Message from the Principal

The end of last term was certainly packed with the Festival of Sports, adventures abroad and the voice of youth.  This vibrant energy has continued this week with our parent's consultation evenings, drama performances as well as a visit from the Japanese ambassador and Mr. Yoshikawa, a world-renowned Japanese artist in school.

I want to start this week by celebrating the success of our U19 BSME students. For the first time in our school's history, it was our students that lifted the winning trophy. However, more than just winning, the organisers of the competition used it as a platform to celebrate our young people and the community. We were described as a school whose young people have dignity and respect.  Our young people were described as phenomenal, and our school one that everyone shared a great deal of admiration for. I mention this because these are the building blocks that we must continue to build on, in order to ensure that we achieve success for our students in all areas.  We look forward to hosting the BSME U11 games next week and we encourage as many of you as possible to attend to support our students.

Sports day is certainly one area where our students and families connect.  It can be quite daunting for our young people; however, the smiles and laughter indicate that all involved felt some sense of achievement, alongside a healthy sense of competition in the older year groups. 

Celebrating our youth has been a strong theme of the year so far and our ‘Voice of Youth’ group from Year 12 launched their manifesto for change as we paused International Day this year, instead launching their ‘One People One Planet’ event that will take place on International Day of Happiness on the 20th March.

Their manifesto for change is requesting that we reflect on our decisions as a school community. They ask that in all we do as a school, we show a commitment to supporting life on our planet and come together in unity. 

Manifesto for Change

- We see that our ideas are so much bigger than just one event!
- We want our community to care for the environment and each other and work as one to drive change.
- We must ensure our events have a shared cause and are environmentally friendly.
- We want to have fun, stay healthy and set the tone for future generations.
- We want BIS Abu Dhabi to be a leading school in driving social impact.
- We want to recycle as much as we can.
- We want to have healthy food experiences.

Below you will see a video that they have put together that highlights their proposal for this year.  If you have any ideas that could contribute or are able to support them in any way, please get in touch by emailing onepeopleoneplanet@bisad.ae.

Creating opportunities to support and care for others is certainly a value I see in abundance at BIS Abu Dhabi. I want to say a huge thank you to those families who are supporting our UAE Aid and Red Crescent Campaign “Bridges of Giving”.  As a school we were invited to support the campaign and write cards of solidarity at ADNEC. Writing these cards encourages us to reflect on the human values of kindness and respect, as a school we must continue to hold these values close as we nurture and empower empathetic leaders of change.

Change is not easy; over the next few months we will begin to update you on several new changes including facilities, infrastructure, our digital strategy, as well as curriculum and timetable.  

One of those changes is an update to the app, which will have new features released next week - so please ensure you have the most current version. Updates include;

- Absence & Early Pickup
- Parent Meetings
- Permission Slips
- Canteen Order
- Payment
- Re-Enrollment

Finally, I wanted to welcome back our students from the Kilimanjaro trip.  Their stories of resilience, friendship, adventure and challenge remind me why being part of Nord Anglia is so special. This enables us to facilitate opportunities for young people, to have life changing experiences that both enrich and empower.

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