This week, the Senior School Community remembered Layal and her mother with family members in a special assembly in the Theatre. This was a moving tribute to two special and beloved members of our community, and together we can support each other to move forward.

Co-curricular activities and events continue to flourish; as students are involved in preparing productions, have been on school trips, participated in lectures from visitors, and developed greater understanding of Higher Education across the world at the University Fair held at BISC on Sunday 13th October.

There are many more opportunities for students to participate in visits and trips across the whole year. However, as a reminder, it is a privilege to be able to go on a school trip. A student going on a school trip is representing the school, and so students' academic efforts and general behaviour are taken into consideration before being accepted on a school trip.

I take this opportunity to express our good wishes to the community as they break up from school today, 17th October, for a well earned half term break.

Message from the Head of Senior School

This week, we gathered to commemorate Layal and her legacy. The sea of pink in the Theatre and around the campus on Monday 14th October was a powerful testament to how loved she was and the void she leaves in the BISC community. We hope this moment of remembrance offers her family and friends a measure of comfort.

In my address to the Senior School, I invoked Carl Sagan's poignant words about our place in the universe. He described Earth as a "pale blue dot", a tiny speck in the vast cosmic expanse. In the face of such enormity, our lives may seem irrelevant, but within this fleeting time, we can create profound connections and experiences. It reminds us that even the smallest moments can hold great significance. Like that pale blue dot, our time together may appear insignificant in the grand scheme, but it is immensely valuable—it is where our care for one another resides.

Here at BISC, kindness and care for one another underpin everything we do. I am grateful to so many of the parents I had the opportunity to speak to during the Year 7 and 13 Parents’ Evenings who expressed their appreciation for the staff and everything that they do to support your children. This event provided an excellent opportunity for reflection— for younger students to consider how they are settling in in this new phase of their educational journey, and for the older students to think deeply about their next steps and life after BISC.

As I reflect on my first half term at BISC, I cannot thank parents and staff enough for their support and warm welcome. Getting to know the BISC community has been a joy. We held many different parent events over this half term from meet and greet at the start of the term to parental workshops and consultations. There is a palpable sense of pride in BISC and the hard work of the teachers to better the educational chances of our students. I would like to thank all the parents for their support and for working with us to uphold the high standards we aspire to. Please have a restful half term with your families.

Stars of the Week

• Year 7 - Devansh 
• Year 8 - Natalie 
• Year 9 - Ali 
• Year 10 - Seif E
• Year 11 - Samou 
• Year 12 - Zeina EA
• Year 13 - Hassan G

Secret Students - Key Stages 3 and 4  

To raise the profile of positives in the school, we have been encouraging students to take more responsibility for their own attitude and approach to learning. Choosing a Secret Student takes into account: attendance, where students are automatically awarded 5 points for being in school each day; punctuality, where students automatically receive 1 point for each lesson they arrive on time to; and behaviour, where students receive 1 point for each positive they are awarded with. 

The Secret Students selected this week are:

Year 7 - Giselle
Year 8 - Youssef G
Year 9 - Aisha
Year 10 - Maria
Year 11 - Adam

World School Games

Last week, our BISC football teams travelled to Spain to participate in a prestigious international tournament. Four teams - U15 Boys, U15 Girls, U13 Boys, and U13 Girls - proudly represented our school amongst over 800 students from across Europe, the Middle East, India and the UK. 

Our young athletes demonstrated exceptional skill, determination and sportsmanship throughout the competition.

U15 Boys: Finished 6th in the Bowl Cup, facing tough competition, and played with tremendous heart refusing to give up. 

U15 Girls: 5th overall and Bowl Cup champions. An impressive result - their victory is a testament to their hard work and talent.

U13 Boys: 7th place out of 28 teams. In a large and competitive field, our U13 boys held their own, which bodes well for the future of BISC football.

U13 Girls: 3rd Place in the Bowl Cup. Their podium finish demonstrates skill and teamwork beyond their years.

We congratulate all our players on their achievements and thank the coaches and staff who made this trip possible. The experience gained from competing at an international level is invaluable, and we look forward to seeing how our teams continue to grow and develop.

Year 7 Science

This week, Year 7 students had an interesting time dissecting chicken wings. They applied their knowledge from the skeletal system unit by identifying muscles, tendons, ligaments, and cartilage. The students also explored antagonistic muscle pairs in action. 

Year 10 Science

As a part of their GCSE curriculum, students measured the rate of anaerobic respiration in yeast at different temperatures. The students wrote a method to be followed and were, therefore, able to pool their results and use them to draw a graph and conclusion.

Year 13 Art

Year 13 students have been very busy in the Art studio, putting the finishing touches to their exhibition pieces. Many of the students have been seeking inspiration from the specialist library located in the Art Department. The students are looking forward to showcasing their work to teachers and students in an upcoming exhibition in November.

Production Rehearsal

Students are now rehearsing for our next musical production, “School of Rock”. We had groups working in separate areas, with one group blocking their movements on stage, while another was learning a song with Mr Sylvia.

We know we have a lot of hard work ahead of us, but we are also excited to see the show come together.

Year 12 Guest Lecture

عقد أولى المحاضرات الخارجية لبرنامج مصر والشرق الأوسط بهدف تعريف طلاب الصف الثاني عشر بالمسارات المهنية في مصر بعد الدراسة الجامعية

في إطار سلسلة المحاضرات الخارجية التي ينظمها برنامج مصر والشرق الأوسط، لتعريف الطلاب بالمسارات المهنية المختلفة في مصر بعد التخرج، حاضر طلاب الصف الثاني عشر هذا الأسبوع، الدكتور خالد إسماعيل، أحد أهم رواد مجال دعم الشركات الناشئة، المدير التنفيذي ومؤسس شركة "وياك"، والمؤسس والشريك الإداري لشركة "هيم_آنجل" والتي تمثل صندوق استثمار يركز على دعم الشركات في المراحل المبكرة لإنشائها

عرض دكتور خالد خبرته فيما يتعلق بالشركات الناشئة، والمعايير التي يحكم بها هو شخصياً على قدرة هذه الشركات على النجاح، مثل القدرة على التوسع بصورة دورية، وكفاءة ومعرفة فريق العمل بالسوق المصري والثقافة المصرية والأسواق الخارجية، ومدى ريادية الفكرة، وكذلك قدرة فريق العمل في إنتاج سلعة أو تقديم خدمة بجودة وسعر أفضل من المنافسين. كان الطلاب متحمسين للقاء شخصية رائدة مثل الدكتور خالد، الذي شاركهم أفكارًا ملهمة حول الابتكار والقيادة وتجاوز التحديات، والأهم من ذلك، الاستخدام الأمثل للوقت

This week, Year 12 students attended a lecture by Dr Khaled Ismail, founder and CEO of "Wayak", and founder and Managing Partner of HIMangel, an angel investment fund focused on early-stage startups in Egypt. The lecture was the first in a series of career-related lectures that will be led by pioneering figures in different sectors.

Dr Ismail shared with the students many insights based on his personal experience, including how he personally evaluates the prospects of any start-up company. 

House Sports 

University Fair

Thanks to all the students and parents who attended our largest ever University Fair at BISC, with representatives from across the world promoting the benefits of their academic institutions.

Reader of the Week

This week, Linda passed the ¼ million words read milestone. Linda has been reading classic literature this term; many words will have been tricky! She is also the first student in Year 8 to finish the Autumn term reading target. Well done, Linda.

I hope everyone will have a chance to enjoy some reading over the half term break. Please remember to return completed books to the library when we are back in school after the break.

SparxMaths

The Maths Department is proud of how well students have engaged with Sparx so far this year! We have had five weeks of homework and our average completion rate for the whole of Years 7 to 11 is 70%! Next half term, we hope to see more and more students completing their homework to 100% every week, so that their retention and progress in Maths can also improve. Congratulations especially to Year 7 who currently have an 83% completion rate!

Important After School Activities Dates

Due to parents' meetings and events, ASAs will be cancelled on the following days:

Tuesday 29th October (Year 8 and Year 9 parent meetings)

Monday 11th November (Year 11 parent meetings) 

Please note this will affect transport arrangements on the day, with all students taking the first bus home unless involved in parent meetings. 

Message from the Head of Junior School

As we reach the end of this half-term, I find myself reflecting not only on the remarkable achievements of our pupils but also on the deep sense of care that flows through the BISC community. The wave of vibrant pink across the campus on Monday 14th October was a powerful reminder of how much Layal was loved. While her absence is deeply felt, her legacy of compassion continues to inspire us all.

This spirit of kindness is ever-present in the daily life of our school and a testament to the empathy our children are cultivating—a trait we will continue to nurture after half-term as we look ahead to the festive season. I am pleased to announce that we will be reinstating our annual Christmas donations through the House system, which will be directed towards the Gaza refugee community. In the past, we have gathered contributions such as small toys, colouring pencils, books, clothes and blankets. Further details from Mrs Tiernan will follow in due course.

This is an opportune moment for pupils to carefully select something meaningful to donate to those in need. I am reminded of Anne Frank’s words: “No one has ever become poor by giving”. This sentiment, echoed by acts of generosity, benefits not only others but also enriches our own wellbeing. The more thoughtful the contribution, the greater the sense of fulfilment in return.

It has been particularly heartwarming to receive such encouraging messages and engage in meaningful conversations with parents during this week’s Parent-Teacher Conferences. The appreciation expressed by both pupils and parents in support of our staff has been warmly acknowledged and is greatly valued.

I hope you and your children find time to rest, recharge and reflect on the term's many successes. I look forward to welcoming everyone back with renewed energy for the new Astro and the second half of the term!

Thank you, as always, for your continued support.

Stars of the Week

We celebrated the following Stars of the Week in last week's Key Stage 1 assembly.

Zidane (1E), Omar E (1H), Dido (1T), Ezz (1N), Rola (2F), Selim (2L), Yehia (2B) and Haytham (2S).

Congratulations also to last week's KS1 Mathematicians of the Week:

Meanwhile, in the KS2 assembly, we celebrated the following Stars of the Week:

Selim M (3O), Karima D (3M), Nazli A (3B), Hamdy A (3F), Ossama E (4D), Sofia E (4B), Mourad A (4W), Yahia K (4F), Sharifa S (5S), Said S (5C), Nelly S (5B), Cici C (5D), Kenz H (6F), Maya H (6I) and Tamara H (6M).

Congratulations also to last week's KS2 Mathematicians of the Week:

Sulayma M (3M), Alya A (4W), Fadel M (5B) and Thari D (6M).

House Sports

Well done to all the pupils who participated in House Sports this week; they all competed brilliantly.

Year 2 Art

Pupils in Class 2L made an arial art picture in the Quad, which looked wonderful from above.

Reading Success

The following pupils have been selected by their teachers for doing some wonderful reading this half term. Pupils in Key Stage 1 have been developing their early reading skills, whilst our Key Stage 2 readers have been using Accelerated Reader to showcase their comprehension skills. We look forward to continuing to celebrate reading success across the Junior School.

September Arabic Assessment: Highest Achievers

قسم اللغة العربية يهنيء الطلاب الذين حصلوا على أعلى الدرجات في تقييمات شهر سبتمبر

الصف الثالث: مريم، حمدي، سليمان، علي، كريمة، أحمد

الصف الرابع: نور، فرنسيس، إبراهيم، جيسي، عمر، مراد

الصف الخامس: شريفة، زين الدين، عبدالكريم، رقية، محمد، محسن، فاضل

الصف السادس: منصور، حسن، ليا، رافع، هايلي، منى

The Arabic Department is proud to announce and congratulate the pupils with the highest scores in the September assessment.

Year 3: Mariam, Hamdi, Sulaiman, Ali, Karima and Ahmed.

Year 4: Nour, Francis, Ibrahim, Jesse, Omar and Murad. 

Year 5: Sherifa, Zein El Din, Abdelkarim, Roqaya, Mohamed, Mohsen and Fadel. 

Year 6: Mansour, Hassan, Lea, Rafe, Hailey and Mona.

Arabic Drama ASA

نشاط الدراما باللغة العربية

 يؤدي طلاب المدرسة الابتدائية نشاط الدراما العربية في جو من المرح، حيث يتدربون على أدوارهم التمثيلية في العرض المسرحي "أصحاب في ورطة"، والذي سيقدم مع نهاية الفصل الدراسي الأول

تم تقسيم الطلاب إلى مجموعتين تعملان في وقت واحد على مشاهد مختلفة من المسرحية. حتى الآن، عمل الطلاب على تطوير شخصياتهم، بالإضافة إلى أداء الحوارات الجديدة التي تم إسنادها إليهم، كما عمل الممثلون على تقمص الشخصيات حيث سيقوم البعض بتقليد شخصيات شهيرة مؤثرة

As you can see in the video below, the pupil actors were divided into two groups, working simultaneously on different scenes in the play; on their characters and on the delivery of the new lines they were given. The actors also worked on impersonation, since some will be impersonating famous influential characters.

PE After Half Term

We are excited to share the upcoming physical education curriculum for our students:

Years 1 and 2: For the first four weeks, pupils will focus on sending and receiving skills, followed by net/wall activities. This will be followed by invasion games and athletics for the subsequent four weeks.

Years 3 and 4: Pupils in Years 3 and 4 will begin with basketball and football for boys, and football and netball for girls for four weeks. After that, they will transition to athletics and net/wall activities.

Years 5 and 6: In Years 5 and 6, pupils will start with benchball and athletics for four weeks. This will be followed by rounders and basketball for boys and netball and rounders for girls.

We encourage all students to engage actively in these activities, which will help them develop their skills and teamwork.

Student Achievements

Adam in Class 2F participated in a tournament as part of the SUA Judo Academy last week. He worked really hard during his training sessions and participated in three very tough matches, landing him a silver medal. 

Omar in Class 2F received his yellow belt from the Kung Fu Federation as a result of his great performance and hard work.

Meanwhile, during his visit to Egypt’s training camp, Hassan in Class 2F had the opportunity to meet superstar Mohamed Salah. Salah shared his passion for football and inspired Hassan to work hard and pursue his dreams. Salah went on to score in Egypt’s victory over Mauritania on Friday. 

Upcoming Events

Message from the Head of Foundation Stage

Thank you to all the parents who attended the Foundation Stage Parent-Teacher meetings; as usual, they were extremely well attended and hopefully, you found them to be informative.

This week, the ‘spotlight’ is on how Mathematics is taught in the Foundation Stage.

To the untrained eye, it may look like there is little more to early Maths than helping children learn to count effectively and have some emerging number knowledge. Whilst learning to count is indeed a part of early Maths, there is much more to it than this. In fact, most of what constitutes ‘Maths’ in the Early Years Foundation Stage is not what many adults would recognise as ‘Maths’ and instead focuses on pre-number skills.

Children can often recite numbers in the right order from a fairly young age but it is important to recognise that this does not mean that children understand numbers or are ready to move on to number skills. Maths is not merely about numbers. Young children who can recite number names in sequence up to 20 or sometimes even higher yet cannot produce 5 objects when instructed “give me/show me 5”.

Before number skills can be taught, it is really important to develop pre-number skills and an understanding of quantity. Basically, if this pre-number learning is not embedded in Foundation Stage 1 then trying to teach the skills required for the Mathematics Early Learning goals in Foundation Stage 2 will be ineffective.

Introducing maths to children from an early age helps develop their understanding of problem solving and reasoning in a huge range of contexts. Underpinning children’s early mathematical understanding are 6 main areas explained in this link.

In Foundation Stage 1 and Foundation Stage 2, the teachers plan daily activities targeting specific mathematical concepts and skills dedicating time each day for purposeful mathematics activity. They focus on supporting children to develop specific mathematical ideas and skills, taking into account developmental progressions. They can use whole-class, large and small groups to tailor instruction for children who need support on different aspects of content. Approaches will look different for children at different developmental stages, and the activities are likely to be short and practical. Mathematics can be explored through various contexts, including books, puzzles, songs, rhymes, puppet play and games. Using storybooks to teach mathematics can be particularly effective; through providing an opportunity for mathematical talk and questioning.

Our EYFS maths programme aims to move beyond rote learning and instead lay the foundations for real understanding of mathematical concepts; to ensure that as many Foundation Stage 2 students as possible achieve the ‘expected’ level in Mathematics at the end of their FS journey. Our methodology is evidently effective; in June 2023, 94% of FS2 children achieved the expected level compared to 77% of FS2 pupils in the UK (we are awaiting the publication of the UK data for 2024), which was a phenomenal achievement. The Mathematics - Early Learning Goals have been revised and are printed below:

Number:

Children at the expected level of development will:

• Have a deep understanding of numbers up to 10, including the composition of each number,
• Subitise (recognise quantities without counting) up to five,
• Automatically recall (without reference to rhymes, counting or other aids) number bonds up to five (including subtraction facts) and some number bonds to 10, including double facts.

Numerical patterns:

Children at the expected level of development will:

• Verbally count beyond 20, recognising the pattern of the counting system,
• Compare quantities up to 10 in different contexts, recognising when one quantity is greater than, less than or the same as the other quantity,
• Explore and represent patterns within numbers up to 10, including evens and odds, double facts and how quantities can be distributed equally.

Teddy Tennis in Foundation Stage 1

The Foundation Stage 1 children will begin their tennis lessons on Tuesday 29th October. Here is the parents`guide, which is self-explanatory. All Foundation Stage 1 children need to wear PE uniforms on Tuesdays. These sessions take place in the afternoon, over a period of ten weeks.

Meg & Mog Week in Foundation Stage 1

You will note that the week commencing Sunday 27th October is Meg & Mog Week; an annual tradition in the Foundation Stage 1 at BISC. For those of you who have joined this year, the week is themed around the Meg & Mog books written by Helen Nicoll and Jan Pierkowski; all of which concern a friendly witch, Meg, her cat, Mog, and Owl. These are used as a catalyst for all the activities offered during the week and are great fun culminating in a spooky dress-up day on Thursday 31st October.

If you are not familiar with Meg & Mog please find a short video of one of the stories, which may give you some dress-up ideas.  

Room on a Broom Week in Foundation Stage 2

Continuing the ‘spooky’ theme, Foundation Stage 2 will be reading books by Julia Donaldson; in particular, ‘Room on The Broom’. Foundation Stage 2 children will also be joining in the spooky dress-up day on Thursday 31st October.

Upcoming Events