On the 3rd May 2019 was the Year 9 graduation. It was a wonderful night and was beautifully decorated. The amphitheatre was transformed and it glittered with fairy lights in a creative Caribbean theme.

The students arrived at 6pm to choose their IGCSE subjects before the ceremony began at 7pm. The evening included some incredible musical performances by the students. The Year 9s performed two original and catchy songs. Speeches were presented, awards were won and snacks were eaten. There was the cutting of the cake to complete the event. What a magical evening!

by Tiffany Shumbusho

Students from Braeburn Dar and Arusha joined together for their first week of the Easter Break to explore the Arts and the Sciences in London. In true Braeburn spirit, the students from both schools immediately connected and became firm friends from day one. The sixth form students from Arusha supported the younger students on arrival in navigating the tubes with all our cases to make it right across London to the East – where we were staying in Ilford. After eating lunch and settling in, we gained an orientation of Ilford and the main shops there, before settling into our hotel and getting ready to go on our first theatre trip to the West End to see ‘The Lion King’. We were all amazed with the imaginative costumes, incredible make up and inspirational puppetry that dominated this show.

The next day we visited a local UK school called Mayfield which is a real contrast to our school with over 2000 students. We were lucky enough to join 3 of their classes where we learnt alongside their students how to play the steel pans, do a contemporary dance and work on slow motion movements in drama. While we were busy, the A level students joined A level science classes for the day to work through some practical experiments. In the afternoon we ventured into a huge supermarket to get an idea of the items and prices of products in the UK. This was important before we visited the biggest shopping centre in Europe – Westfield at Shepherds Bush.

On Saturday we spent the day at the interactive Science Museum where we enjoyed lots of hands-on experiments, before returning back to Mayfield School for our first ever Alumni event. It was wonderful to meet lots of our previous staff and students and to find out what they are all doing. The Rowes, the Bongos, Ms Kapinska and the Patels all came to join us as well as many of our students – who are in University or at work. It was great to eat together and catch up.

On Sunday we took a trip back in time when we went to visit the Tower of London to see, amongst other things, the crown jewels. We learnt a great deal about the Tower’s rich history and about Henry VIII. This later helped us to make sense of history told from the perspective of his six wives in a musical about girl power called ‘Six’, which we saw on Wednesday. On the same day we also followed up our knowledge of British royalty by visiting Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard. 

The artists amongst us loved looking at William Blake’s poetry, paintings and prints at the Tate Britain as well as Turner’s paintings of stormy seas. However, the favourite art exhibition for all of us was Chihuly's vibrant and dazzling glass sculptures located around Kew Gardens and glasshouses. They were simply stunning.

The highlight for the scientists, after the Science Museum, was the London Aquarium, where we all learnt about the damage we are doing to our oceans whilst looking at sharks, jelly fish and sea horses. On a more positive note, we were amazed by the sight of our incredible universe, with its endless possibilities, beamed in ‘real time’ to the Greenwich planetarium. Before leaving the observatory at the top of the hill we also put one foot in the East and one in the West – by standing across the Meridian line. This is similar to standing with one foot either side of the equator. Our Physics teacher Mr Asher, was amazed by the information on the engineering of the tube line in the Transport Museum and we all enjoyed the views from the cable car across the Thames.

The artists were enthralled by the incredible set design and special effects at the opera, Mozart’s Magic Flute. The Musicians also loved seeing and hearing a full orchestra. Ms Noela took the opportunity to test us all on the names of all the instruments. But the favourite show for our musicians was the musical Motown. The 80s music and dancing were electric and when we met the lead lady, playing the role of Diana Ross, after the show, we discovered she was Tanzanian. We have invited her to our school when she is next home to do some workshops.

Our Drama students loved being scared out of their seats during Ghost Stories at the Hammersmith and Lyric Theatre, but everyone loved the clever physical theatre in a play about a boy suffering from autism: The Curious Incident of the Dog at Night time. Our heads were brimming full of ideas for our next production, after watching it.

The Media and Art students were further excited by the Harry Potter Studios which we visited on Friday and in particular the special effects. Learning how to make monsters come alive and to see the set for this much loved film was amazing.

In conclusion, England was very cold, and very hectic and we were busy for 16 hours a day. As a result, we were all happy to return to the sunshine and to enjoy two weeks of doing very little – we felt we deserved it! It also gives us the time and space to mull over all our photos and to remember all the incredible things that we have seen and
experienced.

We completed the registration for the DELF French exam at the end of last term and we are very excited to announce the highest number of candidates ever: 48 students from Year 4 to 8!

We really believe this program benefits the students in many ways.

The IFO estimated that there will be about 700 million French speakers in 2050 and 85% of them will be in Africa. So, with this program, we are opening up a range of opportunities for our students.

The program allows them to qualify with a French level from A1 to B2, equivalent to IGCSE up to the level required to enter a French speaking university. These levels are the same for all European languages and the certificates are internationally recognized. Nice exam experience for our students!

In addition to the obvious advantages of proficiency in another languages, we have seen many other benefits after 5 years of offering this exam.

Students are eager to register and take the exams, taking responsibility for their studies and accepting the challenge and the effort needed to complete it. This program has also proved to boost students’ confidence allowing them to succeed at their own path.

For the first time, we believe all students in Year 6 will leave Primary with a French DELF certificate and in preparation we will be very busy practicing speaking and a wide range of strategies for the written paper.

We hope all students will also be supported at home with the ongoing preparation.

Please remember the exam date: 15th of June.

Again, in a perspective of widening opportunities for our students and the importance of Kiswahili in East Africa,  Mrs Sekemi is in discussion with MSTCDC to start a similar program for the Kiswahili Language. Keep your eyes peeled!

Good luck to all candidates on their preparation and exam!

We are delighted to share that Remotse Kgwadi has been awarded a BTEC Awards 2019 Bronze Certificate for Performing Arts Student of the Year.

Many of our BISA Community will be familiar with Remotse's beautiful dance performances at many of our events over the past year and we are very proud of her achievements.

Congratulations, Remotse!

A small BISA team participated at Kenyan National Qualifying gala from 11th to 14th April 2019 at Kasarani Aquatic Stadium in Nairobi. This was a very competitive gala with a large number of quality swimmers from Kenya and other countries. Our swimmers arrived to Nairobi a few days before the gala to acclimatize to the Olympic size pool. It was a very tough gala but our swimmers swam very well. 

The four of them achieved the following results:

Ophelie König: 10th place in 200 breaststroke, 14th place in 100 breaststroke, 16th place in 50 breaststroke, 37th place in 50 freestyle and 35th place in 200 IM.

She swam her best times in all her races. Well done, Ophelie!

Niamh Baker: 1st place in 200 backstroke, 2nd place in 100 backstroke, 3rd place in 50 backstroke, 5th place in 200 freestyle, 7th place in 100 freestyle, 8th place in 50 butterfly, 10th place in 200IM and 12th place in 50 freestyle. Fantastic results, Niamh!

Antonio Smit: 3rd place in 800 freestyle, 5th place in 1500 freestyle, 8th place in 400 freestyle, 15th place in 50 backstroke, 17th place in 200 freestyle and 59th place in 200 IM.

Antonio made massive improvements in all of his times at this gala. Great job!

Ciaran Eddy: 2nd place in 100 breaststroke, 3rd place in 200 breaststroke, 8th place in 50 breaststroke, 13th place in 50 freestyle, 12th place in 50 butterfly, 9th place in 200 IM. 

Well done to everyone on a fantastic competition!