Words from Secondary

As you know from Mr Piper’s column last week, we sadly have to say goodbye to some members of the secondary teaching staff who will move on to new pastures in the fall. I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to them for all they have done for the students and community of BISW, particularly since the start of the pandemic. I wish them the very best of luck in their new ventures and hope that they can stay in touch with us here in DC. 

As a result of Mrs Morris and Mr Taylor leaving, we will have some new faces and a slight rearrangement of roles in the Secondary School Leadership Team. I am delighted to announce that our new Assistant Heads of Secondary will be Mrs White-Hunt and Ms Yates. Mrs White Hunt will be leading the lower school, and Ms Yates the IB years. Mrs Churchill will be moving into the role of Upper Secondary. 

Assistant Head Lower Secondary (7–9) — Rachel White-Hunt  
Assistant Head Upper Secondary (10–11) — Tracey Churchill  
Assistant Head IB (12–13) — Catherine Yates 

My congratulations to Rachel and Catherine on their appointments and my thanks for all that Rob Taylor and Pam Morris have done for BISW over many years. 

In addition to this, some of our new appointments are taking up leadership roles within the school: 

Head of English — Laura Williams  
Head of Maths — Eleanor Bram  
Head of Humanities — Laura Anson  
Head of PE and Performing Arts — Neil Price 

These colleagues come with lots of experience, and I am very excited to have them join our team of fantastic teachers. 

Year 6 Transition 

This week it has been wonderful to see the Year 6 students in their transition lessons. They have received an introduction to a range of subjects taught by secondary staff. They have also met with some current Year 7 students who were able to talk to them and answer questions. When I finally met with them today, they had no questions left to ask; they said that all of the questions they had, had been answered during the week. This means to me that the week had been quite a success. My thanks to Mrs Churchill for organising all of the events. 

IB Prep Week 

Congratulations to Year 11, who today finally finished their IGCSE exams! They now have a long wait for their results, which come out on August 12th. So, I hope they find themselves able to take some time off and enjoy the summer. Next week, though, most of them will be back in school for our IB prep week. This is designed to give them a better understanding of the IB ahead of next term and gives them a chance to get involved in CAS activities and TOK. My thanks to Mrs Morris and the team for putting this together. 

On Tuesday it is our careers and universities day. Years 10-12 will be off lessons and at home connecting to this virtual day. My thanks to Mr Ramey for putting together an excellent programme of events and speakers. 

Last Week of the Term 

On Thursday 24th June, school will be a bit different for us. We have been looking to see if we can do some fun activities to finish this challenging school year with some fun. Years 7, 8 and 9 will be on-site doing activities all day on the school grounds, in Dumbarton Oaks and at Jelleff Recreation Centre. Years 10 and 12 will be going off-site to take part in paintball. The day for all students promises to be great fun, and we will send out details to all students soon. 

Euro 2020 

Finally, for those interested in sport, today sees the start of the Euro 2020 soccer tournament. We have a display in school to help mark this moment, and it asks many questions that the students can ponder, such as ‘does sport unite or divide us?’ In the last week of the term, we will have a football shirt day where the students can wear their favourite soccer shirt (or spirit wear from any other sport they would like). 

Please see the note below from our College Counsellor, Rob Ramey. It is the schedule for the upcoming BISW Career Fair on Tuesday, June 15. 

I hope that you all have a great week ahead. 

June 15^th British International School of Washington Careers Fair