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Today, Nord Anglia Education launched a brand-new podcast series called A Little Bit of Genius. In this series, student hosts discuss the theme of creativity with fascinating guests in a number of diverse fields. Nord Anglia’s podcast series is just one of the many incredible opportunities that we offer to students to ensure their education inspires them.

In a week when we hear of borders closing and people being kept in quarantine due to a new virus spreading internationally not to mention the UK breaking away from the European Union, my thoughts have turned to how we can work together and not work in isolation.

Learning, acquiring and experiencing an additional language is difficult. Often we try to make sense of it using our mother tongue or we look for other connections and rules to help us make a connection with the language. But what happens when the ‘rules’ make no sense? There are approximately 250,000 words in the English language, of which about 9000 makes up 95% of our daily use. 9000 doesn’t sound that many but it is not the individual words that students have difficulty with, it is how to combine them with the other 8999 words to make sense. One of the most challenging parts of learning vocabulary is understanding what we call ‘phrasal verbs’. Many of us know the word ‘ get’, but look at some of the ways to use ‘get’ that some of our EAL students have been researching:

To start term 2 Secondary had an assembly to welcome new pupils, returning pupils and to congratulate our year 11 cohort on the completion of their IGCSE mock exams.

In Secondary School as we come to the end of term one it is important to reflect on what drives us as part of the whole school community, our school vision.

On Tuesday our U12 boys football team travelled across the city to St Paul's to play the national sport we all love in Britain and Brazil, football!!!!

Last week I have been talking with our teachers about the power of vocabulary, about how we can help our students increase their vocabulary in order to be able to express themselves in the best way possible. As children grow and develop they also need to be able to describe every picture they see, to write about their lives, read about their lived reality and to speak into their lives their very hopes and dreams.

Today we had our year 10 Parent Teacher Conference which was a great opportunity for discussions to be had between parents, pupils and teachers about how they have been doing socially, emotionally and academically in their first year of IGCSE.

This week we have really explored our imaginations as our children, along with a little help from parents, have created some terrifyingly wonderful costumes for Halloween but where do these ideas come from?

I wrote briefly in my blog on the 30th August about student leadership and it is safe to say that ́student leadership becomes the topic on everyone's lips here at BCB. The act of leadership is a personal journey that involves bringing ourselves to our leadership experiences, development and learning (Haber - Curran; Tillapaugh, 2017) . One example of student leadership at BCB is the ́new ́ house captains. This year we have four cats; lions, tigers, panthers and jaguars. Student involvement in this initiative will inevitably strengthen an already tangible connection between pupils and the school ́.

There are so very many reasons why I became a teacher, to contribute to society and community in a meaningful way, to change the life of a child, to open minds, to be a lifelong learner and many, many more but I do get asked why did I want to leave the UK and work internationally?

This week I had the pleasure of watching our Secondary pupils sailing at The Santo Amaro Yacht Club (YCSA) during their P.E lessons. Whilst watching from the dry shoreline I saw our pupils thoroughly enjoying the experience under the watchful eye of trained YCSA instructors.

The culture of learning at The British College of Brazil (BCB) is defined by a feeling that you get as soon as you walk through the school gates. It is a feeling that is not tangible but it is definitely there. When I arrived from Cambodia via Abu Dhabi thoroughly jet-lagged the very next day upon arrival I was faced with a school community that was warm, understanding and supportive.

“Creativity is as important now in education as literacy and we should treat it with the same status.” ― Sir Ken Robinson

What an amazing Arts Week it has been with the department organizing an array of different activities ranging from Rock ´n Roll to Fashion, Hip Hop to the OPUS woodwind group. The week began with an introduction to the clarinet, oboe, bassoon and flute.....all sounding amazing but my favorite is the Bassoon, what a beautifully deep, rich sound!!! Highlighting just why the arts are important was the theme of the three days and ended with me sharing my perspective on the arts and my journey. Nord Anglia Education has an exclusive partnership with Juilliard which delights me because I am an avid admirer of the arts. People who know me are aware that I was a keen footballer and now a coach but did you know that I was a ballet dancer until my later teenage years. Whilst I was listening to Ms Baldwin speak about the importance of the arts and the journey they can take you on, a journey of personal exploration, I fondly recalled my days on the stage.

"Encouraging a child to go outside in all weather builds resilience, but more importantly, it saves them from spending their life merely tolerating the "bad days" in favour of a handful of "good" ones - a life of endless expectations conditions where happiness hinges on sunshine." - Nicolette Sowder

Students from Year 4-6 recently took part in the ISL (International Schools League) Futsal competitions hosted by our friends at St. Francis's college. Teams competed against opposition from St Francis, St Nicholas, and St Pauls and gave a great account of themselves.

Sometimes it feels like ages until we have our holidays from school, other times we seem to lots of holidays but the time we spend at school has a huge impact on how much formal education we have and how successful we are in reaching our goals.

Here at The British College of Brazil (BCB) our first ever Year 12 cohort have started their IBDP journey and it is important that they both embrace the first year, have an open mind, take (healthy) risks and enjoy themselves!!!