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It's been an exciting week for our Year 10 students as they embarked on their work experience journey across Abu Dhabi and the UAE. From schools to businesses, hospitals to garages, hotels to offices our students have been immersed in real-world environments, gaining invaluable insights into various industries.

Last weekend witnessed a clash of arts events. In Abu Dhabi, Cranleigh hosted the annual BSME Dance Festival, while in Dubai, our sister school NAS Dubai hosted the first Regional Nord Anglia Performing Arts Festival. Students from BIS Abu Dhabi attended both events and gave their all.

At BIS Abu Dhabi, we believe early exposure to languages fosters essential skills, not only in foreign language acquisition but also in overall cognitive development. Aside from our provision for English and Arabic, our Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) programme offers primary students specialised MFL classrooms, promoting engagement with highly qualified teachers and encouraging pride through displays of their work. This article explores the advantages of learning languages, details our school’s language programme, and highlights its unique features.

In April, I was fortunate enough to watch 3 of our students present at the World Energy Summit hosted at the Exhibition Centre in Abu Dhabi. Their presentation was titled ‘Embedding Sustainability into the Ethos of The British International School Abu Dhabi’ and they shared the stage with a VP for Sustainability at FAB Bank, and a scientist who worked for the Abu Dhabi Environment Agency. As I looked around the exhibition centre that day, and watched our students talk so articulately and confidently on that stage, I had one thought running through my mind ‘what an opportunity for these young people’.

Last week, we were thrilled to welcome Helen Tocci, our Dance Specialist from The Juilliard School, to BIS Abu Dhabi. During the visit, Helen observed our PE teachers delivering the Juilliard Creative Classroom lessons, which support the Dance programme within the PE Department here at BIS Abu Dhabi. The Juilliard Creative Classroom is an online platform full of resources and tools that provide additional material to teachers to engage students in creative lessons with meaningful tasks and activities, along with visual images, accompanying music, and reflective dialogue.

We are delighted to announce that two of our Year 11 students, Diana and Leena, were successful in the MIT competition for a place in this year 's MIT Student trip to Boston in October 2024! Their achievement is particularly notable given the exceptional quality of entries received from not only our school, but around the world. The selection panel was thoroughly impressed by the ingenuity and insight demonstrated in their submissions.

Although I am relatively new to BIS Abu Dhabi, I know the unwavering determination that lies within the community to be the best that we can be for the children, the families and the staff in our school.  Just the key phrases: ‘Be Ambitious’ and ‘World Class Learning’ that echo through the halls tell you that nothing short of the best is good enough for those who are part of the BIS Abu Dhabi community.  Taking on a Senior Leadership role within such a large community, was both exciting and terrifying in equal measure.  The responsibility of providing the best opportunities to the community is not something to take lightly.

We are delighted to announce that our Term 1 Sustainability, Architecture and the City workshop: A workshop for Urban Regeneration in Abu Dhabi, a collaborative effort between the Department of Architecture and Design of Abu Dhabi University and Year 4 of The British International School Abu Dhabi has won yet another award through the Advance HE annual Global Impact Grants 2023-24.

Welcome back to Episode 2 of our blog on our upcoming Eco-Edventure area. In this episode, we will be focusing on why we were keen to develop this area and also share with you some of the challenges we experienced whilst doing so.

On the 26th and 27th April, BIS Abu Dhabi had a visit from the World Scholar’s Cup, who held a competition for our students. We had 55 students participating over the course of the two days in a range of academic competitions.

Dear Parents, We were thrilled to share our recent further exploration into metacognition this past week, a crucial skill in today's ever-evolving educational landscape. Metacognition involves being aware of one's thought processes, understanding how to approach tasks effectively, and being able to monitor and adjust strategies as needed - essential elements for successful learning.

Sometimes we get things wrong. Whether it is a spelling error or the wrong answer to a maths sum, misunderstanding the meaning of a word, or thinking that photosynthesis has something to do with cameras… sometimes we get things wrong. In life, that can be a real problem. A friend of mine once put diesel into a petrol engine. He got that wrong, and it caused him an awful lot of problems. In school, we want the consequences of being wrong to cause fewer difficulties for our students, but that doesn’t mean we don’t want them to get things wrong occasionally.

As many of our current parents will have noticed, something exciting is happening behind the beige screens at Gate 5. Stay tuned: Construction on a new exciting outside area is underway and it will be open for all to enjoy soon!

The meteorological events of this week have certainly tried to test us all. As I walked my dog at 5am on Wednesday morning and waded through water that covered my ankles in parts, a sense of awe confronted me. There were many people up and about, much more than usual and not just the early morning joggers and dog walkers. People had come out to help clear up, to lend a hand to help sort out the area they lived in. They weren’t just taking care of their own area and belongings, but helping to sort communal areas and each other’s spaces.  Neighbours and maintenance people all working hand in hand to get things back in order.

Yesterday saw the UAE recognise and celebrate mums. In fact, in the Arab world, there are over 10 countries that all celebrate the importance of mums on this day. The history of it in the Arab world originates from Egypt. It was introduced in Egypt by a journalist called Mustafa Amin and was first celebrated in 1956. The practice has since been adopted by many Arab countries.

Recently, I've had the incredible privilege of connecting with professionals and leaders across the Middle East, India, and Asia. These conversations have surpassed the typical networking experience, becoming windows into diverse perspectives, rich experiences, and unique expertise. It has become clear that collaboration is not just a buzzword but a powerful force that moves us beyond individual capacities and geographical boundaries.

For a moment I stood a little aside from the Community Iftar this week.  Alone, an onlooker, I watched a scene unfold.  Children ran and played.  Older children organised fun and games.  Adults talked and laughed, the sun turned the sky a rosy shade of pink and the smell of the imminent iftar filled the air.  A voice cried out in song.  New faces, familiar faces, old faces, smiling faces.  Standing alone, I couldn’t help but smile – and I couldn’t stop my heart from bursting with pride – at the sight of this community being together.

From a very early age, parents like to project a future onto the youngsters in their care.  How many parents, seeing their toddlers singing and dancing in their innocence, have watched with smiling eyes and remarked ‘they are destined for the stage!’?  How many children playing with a toy stethoscope have been told that they will make a splendid doctor one day?  How many 8-year-old Lego fanatics have been told that Lego is a fine introduction to a career in engineering?  It’s a comforting thought to imagine that the seeds of a successful future lie in the joys of the present moment.  If only a child’s journey into adulthood was so simple!

Student health and wellbeing is at the heart of everything we do at BIS Abu Dhabi. Putting mental health and wellbeing first ensures our young people are happy, healthy, and love coming to school every day. This, in turn, enables them to thrive academically and build strong social relationships. Our teachers, pastoral staff, and two specialist counsellors drive our holistic approach, implementing whole-school support programmes, coming up with innovative ideas, and making sure your child receives the right care and attention. In this article, we discuss some of our emotional support strategies – from encouraging student voices to the safe use of technology.

As a Nord Anglia Education school, our teachers never stop learning. We handpick outstanding educators to join our exciting professional community, where they collaborate, brainstorm, share best practice and innovate with colleagues from more than 85 schools around the world. In March, more than 200 international educators descended on Hanoi, Vietnam to innovate, problem solve and brainstorm at one of the world’s largest academic conferences.