PRIMARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER, VOL. 3 No. 8, 15th June 2007

Dear Parents and Guardians,

PRIMARY NEWS

Students of the Week
Students of the Week
The Students of the Week ending 8th June 2007 were: Rita Vidot (Play Group), Olivia McKeown (Nursery), Kimberly Omwando (Reception), Joanna Dyer (Y1), Justin Walters (Y2), Giorgia Lauro (Y3), Nicholas Soares (Y4), Hamada Hamada (Y5) and David Boulton (Y6). Well done, everyone!

Bronze House Point Certificates
A bronze house point certificate was awarded to Oliver Holding Fay (Y4) for obtaining 25 house points this term. Well done, Oliver!

Netball
There was an U11 netball match against Shree on Tuesday at home which we lost 4-1 but the girls played well and it was an exciting game. Thank you, girls.

Football
I have to make a correction to last week's newsletter (pointed out to me by Waseem Y8) in which I reported that the score against Light Academy on 29th May was 1-0. We actually won 3-0.
There is an under 11 boy's football tournament at Oshwal Academy tomorrow starting at 9.00 am and finishing at 12.30 pm. We are sending two teams (19 players) and wish them every success as they have been training really hard. Mr. Farid and Mr. Harrison will meet them there but parental support will do much to encourage them.

ABRSM Examinations - Report from Mr. Gannaway
Friday was another mile stone for Braeburn MIS when the ABRSM exams took place on our premises. There were naturally some teething problems such as my absence for most of the second term but, generally, we made up for lost time.
The effect of introducing these exams has been dramatic - motivation was high and standards have improved as a result. There is also a correspondingly bigger demand for tuition in a wide range of instruments.
Next term we will be incorporating the ABRSM syllabus into class music - it runs parallel with our Key Stage curriculum but culminates in an officially recognised international exam. All students from Y4 upwards will be coached in the skills required for Grade 1 singing and recorder playing. The work will be covered in class time and no private tuition should be necessary. There will be no compulsion to sit the exams since a fee is required, but students who wish to enroll will be notified of the entry date before the end of term 1. Students who wish to do IGCSE Music should aim to pass Grade 4 by Y10.
Other instruments including keyboard, guitar (classical), flute, clarinet, trumpet and violin require individual tuition and ownership of the instrument chosen. We have some for hire to enable students to try them out but, normally, not for longer than one term.
Any enquiries are welcome. Please see me or Mr. Corbet at an arranged time.

French Poetry Speaking Competition
A report from Mr. Kirby: On Tuesday (12th June) four of our Primary pupils represented BMIS at the Junior French Poetry Competition at Oshwal Academy. They were Kylie McKenzie (Y6), Savanna Allport (Y5), Oliver Holding Fay (Y4) and Amy Phillips (Y3). They had t recite a difficult poem from memory to a very large audience which is no mean feat and I am pleased to say that BMIS came 5th overall out of 13 schools. Amy came 3rd in her year group with a poem about being naughty. Despite my obvious bias, I was surprised that Savanna was not placed in the top three of her year group. A huge thank you and well done to the pupils and also to the parents who came to support. I would also like to thank Mrs. Veronique for acting as consultant.

SATs
The Y6 SATs are finished and the papers sent to Nairobi for marking. The results will be given to the children in the first week of next term when they will be in Y7. There is an opportunity for parents to meet Class Teachers this evening to discuss the SATs papers and to see how your children coped. I hope you will take advantage of this.

Early Years and KS1 Production
The little ones have their turn to perform to parents next Friday (22nd June) at 6.30 pm when they will be presenting "The Golden Goose". They will need to come back to school for changing into costumes etc. at 6.00 pm and should go straight to their classrooms. Please make sure that they have been well fed and watered at home as the kitchen will only be providing light refreshments afterwards. There will also be a bar run by the PTA which will be open before and after the show.

Staffing for next term
Sadly, we will be losing two teachers from the Primary School next term - Mr. Gannon from Y6 and Ms. Andrews from Y4. Mr. Gannon has been with us in Y6 since Braeburn took over three years ago. Previously he had been teaching at St. Mary's, Nairobi, for 24 years. He will be remembered for his appearances and commentaries on stage and his amazing ability for always being the first teacher to meet deadlines! Also, he has not had one single day off since being here and I cannot remember ever hearing him complain about anything. He is moving on to teach IB at Braeburn College, Nairobi, where we wish him every success and happiness. Ms. Andrews has been the Y4 Class Teacher for two years and has done much for girls' games and the pastoral care of her classes. We also wish her every success and happiness as she moves on.
There will be no change of class teachers from EY to Y3 but Mrs. Trish Boulton who is a parent here will be taking Y4, Mr. Basil Tulesi, coming to us from Rusinga School, Nairobi, will take Y5 while Ms. Kimutai will move up with her class to Y6.

Assemblies
This week we had two assemblies which completes all the class assemblies for this term.
Thank you, Ms. Watsulu and Reception for your lovely assembly on Wednesday and Mrs. Veronique and Ms. Chege for the delightful Play Group and Nursery assembly today.

Have a good weekend.

Allen Colbert,

Head Teacher

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 SECONDARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER, VOL. 3 No. 8, 15th June 2007

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Our secondary school end of year examinations begin next week. I would like to wish all of our students good luck.

A quick reminder for our year 12 students; A Level, year 12 classes will resume on Monday.

We are sending a team of nine boys to the John Garrod under 15 football tournament hosted by Braeburn College this weekend. Sixteen teams will play in this competition. Braeburn Mombasa have been drawn against Aga Khan Nairobi, Brookhouse and Hillcrest in the first round. Braeburn Kisumu, Braeburn Nairobi and Braeside also are competing.

U13 Girls' Soccer Tournament, Mrs Gicheru

On Thursday 7th June, our girls travelled to Mombasa Academy to take part in a soccer tournament involving The Aga Khan Academy and Mombasa Academy.

The girls defeated Mombasa Academy 2 0 with Olivia and Tadge scoring the goals. The Aga Khan Academy proved a tough nut to crack and our girls lost narrowly by 2 1 with Siana scoring our consolation goal. We achieved second place overall.

Many thanks to the girls for training and playing well and for the supporters who gave up at least 3 hours of the free time.

Trees, Mud and a Downhill Slope, Mrs. Gicheru

On Tuesday 5th June, The Baobab Trust invited year 7 students from Braeburn Mombasa International School to celebrate World Environment Day with them by planting trees in the rural area of Vikwatani.

"When the going gets tough, the tough get going." The students will tell you how they lived up to this well-known phrase.

After we arrived at Nguuni Nature Sanctuary, we got back on the bus and followed the cars in front of us to where we were going to plant the trees.
(Valery Mugaza)

On the way, we were accompanied by 12 young children and their teacher from a local school. We soon arrived at the planting spot where we were joined by more young children and lots of young trees. (Kiella Nicholas)

We each took a sapling to plant. We went down a really steep hill and after only a few trees had been planted, it started to pour down. (Julia Rogers and Kyra Lucas)

We came here with fresh spirits ready to plant trees and get the environment going with new oxygen. I planted my first tree with Julia Rogers with rain pouring down on us. Maxim actually fell and was covered all over with icky mud. He didn't mind and there was fun and laughter throughout. All of us got soaked (Vivek Dhutia). But I didn't mind just as long as the environment was well kept and I had planted a tree. (Olivia Wameyo)

We planted trees all over the place until all we had left was a big mess on our uniform. Yet we still hadn't enough fun, so we collected all the plastic bags by sliding down the hill. (Darius Dahmen, Maxim Sanders and Ausar Dhanjal)

We then left with the greatest and biggest smiles on our faces and that was the best trip we've had in the history of year 7. (Olivia Wameyo)

First Aid Course

Ali and Tony Allport of Dive Safari Kenya have arranged a First Response First Aid course taking place on Friday 22 June 2007 at Kijipwa Airfield, Kikambala starting at 8.30am and finishing at about 5.30pm.The cost is KShs 8300 for the course including manual and certification. This is an ideal opportunity to ensure that you and your staff are conversant in First Aid procedure. They can be contacted on0720441487 or 0723 110031.

If you would also like to receive this newsletter by email, thereby conserving paper and helping our school to become more environmentally friendly; please send an email request to mis@africaonline.co.ke

Andy Hill,
Headteacher

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