malak, Maria A, Masa, Khalifa H, Yassein, Maryam K, Linda, Layal, Mohamed B, Zeinab, Lamar, Ethan.

Year 8: Zaid, Rasheed, Lina, Daniella, Laila M, Ali W.

Year 9: Alia, Seif A, Yusuf A, Farah, AbdelRahman, Naya, Amina, Arnav, Tarke, Mohamed K, Selim M, Farida M, Farida M, Sulaima, Farida S, Nour, Laila.

Poetry Competition

Senior School students are invited to submit a poem for the COBIS poetry competition. The submission date is Monday 30th October, and the theme for the competition is ‘A Future To Be Proud Of’.

After the entries have been submitted, we will award one winner per year group. The final entry will then be selected by the judging panel and sent to COBIS.

Key Stage 3 Update

This half term, we have been working hard to cultivate a school culture that emphasises positive reinforcement, clear expectations, and supportive, respectful relationships. Positive behaviour and engagement in school are crucial elements for fostering a productive learning environment and promoting academic success. 

Most Key Stage 3 students have demonstrated respect for peers and teachers, actively participated in class activities, and adhered to the School rules and guidelines to ensure a safe and inclusive learning environment, where students feel valued and supported.

From our learning walks, we observed many engaged students who are curious, motivated, and eager to participate in learning activities. Many have shown a genuine interest in acquiring knowledge and developing their skills. We are proud of the high levels of active participation demonstrated by a number of our students as this leads to an enhanced academic performance. 

To promote positive behaviour and engagement, we have implemented various strategies, including the establishment of clear behavioural expectations, positive reinforcement, and the development of strong relationships. After the mid-term break, we are looking forward to implementing some more rewards and incentives such as ‘Secret Student’ and ‘Star of the Week’ to celebrate those who are getting things right throughout the School community.

It has also been wonderful to see so many Key Stage 3 students participating in the school production, sport ASAs and break time activities such as ‘Open Mic Monday’. We have so many talented individuals and that is worth celebrating. We are really looking forward to seeing the results of their dedication by following the upcoming BSME trips that feature many of our KS3 students, and watching the school production evolve with each rehearsal.

There are some aspects of school life that we would like to work on, as a cohort. Next half term, we will be focusing on punctuality to lessons. It is vital that students are on time to their lessons to make the most of the learning opportunities offered. If a student misses 5 minutes of learning each lesson, they have essentially lost the equivalent of 20 days of school by the end of the school year, which will have a negative impact on their academic progress. 

As always, we appreciate the partnership we have built with parents, to make sure that all BISC students can make the most of their education here, and we look forward to future success after the half term break.

Key Stage 3 Stars of the Half Term

Year 7: Masa has received 57 positives and Adham has received 54 positives, which is an impressive achievement! Their engagement and conduct around the school has been exemplary. 

Year 8: Dacil (8JC) has shown an outstanding commitment to her studies throughout the half term and has impressed with her support of peers. Rasheed (8EF) has been an amazing role model and supported the settling in of new students.

Year 9: Chloe (9AD) has demonstrated maturity, initiative and excellent potential as a leader as she has settled into the School. Seif (9LS) has received 71 positives this half term. This is the highest in Key Stage 3 and is a testament to his commitment to learning.

Key Stage 4 Stars of the Half Term

Every week in Key Stage 4, Mr Tabram, Head of Year 10, and Mr Holder, Head of Year 11, choose a Star of the Week based on their impact around the school, both in, and out, of lessons. Here are the KS4 stars of the week for the first half term. Great role models for all at BISC. Well done, all.

Year 10: Malak, Omar, Leilah, Jaida, Davide, Gisele, Nadine
Year 11: Mustafa, Rokaya, Nour, Ammar, Salma, Malak, Hamza 

Key Stage 5 Assessment Calendar

Upcoming Events

House News

Welcome to the new Junior School House captains!

• Air: Hamza and Jana
• Earth: Selim and Taya 
• Fire: Mouad and Leyla
• Water: Nadim and Yara 

Pupils in Years 5 and 6 enjoyed participating in House Sports week and look forward to celebrating more House events this year!

Year 3 Tomato Mummification

In Humanities, Year 3 has been learning about the Ancient Egyptians. Within our topic, we have been discovering the different traditions and beliefs the Ancient Egyptians held; one of which was mummification. 3M wanted to try out mummification for themselves, so they grabbed some tomatoes, scooped out the ‘guts’ and filled the tomatoes with salt. 3M will be looking at how their tomatoes have changed compared to an ‘un-mummified’ tomato over time in the coming weeks. More photos here.

Year 5 Concert

Year 5 gave a spectacular performance in the Theatre on Monday. Every child performed at least once on stage and most performed twice. Each class presented pieces they had composed themselves, based on the idea of a Viking village preparing for war. With strident drum beats, ghostly keyboard effects and imaginative percussion sounds all accompanied by coloured lighting and smoke, the atmosphere was very exciting! We also heard each of the band instruments perform a piece including flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpets, trombones and percussion. More photos here.

Creative Arts Week

This week, we have been busy creating individual pieces of art inspired by music! We’ve been using a variety of mediums, such as paint, collage, drawings and oil pastels to represent the music in abstract and lifelike ways. We invite you to view our creations in our exhibition, on Thursday 2nd November. 

Arabic Award Winners

تهنئ المدرسة تلاميذ الصف الرابع والخامس والسادس الابتدائي، الحاصلين على أعلى درجات في امتحان اللغة العربية لشهر سبتمبر، والذين تم منحهم شهادات تقدير بهذه المناسبة من د.مازن حسن (مدير برنامج مصر والشرق الأوسط) والأستاذة ريمان نمر والأستاذ محمد رمضان

Congratulations to the Year 4, 5 and 6 pupils who achieved the highest grades in the September Arabic Language exam. BISC was proud to give them certificates of achievement in recognition of their accomplishment. Keep up the hard work. More photos here.

Key Stage 1 Assembly

In last week’s assembly, Key Stage 1 pupils loved their storytime with Ms Fellows, as she read a classic story called ‘My Cat Likes to Sit in a Box’. Stars of the Week were also recognised,  and Mathematicians of the Week celebrated. More photos here.

Key Stage 2 Assembly

In last week’s assembly, Mrs Bukhari led a fun game of ‘What’s in the Box?’, with some of our teachers. We also announced the Junior School House Captains, and celebrated our Stars of the Week. More photos here.

Sports Achievements

Well done to Kareem in Year 3 who won an Under 9 tennis tournament in the Sodic Sports Club last weekend.

Congratulations to Noor in Year 4 who claimed second place in her first Under 10 tennis tournament in Smash Khamayel Club. 

Reminder: Carers' Authorisation to Pick Up Form

For the safety and security of our Junior School students, we need to be informed of the people authorised to pick them up from School.

Please fill in the information on this form accurately and attach a clear photo per individual. Please select a minimum of two carers to pick your child up and a maximum of 3.

This information will be transferred to a pickup card, an example of which is below. We hope to start using these as soon as possible.

Upcoming Dates

The Foundation Stage team would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support this first half term. It can be a challenging time for pupils, parents and teachers alike. It is pleasing to report that just about all of our new pupils are settled and happy to be at School. Well done, everyone.

Foundation Stage One

This week, Foundation Stage 1 brought our “Funny Bones” topic to life with a skeleton dance! Our little dancers have been exploring movement and learning about bones in a playful way. 

Foundation Stage Two

This week, Foundation Stage 2 continued to enjoy the story of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”. The pupils have been inspired to act out the story and it has been impressive listening to them narrate the story and demonstrate their ability to recount events. The pupils' vocabulary and language development has significantly improved through the “Traditional Tales” topic during their first half term in Foundation Stage 2.

Next term, we will learn about our local area and the people who help us.

Upcoming Events

For those of you who are unfamiliar with these books, please see below or click on this link; hopefully, this will give you some ideas for the dress-up day.

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

Keeping our students safe online is a priority at BISC. We are happy to share advice from the Safeguarding Training Centre, to enable parents to understand the pros and cons of various social media, games and digital trends.

This week we are sharing tips about Snapchat.