At BISB we believe in building confidence and resilience in our students. Our world class teachers prioritise getting to know our students on a personal level and working with them to build trust. This means our students quickly feel comfortable and confident enough to challenge themselves and take risks, so that they realise what they are truly capable of. We are passionate about giving our students lots of different experiences, both in and out of school, in order to open their eyes to all the opportunities available to them. We believe this will empower them to be ambitious and reach their goals.
The following film perfectly demonstrates how our supportive approach helped our Year 13 student, Karolina Gogolakova, overcome her shyness and realise her full potential. She went on to develop the confidence to become one of our student leaders and apply to some of the top universities in the world.
[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p1UtT4Xm-g]]Our teachers are amazing at building trust and mutual respect with our students. By getting to know them on a personal level, we are better able to identify the support they need. When Karolina first joined our school twelve years ago, she was very shy and quiet. By working closely with her, Karolina’s teachers quickly identified her weak English language skills as one of the reasons for her low confidence. They worked with her to improve her language and gave her opportunities to practise her English as much as possible. Karolina’s language soon improved, and her teachers started to notice a change in her confidence too.
We then made sure that Karolina was given even more opportunities to challenge herself so that she could continue to grow in confidence. Our staff work closely with the students to identify their strengths and weakness, and plan opportunities for them to challenge themselves in new and exciting ways. Over the years, Karolina took part in group projects, clubs, debates, presentations, school trips and sports teams. Our school is based on support and trust, and our students know that it is okay to make mistakes. This atmosphere gives our students the opportunities to take risks and test their limits in a safe and supportive space, allowing them to build resilience and self-belief. Karolina’s confidence soon began to grow. She began to see her own potential and make ambitious plans for her future.
When Karolina was in Year 12, ten years after joining our school, she had the confidence to apply and interview for one of our student leader roles. She was appointed as a student leader and used her skills to successfully lead a team of other students. Karolina’s work has been so impressive that she was nominated and short-listed for an International Schools Award. Her journey from shyness to self-belief is a true reflection of our approach to teaching at BISB. Karolina will soon graduate from BISB, and she has the confidence and resilience to apply to some of the top universities in the world.
Today, Karolina is a brilliant, ambitious and confident young woman who can recognise her own potential and who inspires and leads others around her. At BISB, we believe in giving all our students these opportunities so that they can build the skills and characteristics needed to be successful both at school and later on in life.
We are always so proud to see our students graduate because we know they have the skills needed to succeed in life and to make a real difference to the world around them.
