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Dear Parents, It is sometimes a bit tricky to find benefits of our current situation but every day I benefit from lessons that I would not normally see, and certainly not on such a regular basis.

One of the areas of exploration in IB Diploma for English is how literature fits into time and space. In other words, how a text may be interpreted and received by audiences across different time periods and cultures. We have already begun developing this kind of conceptual thinking at KS3 this year as we study Shakespeare in term 3.

What is the mindset of a mathematician? Is it someone who just follows rules? Or is it someone who has a mad sense of creativity like Mozart or Einstein? Alternatively, is it someone who has a deep sense of clarity and structure? Or is it someone who has a very fast brain? Is it someone who does extremely fast calculations or someone who takes their time with very deep understanding.

Dear Parents, Around the world last Friday, 23rd April, school’s celebrated World Book Day. This was no different at BCB where all Primary staff and children enjoyed a fantastic time together, celebrating the joy of reading.

Theodor W. Adorno, a renowned german philosopher, famously said: “To write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric. And this corrodes even the knowledge of why it has become impossible to write poetry today”. This passage can be found in Cultural Criticism and Society (1949), and it is much cited by all the cultural critics since published. After all, how can we keep doing art in such a difficult time? After facing and experiencing tragedies, what’s the meaning of the art?

As part of the STEAM space challenges in collaboration with MIT, our secondary students worked on the MOXIE challenge, presented by Dr. Jeff Hoffmann, professor of aeronautics at MIT. The students were challenged to design a filtering device that could produce clean oxygen on Mars. Our students have been highly engaged in this challenge and we have received fantastic projects from our pupils.

Dear Parents, 2021 marks the year of BCB’s first graduating students. This is a landmark moment for any school and especially for us as we are completing it during a pandemic. This has given us extra challenges but just further illustrates the qualities that an IB school, and IB students, have.

We're proud to share an update on the amazing 33 university offers BCB's first graduating class have received so far

Dear Parents, Nord Anglia is taking its commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) extremely seriously. In the past year it has updated its policy, built a steering committee and appointed voluntary EDI champions in all of our schools across the globe. The steering committee consist of Dr Leslie Williams, Chair of Nord Anglia Education’s Global Equality Programme and High School Director at Windermere Preparatory School; Jenny McWalter, Nord Anglia Education Assistant Director; Jerry Singer, Group Head of Leadership, Talent and Inclusion and also Andrew Fitzmaurice. This is truly important work as in the words of Dr Leslie, ‘It strives to make all community members seen and heard, respected and represented. There is an effort to embrace diversity and inclusion with a focus on anti-discrimination.’

In this ever changing world, now, more than ever, we feel close to other cultures and peoples, so it is paramount that we learn not only to respect others but also learn how to appreciate and cherish other people’s identity and ways of life.

Over 70% of our planet’s surface is covered by water, and the oceans hold over 95% of it. So why do we mistreat our water supplies given how necessary it is to support life on Earth?

The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme emphasises student agency in their education and their progress through the DP. Student agency is emphasised in both the Learner Profile and the IB’s Approaches to Learning (ATL). The IB Learner Profile describes a broad range of human capacities and responsibilities that go beyond academic success. They also imply a commitment for learning to respect oneself, others and the wider world. The ATL illustrates the skills needed for students to develop to become successful life long learners. Taken together the qualities that are developed through studying the IB reflect the transformative potential of the curriculum to produce not only world class students but world class citizens.

“In play it is as though (the child) were a head taller than himself. As in the focus of a magnifying glass, play contains all developmental tendencies in a condensed form and is itself a major form of development.” Leo Vygotsky

Dear Parents, It is almost a year to the day that we originally closed and so I have been searching for a positive topic to discuss with you all, something light-hearted, something not pandemic related. It isn’t easy at the moment, but I am inspired by the children and their positive growth mindsets. The ‘Not Yet’ motto, I haven’t learnt it yet, I am not fluent yet…all with the positive belief that one day it will be achieved, anything is possible.

Assessment is a key part of every school. However, it is also an extremely scary part for most students and sadly, exam anxiety is something that most of us remember from our own school days.

Dear Parents, This week we held our monthly Parent Teacher Association (PTA) meeting and have some great news to share and thanks to give. Our PTA is also an officially recognised body and will soon receive its CNPJ enabling them to have a bank account to efficiently deal with finances.

As I settle into my favorite khmer couch that has traveled thousands of miles from Cambodia, I contemplate on this week’s learner profile focus in Key stage 3.  I’m reminded of  a quote by Robby Novak who is an American media personality best known for portraying Kid President on YouTube and on television. “You don't need a cape to be a hero, you just need to care”. This was also what we asked our students to ponder on, in our weekly assembly this week.

ess-pee-ee-ell-ell-eye-en-jee tea-ee-ess-tea-ess Spelling tests - a perennial part of the weekly Primary class timetable. A tiny part of the assessment process, they seem to hold disproportionate weight in the minds of some pupils and parents. This can probably be explained by the fact that the spelling test has traditionally been one of the very few times that children in a Primary school are given a raw score based on their performance. Scoring a test in this way is problematic in itself, and it has been long recognised that rote learning of an isolated list of words is very unlikely to lead to lasting spelling improvements in independent work. So is there still room for the spelling test in our already jam-packed class schedules?

Although I always was a child who was quite confident with my English learning, finding the motivation to sit down, open a book and spend time really getting into a story was difficult for me - and still can be. Now, this may not be exactly what you want to hear from the English Coordinator of your child’s school, but bear with me; there is a point!

Dear Parents, On Wednesday the Primary Leadership Team hosted an extremely successful Coffee Morning. We had listened to feedback and gathered questions before the meeting so we could answer the community questions we received. The team of Mrs. Priestley, Miss Mastrantone and Mr McDaniel, were all able to share experiences and expectations over the last four weeks since we have been attending school each day. We felt this structure worked extremely well and we will continue this for our future coffee mornings.