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Attending an English-speaking school when English is not your first language can be a daunting experience for children of any age. Making friends when joining a new school can already be tricky, but add to that the language barrier and it sometimes seems like mission impossible! Then there is the difficulty of having to follow instructions, take part in lessons, and sit tests and exams for most subjects, in English. A very scary thought for many new parents and children who move to a new country or a new school.

Being outdoors is quite literally like a “breath of fresh air”. I am sure most of us can agree that there is nothing quite like being outdoors after been stuck inside for the day. Being outdoors is good for the heart, body and mind and is a vital aspect of a healthy and active lifestyle for children and adults. Outdoor learning benefits us all, it engages and connects. From the emotions we feel to the sensorial and physical experiences we have as we move through the space the outdoor provides.

We are delighted to be introducing the International Primary Curriculum (IPC) to our Primary school this academic year. We believe that this significant development will not only deliver a timely injection of new ideas and fresh impetus to the Primary curriculum, but will also support the continued development of our academic staff and boost attainment for our pupils.

Since joining our school in August 2021, I have seen so many things that BCB does exceptionally well. Our teaching and learning are the most developed I have seen, when compared to other international schools that I have visited. Our implementation of the International Primary Curriculum ensures that our approach to education is linked to relevant research for successful, meaningful outcomes. Our sense of community makes BCB such a special place to work every day. Our Maths and English curriculums have been developed to ensure all our students can make outstanding progress throughout their Primary years.

The term “number sense” was developed in the 1980s but began to be used more frequently during the late 1990s and early 2000s. There is some disagreement amongst academics on a clear definition but in essence it is the ability to recognise and identify numbers in many representations, manipulate them by composing and decomposing numbers and using this knowledge to solve mathematical and reasoning problems that are not bound by traditional algorithms.

“An intelligence is the ability to solve problems, or to create products, that are valued within one or more cultural settings.” -- Howard Gardner, Frames of Mind (1983)

Creative Thinking can be considered one of the most valuable and necessary skills in today's society. We all know how workplaces are constantly changing due to new technologies and ways of seeing things. With that in mind, Cathy Davidson estimated in her book Now You See It, that two-thirds of today's children will end up doing work that hasn't been invented yet. So, how can we teach and prepare our children for a future that we can't actually predict?

Our children’s safety is of paramount importance. When children are feeling safe and happy in their environment, this is when they thrive.

One question I hear very often when I say I teach Music to Early Years pupils is, “How do you teach Music to such little children?”. I think this happens because there is a misconception that learning Music is only related to knowing how to read music notation or playing an instrument accurately. However, learning Music goes far beyond this. Music is inherent to human beings. It is a way of expressing ourselves. It is about emotional connection. It is about creativity and sensibility.

Desde muito cedo queremos entender o porquê de tudo que fazemos e não há nada que nos motive mais do que um propósito. Pensando no aprendizado de um idioma, as situações cotidianas em que precisamos usá-lo se tornam muito propícias para que a criança veja sentido em falar, ler, escrever e interpretar o Português. Neste artigo e também em nosso workshop dia 15/02 às 9h da manhã, traremos algumas dicas que poderão ajudar os pais a estimular suas crianças nos diversos usos da Língua Portuguesa.

“Reading and writing float on a sea of talk” (James Britton, 1983) We are all aware of the benefits that talking with our children brings for them. Research suggests that children whose parents talk with them frequently hear about 45 million words in the first four years, in families that don’t talk as much children heard 13 million words. This is a stark difference you might say, however the news is not all bleak as more recent research tells us that it is not the quantity of words children are exposed to but the quality. A report for the Education Endowment Foundation on Early Language Development in October 2017 found that “The quality of input that children receive is likely to be more important than the quantity.” They found that “putting words together may be a better predictor of later abilities than the number of words that a child uses.”

Our first academic reports of the year are almost upon us, an event that can sometimes lead to anxiety for pupils, parents and teachers. It shouldn’t be that way, however, if we all understand the purpose and content of school reports.

Ah the joys of multilingualism! I will never forget the day one of my students answered the question: ‘where are you from?’ He was a very blond little boy, whose mother was English and father was Swedish. They spoke to him in Swedish and English at home. This little boy spoke English at school and learnt Mandarin as a second language. His nanny was Malaysian and spoke to him in Malay. His best friend was Korean and they sometimes communicated in Korean. When asked ‘where are you from?’, this little boy answered: ‘I’m from Singapore!’ After some initial confusion and a little investigating, I discovered he was born in Singapore, had lived there for 2 years before moving to Vietnam and then to Malaysia. He identified as a Singaporean more than as Swedish or British as he had never lived in either country.

Great learning in the Primary school is not about having all the answers or being the first to respond. It is exemplified by the learning behaviours that we instill in our students.

The closure of schools and the limits placed on the socialisation of young children has led to concerns about the development of speech and language skills in Early Years pupils. What can we, as a school, and you, as parents, do to help mitigate this effect?

What if you only had 5 minutes to flee your home? What necessities would you take with you? This is the reality for so many worldwide today.

“In play it is as though (the child) were a head taller than himself. As in the focus of a magnifying glass, play contains all developmental tendencies in a condensed form and is itself a major form of development.” Leo Vygotsky

ess-pee-ee-ell-ell-eye-en-jee tea-ee-ess-tea-ess Spelling tests - a perennial part of the weekly Primary class timetable. A tiny part of the assessment process, they seem to hold disproportionate weight in the minds of some pupils and parents. This can probably be explained by the fact that the spelling test has traditionally been one of the very few times that children in a Primary school are given a raw score based on their performance. Scoring a test in this way is problematic in itself, and it has been long recognised that rote learning of an isolated list of words is very unlikely to lead to lasting spelling improvements in independent work. So is there still room for the spelling test in our already jam-packed class schedules?

Although I always was a child who was quite confident with my English learning, finding the motivation to sit down, open a book and spend time really getting into a story was difficult for me - and still can be. Now, this may not be exactly what you want to hear from the English Coordinator of your child’s school, but bear with me; there is a point!

There is something remarkably special about international schools. I am not talking about the smart uniforms, the IB curriculum or the ever-present English language. They are special and unique places, micro worlds in themselves, because of the kaleidoscopic social fabric they are made of, their children!