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june 2015 Sixty Ninth Edition

GUIDING STATEMENT OF

THE BRITISH INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ISTANBUL

The British International School Istanbul provides a caring

international environment, fostering cultural diversity. Individual

students achieve their full academic potential, inspired to become

lifelong learners and responsible citizens of the global community.

BISI COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER

YOUR COMMUNITY! YOUR NEWS!

All photos are on BISI Flickr

Account: https://www.flickr.com/photos/

britishschoolistanbul/sets/

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Message from the Pre/Primary School

After the children had completed their Assessment Week, they could relax a little. For the second year running, we

were rather anxious about the inclement weather for our Fun Day again this year. We only saw cloud rather than the thunderstorms that had been predicted. The children enjoyed taking turns on the Obstacle course, the Bouncy slide

and the Climbing wall. They appreciated all the stalls organised by the teachers, for example, Face painting, Beat the Goalie, the Coconut shy, Hula-hoop game and many more. Our families enjoyed the Korean, Malay, Turkish and Indi-

an food in our Food Court, and sampled the many cakes on offer from our PTA Cake Stall. There was entertainment

prepared throughout the day for all on our Courtyard Stage. The raffle ended the day. An outstanding amount of money was raised for our three chosen charities this year. Thank you so much to all our community; the PTA, under

the excellent guidance of Jenny Norden, the teachers and all the stallholders, for making Fun Day a great day out for the children as well as making a remarkable amount of money for our charities.

The Year 3 children participated in their residential trip to Iznik. They delighted in the sights and sounds of Iznik for

their History/ Geography/ Art projects, and also experienced their first time away from their parents for many. Thank

you to the Year 3 teachers for planning the trip meticulously. The Year 6 children also had an extremely busy month! They participated in their second residential trip to Cappadocia this time, a first for the Primary School, studying its

surreal landscape and also having lots of fun. They had a wonderful time celebrating the end of their years at Primary School; swimming at school first, then going to see a film at Istinye Park, and finally having a sleepover at school!

They also had so much fun at their end of year Prom. Thank you to the Year 6 teachers for arranging these events

this month, and to the Year 6 parents for arranging the Prom. The ESL children delighted in attending their beach trip and picnic. Thank you to our brave ESL teachers for planning this trip with 96 ESL children!

The PE Department were also rather busy this month. The Swimming Galas were arranged for all the children to en-

joy. The children competed in heats for each stroke and then the winners went through to the finals. Well done to all the children taking part, and to those children who received a medal. Thank you to the PE department for successful-

ly organising this event. The final round of the BLIS, BISK and BISI Tournament was held at our school this month.

Our families hosted team players from Cyprus and Ankara as they had us previously in the year. The teams played their best in the football and basketball tournaments, and competed well in the swimming competition. Our children

had worked exceptionally hard training for this event throughout the year and their hard work paid off as we won the event overall! Thank you to Mr Huegel; Head of PE, Mr Mahon, Mr Leaver, Miss Scotland and Miss Taylor for training

the children so well, and all the parents for hosting the team players at their house.

The Zekeriyakoy Key Stage 1 children’s performance of ‘Animal Rumble Grumble’ was a delight to watch. The wind

opened the show and disturbed the creatures of the jungle. The sleeping lions could hear a rumble in the jungle but didn’t know what it was. The rocking zebras weren’t too scared and decided to dance their fears away. The jumping

monkeys also asked the Wise Old Man what the noise was, but then continued to sing and dance. The elephants with

their huge grey ears plodded one after the other. Finally, the storm broke and the animals were not scared any more; the rains had come! Thank you to the Year 1 and Year 2 teachers for preparing the children so perfectly, and to the

Teaching Assistants for painstakingly sewing all the costumes for the children.

We pride ourselves on our transition procedures. All our children moved up to meet their next Class Teacher this month. The parents from the Reception classes met with the Early Years Curriculum Co-ordinator, Tamarisk Wright,

for an informal talk about the changes in Year 1, and the children from our Reception classes and their parents, met

with the Year 1 children and their teachers in our gardens and enjoyed an informal tea together. Year 6 thoroughly enjoyed visiting our Secondary School for two days; the children can’t wait to move up!

And finally, thank you for attending our Awards Ceremonies: your children have worked hard this year to achieve our

Guiding Statements. For those of you moving onto pastures new, we wish you all the very best for the future. For

those families staying with us, see you on 31 August! Have a great summer everyone.

Amanda Ilhan Richard I’Anson Pre and Primary School Deputy Director Pre and Primary School Director

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EYFS—Sports Day

On Friday 15th May all of our EYFS classes came together at our Zek campus for the annual EYFS sports

day.

The fun started with a lively dance-themed warm-up led by Ms. Yana, where students were encouraged to

clap, jump, dance and get their bodies moving in general.

After the warm up all students got into their class groups and took part in lots of fun events. There were re-

lay runs, sack races, parachute games, and obstacle courses, to name but a few of the activities that allowed

everyone to show off all the skills they had learned during the year.

After everyone had had a go at every activity it was time for the much anticipated pupil and parent sprint

races. Despite a fall or two (from all age groups) these were hotly contested. The results of the races are

printed below.

A big thank you must be issued to Ms. Yana for organising a well-run event, as well as the Year 6 students

who helped out on the day. It was great to see so many parents at the event to cheer on all the competitors

too.

Cathal Mahon

Race Results

Reception Boys 1st- Hugo 2nd-Erin 3rd-Sammy Reception Girls 1st- Zofia 2nd- Rubine 3rd- Katya Mothers Race 1st- Svetlana 2nd- Mike 3rd- Tomoko Fathers Race 1st - Johnathan 2nd - Lars 3rd - Jerry

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Pre/Primary Awards

Ceremonies

Etiler Preschool

Alkent Rreception &

Key Stage 1

Class 1H Class 1P

Class 2B

Class 2G

Class F2G Class F2H

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Etiler Key Stage 2

Class 3G Class 3P

Class 4H Class 4J

Class 5A Class 6D

Director’s

Award

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Zek Key Stage 1

Zek Preschool &

Reception

Class 1L Class 1L

Class 1L Class 1L

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Zek Key Stage 2

Year 3A Year 3P

Year 4SS Year 4T

Year 4B Year 5D

Year 6F Year 6T

Director’s Award

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Zek Key Stage 1 Show

Anyone who was lucky enough to watch the "Rumble in the Jungle", Key Stage 1 show, will certainly

agree it was one to remember!!!

Rocking Zebras, Stomping elephants, Lazy Lions and cheaky monkeys. All singing and dancing was bril-

liant, very lively and fun to watch. Massive well done to all involved.

Lizzie Lincoln

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Zek Year 3 Trip to Iznik

On Tuesday 9th June Year 3 Zekeriyakoy departed for their first school trip to Iznik. The journey took about 4

hours including a ride on the ferry boat. Iznik is a scenic village situated on Iznik Lake and features many tra-

ditional artisan crafts.

After settling into the hotel, Year 3 went to the tile factory and learnt how tiles are made and decorated. Then

they had the opportunity to decorate their own tile. To complete their creative afternoon, we then went to learn

how to make Ebru, the traditional paper decorating skill. Each child created and designed their Ebru.

With our busy schedule, we still found time for swimming, walking along the lake, eating ice-creams and

building sandcastles, before making our way back to Istanbul.

Julian Aycan

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Cappadocia Trip

On Monday 15th of June, a group of year six students

set of on an exciting trip to Cappadocia!

After hours of anxiety, they boarded the plane, filled

with enthusiasm .After a swift hour journey on the

plane, year 6 were just beginning to see the beauty of

Cappadocia. As they drove to their hotel they passed

the stunning hills of Cappadocia.

On the way to our hotel, they briefly stopped to investi-

gate the unique underground city.As they tramped in and out

of the never ending rocky caves they began to wonder how

they would get out as they entered the gates of the tourist

hotel ,the students were exhausted and ready for a sleep in

there new bed.

As Tuesday arose, the students woke up to the beaming sun-

light of the city of flame, they were told about their 13 km

hike over the mountains of Cappadocia .At the open air mu-

seum students were discovering about the churches and history of Turkey .They split up into groups and

answered questions on a sheet of paper. After they finished , they set off on their daunting 13 km

hike .During the hike through the bucolic woods we saw snakes, wild horses and more iconic mountains.

Waking up on a Wednesday morning wasn’t fun for

most students, since we had to leave early in the

day .They had to do another hike , but it was worth it

because they got to make and watch pots. They also

got to watch carpets being weaved ,they learnt lots

about both topics and had great fun! When all the stu-

dents came back to meet up they played a few games

from the teachers. They also went swimming and en-

joyed the end of the day.

Nobody enjoyed Thursday because that was the day

we had to leave, luckily the students got to have a lit-

tle walk through the beautiful forest’s and we also had

a competition about nature. We had to make a sculp-

ture using objects around us. They all had fun but they

it was time to go, the children walked back to the ho-

tel ,picked up their things and walked in the bus. The

plane flight wasn’t fun but in the end we landed.

When we came back to Istanbul we were all exhausted

and ready to get home.

Lewis Mclellan and Max Gunnell

Zek Primary- Year 6 Trip

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Swimming Galas

KEY STAGE 1

On Friday 12th our Zekeriyaköy campus hosted the Alkent Year 1 and 2 students along with its own classes

for the Key Stage One swim gala. Abilities on the day ranged from those who had years of swimming expe-

rience to some who had only just started to learn how to swim a few weeks previous. It was a big success as

all the students put in a great effort and showed their attending parents how well they could jump, dive,

move, swim and float in the pool.

A big thank you to all those parents who attended as well as the teachers of Key Stage 1 who helped out the

PE department on the day. We are already looking forward to next years gala and hope that it will be as

successful.

Cathal Mahon

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KEY STAGE 2

The KS2 Swimming Gala took place on Thursday 11th. June. The day was divided into two Galas - the first

was for years 3 and 4 and the second Gala was for years 5 and 6.

Freestyle

Boys Girls

Year 6 1 - Hyoshin Year 6 1 - Victoria

2 - Nicholas 2 - Nina

3 - Egor 3 - Beatriz

Year 5 1 - Lucas Year 5 1 - Elisa

2 - Byung Zu 2 - Sharan

3 - Freddy 3 - Derya

Year 4 1- William Year 4 1 - Imogen

2 - Denniz 2 - Maxine

3 - Katada 3 - Polly

Year 3 1 - Dominic Year 3 1 - Hyo Ju

2 - Evan 2 - Blanca

3 - Matteo 3 - Jasmine

Backstroke

Year 6 1 - Hyoshin Year 6 1 - Victoria

2 - Nicholas 2 - Nina

3 - Gyu Won 3 - Maxima

Year 5 1 - Lucas Year 5 1 - Elisa

2 - Baris 2 - Derya

3 - Tomassao 3 - Nike

Year 4 1 - William Year 4 1 - Maxine

2 -Deniz 2 - Aurelie

3 - Katada 3 - Ah Yeon

Year 3 1 - Dominic Year 3 1 - Hyo Ju

2 - Hippolyte 2 - Mara

3 - Daniel 3 - Blanca

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Breastroke

Year 6 1 - Hyoshin Year 6 1 - Victoria

2 - Nicholas 2 - Jil and Beatriz

3 - Emre

Year 5 1 - Byung Zou Year 5 1 - Alisha

2 - Lucas 2 - Alix

3 - Gin Woo 3 - Sharan

Year 4 1 - William Year 4 1 - Maxine

2 - Deniz 2 - Polly

3 - Sung Jin 3 - Ella

Year 3 1 - Dieter Year 3 1 - Hyo Ju

2 - Elliot 2 - Mara

3 - Hippolyte 3 - Blanca

House points

Years 3 and 4

1st - Maple - 88

2nd Cedar - 83 points

3rd Oak - 79 points

Years 5 and 6

1st - Cedar - 95 points

2nd - Maple - 87 points 3rd

Oak - 83 points

Total: 1st - Cedar - 178 points

2nd - Maple - 175 points

3rd - Oak 162 points

Chtistian Huegel

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SECONDARY SWIMMING GALA

Traditionally the last week of the school year our students from secondary are

allowed to come to school in own sport clothes of their house colors and have

sports competitions during four afternoons.

Tuesday was the opening day with the annual swim gala facilitating for two age

groups, Y7-Y8 and Y9-Y10.

Wednesday it was girls’ volleyball and boy’s football, vice versa on Thursday

and both days did include a female and male teacher’s team.

Below you can find all medal winners from our swim gala:

Y7-Y8 Boys

Freestyle: 1st Eliot, 2nd Thomas, 3rd Gregori

Backstroke: 1st Pietro, 2nd Thomas, 3rd Gregori

Breaststroke: 1st Matthew, 2nd Elliot, 3rd Amir

Y7-Y8 Girls

Freestyle: 1st India, 2nd, Peri, 3rd Sophie

Backstroke: 1st Sophia, 2nd Peri, 3rd Nicole

Breaststroke: 1st Ellen, 2nd Pelin, 3rd India

Y9-Y10 Boys

Freestyl : 1st Deniz, 2nd Cenk, 3rd Ismar

Backstroke: 1st Deniz, 2nd Ismar, 3rd Tijn

Breaststoke: 1st Deniz, 2nd Cenk, 3rd Ishmar

Y9-Y10 Girls

Freestyle: 1st Hannah C, 2nd Lauren, 3rd Melisa

Backstroke: 1st Kim, 2nd Gabi, 3rd Carys

Breaststroke: 1st Hannah C, 2nd Melisa, 3rd Lauren

Y7to Y10 combined Fly: 1st Deniz, 2nd Cenk, 3rd Pietro

Y7to Y10 combined Fly: 1st Peri, 2nd Lauren, 3rd Nadia

Relays are Freestyle, 4x25m including 2 boys and 2 girls per team

Y7-Y8 winning teams:

1st Maple1

2nd Cedar1

3rd Oak1

Y9-Y10 winning teams

1st Cedar1

2nd Maple 2

3rd Maple 1

Enjoy the summer and see you back in the 2015/16 aca-

demic year.

Christian Huegel

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The Year 7 students enjoyed an eventful trips week at the start of June. Trips are an important part of our

school year as they allow learning to take place in and around our local community. This allows students to

explore the culture that exists around them and learn essential life skills.

We began trips week with a trip to the aquarium. This was organised by our Science department and the

students were wow-ed by the tremendous facility over in Florya. We saw sharks and turtles, flat fish and

jelly fish, experienced the hurricane machine and had a lovely lunch in a nearby park where the students had

the freedom of space to make much, much noise!

Tuesday and Friday were days organised by the Creative Arts department. Students used this time to re-

hearse for their Fat Sam's Grand Slam performances which we all had the pleasure of hearing at fun day.

On Wednesday, the form tutors took their classes to Kilyos, Kilya Hotel. Here we had exclusive access to

the pool and hotel grounds where we were able to reflect back and build upon skills we began developing in

Galipolli (way back in September!!). Some of the pictures you see with this article were taken by our stu-

dents as they took part in the photo-scavanger-hunt-challenge. Very impressive.

On the Thursday we invaded Vialand! For those who have not been, this is a wonderful open space in the

heart of the city where students could experience the thrill of the rides or simply appreciate the scenery as

they walked around (as well as copious candy floss and ice cream stalls!). This day was organised by the

Math department where as well as having heaps of fun, students were asked to complete a work booklet spe-

cifically created for this day which meant they had to analyse and solve problems related to the rides they

had the pleasure of trying.

All in all, this was a fantastic week and an excellent way to end the academic year. I hope the students have

as many fond memories as I do, not only of this trips week, but of the amazing things we have had the op-

portunity to do in Year 7.

Miss Carolynne Bell

KS3 Coordinator

Secondary- Year 7 Trips Week

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Secondary—Year 9 Trip

June 1st – 4th. Y9 Trip to Safranbolu and Amasra

This field trip had everything; the wet gloom of underground caves to the

dizzying heights of Safranbolu’s almost unheard of crystal mountain top.

During the day, amid the mosques, museums, and a castle that suddenly

crept up on you, were flexed muscles and wet dogs on Amasra beach.

After dinner, mirror balls span, glittered, and shimmered on divas danc-

ing to disco and karaoke… to the amusement of the girls watching. It was

almost much too much to handle. Fun was had though and all navigated

their way through four days of köfte, fried fish and barbequed chicken to

drown themselves in crisps, cake and fizzy pop on the journey home.

On our journey back it was time to reflect on what was learnt. To the

pained chagrin of Whatshisname, our dear friend and guide, not much

culturally, but plenty on what is really important. Discussed was who was dating whom, why and for how long. Which app is best

for telling which app is best. Who could hold their breath the longest before passing out!? Did the Christians really hide in those

caves? Should we play with strangers or touch stray dogs? Where do puppies come from? How much is that ice-cream and can we

have one? You retrieved your phone from where? What?! He has a lion, a horse and a wardrobe! Mr Gunnell, how safe exactly is

this glass floor… er, Mr Gunnell… are you okay??

What we found out though was that we all had fun, enjoyed each other’s company, were all ‘fascinated’ by Louis’s temporary leg

volcano and now know that most phones dislike sunbathing, swimming, rice, and being hurled down toilets. We also learnt that 20

minutes is not really 20 minutes, that roadside garages are like buses, that boys do look daft dressed up as girls, and that more than

one sun cream application is needed on a hot day. Also learnt was that girls should never brave a gentleman’s public toilet no mat-

ter how desperate, and that not every town has a Starbucks…

Thank you Year 9. Thank you Pos Tourism. Thanks to Reacheal Howard, Caroline Garner and Eila Thomas also. This was a very

memorable and entertaining few days away from school. Every minute was a pleasure spent in good company. I look forward to

our next trip away.

Russ Gunnell

Do enjoy the following pictures. They capture just the briefest of many good moments shared in early June.

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Sports—Turkish International Sports League at BISI

TISSL last stage at BISI

An exciting year ended with the the last stage of the, all new TISSL, taking place in Istanbul.

After winning the TISSL football at BLIS Ankara and also having won the 2nd event in basketball and football in Cyprus at the

English School Kyrenia, it was up to us to defend the overall first place in the league at the final stage, hosted at our Zekeriyakoy

campus over the weekend from the 12th to 13th June.

Ankara only brought their extremely strong football boys as their girls could not make it this time around. Cyprus ESK came with

three teams’ two boys and a very strong girls team.

During the two competition days the girls completed in a swimming tournament, a basketball tournament and had to play indoor

hockey. After all this it was a tie for first and the final football match had to bring the decision. Cyprus girls where definitely the

favorites in this match, but in the end the BISI girls fought through and could defend the lead with just one goal finishing 3:2.

Our three boys’ teams played in a football tournament as well as a basketball tournament and all swam on Saturday morning. In the

football, it was down to a 3 team round robin final (Ankara / BISI F1 / BISI F2 ) to battle for the cups and we knew the team from

Ankara was going to be strong, as we had played them before this year. After winning against the Ankara team on day one and

playing a draw, they had the better and much stronger finish on Saturday, taking home a well-deserved 1st place, leaving BISI F2 on

second and BISI F1 on third. BISI F3 took fourth followed by the two Cyprus teams.

The boys basketball had the closest possible decision and in the end it was one scored basket giving BISI B2 the overall 1st, fol-

lowed by BISI B1 and Ankara on third. Fourth place goes to BISI B3 followed by Cyprus.

The medal winners of the swimming:

Girls:

Freestyle: 1st Zaynep ESK, 2nd Ela ESK, 3rd Jil BISI

Backstroke: 1st Zaynep ESK, 2nd Ella ESK, 3rd Elisa BISI

Breaststroke: 1st Zaynep ESK, 2nd Jil BISI, 3rd Rosa BISI

Fly: 1st Zaynep ESK, 2nd Elisa BISI, 3rd Nike BISI

Relay: 1st combined team from ESK and BISI, 2nd BISI

Boys:

Freestyle: 1st Nicholas BISI, 2nd Mert ESK, 3rd Lucas BISI

Backstroke: 1st Mert ESK, 2nd Nicholas BISI, 3rd Kayden BISI

Breaststroke: 1st Mert ESK, 2nd Nicholas BISI, 3rd Harvey ESK

Fly: 1st Mert ESK, 2nd Keenan BISI, 3rd Nicholas BISI

Relay: 1st BISI 1, 2nd ESK, 3rd BISI 2

Next year’s dates have been finalised and awaiting approval, but it looks as though the event will start on 9 th to 10th of October in

Ankara. We are also extending this successful format into Year 7 and 8, providing more opportunities and international tourna-

ments for the whole school and are negotiating with two more international schools in Izmir and Antalya, regarding their possible

commitment.

A big thank you to all who refereed, coached, performed for us, Samba drums or Gymnastics, during the opening ceremony, who

supported our players over the two days, who housed guests at their homes, To the PTA, and all who helped setting up, tidying up

and even shopping,…..without you all this would not have been possible!

Christian Huegel

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Alara Coban in Year 7 is one of our very talented youngsters at

BISI. Earlier this month, she played an exclusive concert at the

wonderful Zorlu Center in front of invited family, friends, teachers

and the occasional shopper who passed by and couldn't resist a lis-

ten. Alara was also watched by many of her fellow year 7 students

which shows how supportive a year group they are to give up their

free time to encourage each other.

Well done Alara. You were fabulous.

Miss Carolynne Bell

(on behalf of all of the teachers and students who were utterly im-

pressed!)

KS3 Coordinator

Student Achievements

We are delighted to announce that Dalia Unal, Year 2 - Alkent, was awarded third place in the COBIS art competition.

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FUN DAY 2015

Our Fun Day was held on Saturday 6 June in the grounds of our Zekeriyakoy Campus. Many amazing perfo-

mances by our students and staff, kept our BISI community entertained throughout the day. The children en-

joyed taking turns on the obstacle course, the bouncy slide and the climbing wall. They appreciated all the

stalls organised by the teachers, for example, Face painting, Beat the Goalie, the Coconut shy, Hula-hoop

game and many more. Our families enjoyed the Korean, Malay, Turkish and Indian food in our Food Court,

and sampled the many cakes on offer from our PTA Cake Stall. The raffle ended the day. A huge thank you

to all our sponsors.

Approximately 16,000tl was raised for our three chosen charities this year:

We would like to wish all our families a wonderful and restful summer break.

Helen Kiran

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Secondary Prom

Our Secondary Prom took place on Friday 26 June at the Zekeriyakoy Campus. This is an annual event and a

very successful one at that, all organised by the student council. The students danced the night away

A huge thanks to Rasul for being our DJ all the night.

Also, a massive thanks to Ms Garner (art) and her little team of painters! as always they make the prom props

look great.

We wish all our students a wonderful summer break and look forward to seeing them in the new academic

year.

Ms Scotland

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BISI Graduation Ceremony Photos

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DIRECTORS OF SCHOOLS Amanda Ilhan Pre School & Primary School Deputy Director +90 212 202 7027 amandailhan@bis.k12.tr Richard I’Anson Pre School & Primary School Director +90 212 257 5136 richardianson@bis.k12.tr William Bradley Director of Secondary and Principal of +090 212 202 7027 Zekeriyakoy Campus williambradley@bis.k12.tr Tuba Guven Director of Admissions +90 212 286 7375 registrar@bis.k12.tr Helen Kiran Head of PR/Communications +90 212 202 7027 communications@bis.k12.tr

Find us on

www.bis.k12.tr