Issue 11 Page 1

Date: 2nd March 2017

Issue: 11

Whole School News

Enthusiasm in Year 6

The students in Year 6 display enthusiasm about many different aspects of the curriculum: learning about pie charts in Mathematics, writing biographies in English and while making preparations for their upcoming exhibition. In our current unit of inquiry ‘Leadership’, the students have been exploring the line of inquiry: benefits and challenges of different leadership roles. They worked in groups of four to assemble a tent within a 20 minute time limit. The students recognised that they were knowledge contributors, people supporters, challengers listeners and mediators - all useful skills for leaders.

"It helped me to develop my leadership skills and showed me that everyone can be a leader. I was enthusiastic about this activity because everyone in my group had some prior knowledge of how to put up tents." - Timothee "I was enthusiastic about working on this challenge because it is nice to know that you are an important part of the group."

- Gabriela

Enthusiasm in the Early Years

Children are naturally curious and enthusiastic about the world around them. In the Early Years, we channel that enthusiasm towards life to keep the children learning in fun and creative ways. Circus week at NCBIS was the perfect way to interest our children in moving in various ways, a key part of the Physical Development strand in the EYFS curriculum. Through the course of the week, during PE lessons, our students eagerly learned to twirl ribbons, balance spinning plates on sticks, juggle colourful scarves and used partners to participate in Acrogym movements. These new skills were then shown off in a Circus Performance on Thursday, where excited children chose their favourite activity to perform in front of a real audience. With enthusiastic smiles, confident performers showed off their new skills in a performance that put smiles on everyone’s faces! Super work, Reception, we are proud of you!

- Christina Seeley, Reception Teacher

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Dutch Circus

Any moment you walk into NCBIS you will see students showing enthusiasm doing different activities. We don’t only show enthusiasm during learning activities, but also during special celebrations. One special occasion which generated a lot of enthusiasm was our International Carnival, which is traditionally celebrated at NCBIS by the Dutch Stream and Primary School.

Prince Thijmen made sure that everybody had a good time. He led the ‘polonaise’ and taught all Primary students how to do ‘sjoenkeling’ ( a typical Dutch Carnival dance) during the assembly. During the after school celebration we danced the afternoon away and had a lot of fun!

- Olga Kes, Head of Dutch Stream

16 Award winners on Tuesday 21st!

Pearson-Edexcel recognised 16 NCBIS prize winners at the recent High Achievers' ceremony, while proud

parents and staff watched on. This was double the number from any other school present, which is an amazing

statistic as we have fewer sudents than most schools and only take (i)gcse into account, not AS and A level as in

the case of other schools present. Please see our webpage for a more detailed report; while the official

photographs of our illustrious prize winners can be found on the British Council webpage. Thanks to HE British

Ambassador John Casson, for allowing us to celebrate in such magnificent and historic surroundings.

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Business Conference, Wednesday 22nd February

On Wednesday 22nd March, 38 Year 12 students attended the annual NCBIS Careers Day at the Royal Maxim

Palace Kempinski. The aim of the day was to help students develop the soft skills ("Capabilities") required for

entering university as well as the job market. Students attended workshops to help them create a CV, how to

sell themselves and how to develop interview skills, organised by Ms. Brittain, Ms. Crisp and Mr. Rossall. We

were also very lucky to count on Mr. Personne, the Revenue Manager from Sofitel, running a workshop on 'First

Impressions'; as well as Ms. Edwards, a former MSc Course Director/Lecturer from Oxford University, running a

workshop on University Admissions. Students had a practice interview with either Ms. Holt, Ms. Newton or Miss

Gardner, with advice given on their strengths and areas to develop. During the day there were presentations

from Dr. Mohamed, an Engineering lecturer from the University of Portsmouth, and Mr. Taylor, an Admissions

Officer from the University of Birmingham. Both presenters gave feedback to the students about how to

investigate universities, what questions they should be asking and advice on how to select an appropriate

university. To finish the day, students attended a University Fair, where over 50 universities from the UK, Egypt,

Greece and Spain were exhibiting; allowing them to ask the universities directly about their admissions

requirements, courses etc and put their newly acquired information to direct use.

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Spelling Bee, 2017

Thanks to Mr. Watson and the English department, we enjoyed another exciting Spelling Bee on Tuesday 21st,

when Key stage 3 students showed their literacy and vocabulary skills on stage, in front of a respectful and

humbled audience, as well as attentive judges. Vocab.com and reading competitions have played a very positive

role in improving language skills and spelling, and we are delighted that the following will be competing in the

CAC Middle School (Grades 6-8) competition: Danraj and Harleen Dhillon, Kinsey Ali and Reserve Ahmad Malik.

We wish them every success!

Judging our preliminary Spelling Bee: Mrs. Gilchrist, Head of KS3, (left) Mr. Watson, (Head of English) and Vice

Principal Miss Holt (right)

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Start of Challenges Week

For year 11 and 12 students remaining in Cairo, Challenges week has been an opportunity to discover the world

of Business and enterprise, and visit world-leading companies to discover the multitude of careers available to

our younger generation. On Sunday 26th, groups visited the imposing BMW production line franchised by

Bavarian Auto Group, as well as the world's leading carpet manufacturer at Oriental Weavers, 10th Ramadan

City. At both prestigious companies, they learned about the production and assembly process as well as the

career areas that lead to such influential and creative teams, together with the role of automation and IT. Our

students were treated like VIPs and gained a unique insight into the world of multinational companies. Our

sincere thanks to both companies on this unforgettable day, as well as to all those who have helped us during

the week: ABB, Bavarian Auto Goup, Belgian Embassy, Cairo Olympic Centre and Mr. El Erian, Cairo Opera house,

Chinese Cultural Centre, Dr Tewfik and Gimpex, Dusit Thani Hotel, Farag law company, Four Seasons Hotel,

Marriott Hotel, Maersk Drilling, MISR Steel, Moawad Investments, NCBIS ICT Department, Oriental Weavers,

Renaissance Hotel, Sharabassy Built Environment, Sofitel, TEDA Economic Zone, Travco. Your support is greatly

appreciated, as always. Photographs of these visits will be available in the Challenges' week assembly, on

Tuesday 7th March.

Budding Engineers and Business entrepreneurs in the totally automated "Sorting and storage area, at Oriental

Weavers.

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Sharabassy Built Environment Studios

Students in years 7-9 have also been introduced to the world of work this week, linking with Sharabassy

Architecture studios in a highly practical 3 day programme, They started with the pillars of sketching, collaging

and sketch up 3d design, before moving on to modeling, as the following photographs admirably demonstrate.

Digital fabrication will follow, with the use of 3d printers and laser cutters, as they create their designs and

experiment with these new skills. Thank you to CEO Ahmed Sharabassy as always, for this opportunity for

school-industry linkage, all part of our "Education for employability" and associated capabilities that extend

through to year 13.

Where are they now?

It's always good to hear exciting

news from our alumni and while

most are happily studying at their

"world 100" universities, Holly

Jaffrey and James Woodward are

involved in social projects in

Thailand, with deferred university

entrance. After 6 months working in

Germany (James) and UK (Holly),

they are now at the Mirror

Foundation in Chiang Rai, Thailand.

They are teaching English in a

number of different village schools,

which they are both finding very

rewarding. Congratulations and well done for keeping up that important service learning philosophy embedded

in the IB Diploma, and for helping to make a difference in people's lives.

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Rockfest 2017 (Rocking, rolling and reeling in the aisles!) Our best ever!

With great thanks to Director of Music Mr. Joseph Szalay and Sound / lighting engineer, Ihab Iskander, Rockfest

was a huge success and played to a full house. Everybody in year 8 and 9 had contributed in one way or another

as part of their latest scheme of work, and the results were simply incredible. Many students learned new

instruments and melodies, while enjoying a whole new meaning of the term "groupwork". Congratulations to

Stageband, overall winners and "Kiwi Co" from Key Stage Three. Thanks also to our judges, Miss Laragione, Miss

Banks and Mr Fitzpatrick.