BSAK Secondary Spring Term Newsletter 2023.2024

Mr Nigel Davis HEAD OF SECONDARY

CORNERSTONES OF SUCCESSFUL STUDENTS

Looking through this Newsletter, there is so much guidance and information about how to be successful as a Student: I want to focus on just two. Our most successful Students are actively engaged in the school - they throw themselves into being involved - be that in sports, the arts (such as the School production - auditioning at the start of next term), academics, House event, or through community avenues such as Student Voice.

Students who are at school from 7:45am to 2:40pm and do that only are missing out on so much - a clear message for success is: be involved.

Challenges are fine examples of this. With this is mind, I am delighted to once again push the Wellbeing One Stop Shop to BSAK parents.

Thank you to the Friends of BSAK for hosting the Community Iftar.

I would like to wish all families a wonderful Spring term break and blessed Ramadan and Eid Mubarak for when it comes around during the holiday.

YEAR 8 HYDRATION CHALLENGE, Feedback

Did you manage to meet your daily water consumption turrets? (4500ml bottles per day) ? (92 responses)

A few examples of what Year 8 said when they were asked to share whether they felt any different

Felt healthier as I was less dehydrated More active

I noticed it affected my health

It helps me focus

I felt more refreshed and active. Made me so relaxive

My skin became clearer

I stopped eating junk food and became healthy

I was more concerned and focused on my work. I seemed to be more happy and felt more healthy.

I drank more water

More focused

Regulated body temperature

It made my skin feel better

Year 11 is finishing their challenge, feedback to follow

LOOKING AHEAD TO 2024/2025

Some specific areas that we have been developing for next year include;

● Body Image and Self Esteem

● Puberty and the psychological changes that occur

● Vaping, Smoking and Cancer

● Resilience and Empowerment

● Compassionate statements

Introduction to restorative processes from the Anti Bullying Alliance

Myth-busters!

● Myth 1: Restorative practice is a soft option! Restorative practice is sometimes perceived as a ‘soft’ option. In reality, restorative practice provides a challenging framework to guide relationships and accountability between all staff, pupils, parents, governors.

● Myth 2: Restorative practice replaces existing sanctions! Restorative practice runs alongside existing behaviour strategies and school sanctions; planned and delivered well, restorative practice is threaded through existing strategies and improvement plans.

● Myth 3: Restorative practice is only used when things go wrong! It’s true that restorative practice provides a series of ways to resolve conflict. However, restorative practice is equally effective as a proactive strategy, to develop emotional literacy, accountability, empathy, a strong sense of community and safety; to prevent bullying.

MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF YEAR 7

YEAR 7’S FIRST SECONDARY SPORTS DAY

Head of Year 7

WORLD BOOK DAY EPIC HOUSE WEEK

YEAR 7’S VISIT TO THE MUBADALA ABU DHABI OPEN TENNIS

I wish all families celebrating, Ramadan Kareem and a wonderful Eid.

WELL DONE TO THE AUTUMN TERM FORM & HOY AWARD WINNERS

Enjoy the Spring Term holidays.

More images of events this term click here

EPIC HOUSE WEEK

Once again, students came together as a team to compete in various activities each break time during Epic house week earning house points. It was great to see so many Year 8 students involved in karaoke, netball, dodgeball, board games, limbo,

Head of Year 8

AL AIN ADVENTURE RESIDENTIAL

It was great to see the students learning new skills and bonding through numerous water sports and team building activities on the

STUDENT SUCCESS

MUSIC Congratulations to Trishna for winning overall in the Abu Dhabi Young Musician (ADYM) Intermediate category.

SPORTS It’s been another successful term for sport at BSAK with our U13 BSME team finishing 2nd place at the annual BSME games.

WINNERS The U13 boys rugby team won their end of season tournament in Abu Dhabi and were runners up in the DC10s Dubai tournament. The U13 girls football team won their ADISSA end of season tournament.

WORLD BOOK DAY

On Thursday 7th March we celebrated World Book Day in school. Students dressed up as characters from their favourite books.

This term required some big decisions for Year 9 when making their GCSE options choices. It has been a pleasure to see how seriously they took the process to make informed and well-thought out choices, and I have no doubt that they will be very successful in their GCSE studies.

YEAR 9 MUSICIANS

Well done also to our five Year 9 musical stars for their triumph at the (YMOG) Young Musician of the Gulf competition 2024 in Bahrain this February: Marc, Kathy, Xavier, Sophie and Kenodh. Congratulations also to Xavier for winning the Intermediate category for brass and Kenodh for being the overall at ADYM in March. We are so proud of the dedication and talent of all of our musicians.

HEAD OF YEAR 9

YEAR 9 RESIDENTIAL

In January of this term, most of Year 9 demonstrated exceptional teamwork and pre-DofE skills during the Khorfakkan residential. From snorkelling with turtles to cooking their own food in the desert, this was a fantastic experience for all that attended.

WORLD BOOK DAY

SPORTS DAY SUCCESS

Also in January, we had another fantastic Sports Day. The enthusiasm and sportsmanship across the year group was truly commendable. Well done to Centaur for being the overall winners and for all for making it an event to

Finally, March 7th showcased BSAK students’ with outstanding book costumes on World Book Day. It was great to see so many Year 9 students dressing up and showcasing their

MATHS BRILLIANCE

Following on from a small number of our Year 10s taking part in the senior challenge last term, we had fantastic success in the UKMT intermediate challenge earlier this term. In addition to the 11 bronze and 3 silvers; Murray Wang, Sohail Arbabi, Ibrahim Shaikh, Schanze Waqar and Mark Makhoul secured Gold awards. Remarkable.

Srinika Jonnada

Sasha Saji

Nyle Sakaria

Aleezeh Adeel

Zayan Manoly

Joshua George

Poppy Gorman

Hatem Abulqaraya

Nehha Chandraseka

Adam Tawil

Maryam Khan

Hana Raslan

Eshaal Kazi

Styliana Kroustis

SPORTING ACHIEVEMENTS

At the end of January our U15 team competed at BSME. Both the girls and boys won their respective football events, and the girls were 3rd in netball. This helped us to a 3rd place finish overall. Following this, our U15 girls football team narrowly lost the final of the end of season cup on penalties. Excellent work.

Our Year 10s continue working towards their Duke of Edinburgh bronze award and completed their assessed journey to Al Khatim at the end of February.

It’s great to see more than half of the year group involved and I wish them well as they finish off this award.

DUKE OF EDINBURGH AWARD

Following this, many of our Year 10s were involved in and winners during the Abu Dhabi Young Musician of the Year competition. Congratulations to Harry Jones and Murray Wang for winning their individual categories, and Munachi Obiora, Clement Herran, Ben Graham, Emma Clews, Millie Looker, Aaliya Fazil and Zara Musa who were part of ensemble wins.

YEAR 11 TASTER DAY

Thinking about their futures after GCSE’s, students enjoyed a taste of Sixth Form life on their Taster Day. Lots of exciting activities were taking place in the school, demonstrating to Year 11 the exciting challenges that could be in store for them after the summer.

A LEVEL

REVISION TIMETABLES & STUDY METHODS

In MELS, students have had the opportunity to work with effective revision techniques such as Brain Dump and Flash cards and have also started to create a formal revision timetable. These timetables should now have been shared with you to help you in your conversations at home about how students are preparing for their exams.

As part of the Year 11 Mentoring program, the workshop, led by Year 12 Chemistry, Biology and Maths subject ambassadors, proved highly successful.

These sessions were designed to help students explore these subjects in more depth and decide if they are the right fit for them in the upcoming school year. Students who attended these sessions were some of our brightest minds, showing their dedication to their studies and their future goals. A huge shoutout to our Year 12 ambassadors for their commitment to helping their peers and for their enthusiasm in sharing their knowledge and experiences.

The Abu Dhabi Young Musician competition (ADYM) also saw great success for the year group. Cameron Kerr got to the Semi finals on the Drums as did the BSAK Large Ensemble featuring our very own Jiaming Lu, Sura Al-Samarrae and Heidi Cheah. Our Large choir, the BSAK Elite singers featuring Sara Sheikh, Emily Gorman, Zain Tashamneh and Georgina Ramanayake also took home another Ensemble prize. With Sara also taking home the prize for Advanced Classical singing!

CODING CLUB

Marta Galan Cano and Simba Kazuwa have used their initiative to set up a very successful co curricular club offered to primary students, to learn about the World of Coding.

Staff and students alike have loved the workshops and students involved in setting this up should be really proud!

MOCK EXAMS

A big thank you to the Year group for their mature approach to the Mock exams recently. The examinations officer Mrs Brammer and her team commented on their focus and discipline throughout the period. It really shows their desire to succeed and achieve their personal goals and I look forward to seeing the same approach in the Summer exams.

Thank you parents for all your support. Ramadan Kareem to everyone observing the Holy Month. I would like to wish you a pleasant Spring Break and Eid Mubarak in advance. I hope students use the time to rest and renew their energy but also find time to fit in some effective revision so they feel fully prepared for the busy exam period ahead.

OF SIXTH FORM

UNIVERSITY VISITS

We have recently been honoured to welcome representatives and Admissions teams from the University of Edinburgh, Durham University, UCC, University College Dublin, RCSI, Imperial College London and the University of Cambridge, who provided our students and parents with valuable insights regarding their admissions processes. Our Year 12 students relished the opportunity to ask questions and learn about the new pre-admission exams that will be part of their university application process.

WORK EXPERIENCE

Our students have been enjoying building their skills set and gaining valuable life experience skills in their work placements. Many of our students are aspiring medics and have secured placements at Cleveland Clinic, SKMC, SSMC and a little further afield in St George’s Hospital London.

Shahd, pictured above, has spent over 4 weeks at the UAE Ministry of Tolerance Department focusing on the importance of Human Fraternity.

Our very own Sixth Form BSAK Twitter feed has been brilliantly managed by Aila and Ali for their work experience.

To keep up to date with all Sixth Form news follow us on @BSAKSixthForm

HEAD

SIXTH FORM ANNUAL FOOTBALL

HEAD OF YEAR 12

Young Musicians of the Gulf Bahrain

Our Musicians enjoyed spectacular success at the Young Musician of the Gulf (YMOG) competition in Bahrain. A huge congratulations to all who competed

Woodwind Award Kirstie

Overall ensemble Winner-BSAK Boyz Munachi, Kenodh Hanlei

Female vocal Award Maya

CELEBRATING RAMADAN INAUGURAL SIXTH FORM IFTAR

FINDING THE BALANCE

Whilst we look forward to all of our leavers' events, and reminisce on the times they have shared with us here at BSAK, we hope that students are able to find the right balance between study and relaxation. Ihave spokenalotaboutthesacrificestheymayhaveto makenowinordertosupporttheirfuturegainsandif students(orparents)needanysupportnavigatingtheir waythroughthistime,pleasedon'thesitatetoreach outtotheSixthFormTeam.

Drop Everything And Read

This term has held many of those 'lasts' including World Book Day and we were extremely pleased to see so many of our Year 13 students making excellent efforts to dress as their favourite characters. A huge congratulations must go out to Laith Al Kindi (13SHU) and Josh Sakaria (12FOW) for their outstanding 'Drop everything and read' promotion video It takes a lot of talent and effort to write and perform their own rap to engage all of our students in reading. A final video that was enjoyed by the whole school!

"Follow your passion, be prepared to work hard and sacrifice, and, above all, don't let anyone limit your dreams."

Donovan Bailey

Wishing all of our Year 13’s the best of luck in these final weeks, their final exams and the future!

HEAD OF YEAR 13

Victory for Centaur. The beginning of the term saw our Year 13 students take part in their final sports day. With the best ever attendance from Sixth Form students, it was bound to be a very special day. A fantastic opportunity for our Heads of House to rally the troops and really cheer one another on From benchball to head tennis to cycling to football, ending with the relay races, there really was something for everyone! Competition was fierce but alas, it was Centaurs day!