School takes shape

Work is progressing at full speed at the new campus of the British School of Bahrain in Hamala which is set to boast state-of-the-art learning facilities.

Despite rumours to the contrary, the school administration is confident the new building will be complete and ready for possession in early August.

Director Bill Frost took a party of parents around the site to show its impressive progress.

The school's 1,100 students are currently split between Adliya and Hamala and will begin their new school term in September from the single campus.

Speaking exclusively to GulfWeekly's Anasuya Kesavan, Mr Frost said that despite two delays in the project caused by cost fluctuations and other economic reasons, work is progressing steadily.

He said: "Major construction work is complete and has now moved to the interior of the buildings. By the end of April, work will start on the interior fixtures and fittings including the ceilings, doors and windows.

"There had been a slowing down of work that had parents worried about whether it is going to happen or not. However, we are delighted to have a statement from our contractors and we have a firm handover date of August 10 this year."

The new building will house the junior and senior students while the current premises - which was previously the Al Ruwad School - will be dedicated to infants from Kindergarten to Year 2.

Art, ICT, music, design, science and food technology suites have been dedicated in the new block and the common facilities that all pupils will enjoy include a sports field and sports hall, cafeteria, swimming facilities and a library.

Mr Frost added: "When I came into the school in 2002 it was a very small school and in truth we were never able to promote or sell it in terms of its facilities in Adliya ... we never had any! But, what it always had was a really good set of supportive children and parents and some very, very good teachers.

"What happens now is that we can take all of that which we are very proud of into the facility and allow them to soar.

THE new campus of the British School of Bahrain in Hamala will boast exciting new facilities.

Apart from spacious, well lit classrooms, the three-floor building will have dedicated space for music, art, design and food technology, a library and a cafeteria.

School director Bill Frost said:_"Our facilities are not specifically designed for one section of the school. I want my upper juniors to be taught science in science laboratories, the juniors to have a proper music room, in technology, particularly the fives and sixes, to be able to access senior school facilities - particularly when they get to year six because we will not have any transition issues that we have when we are in a junior and a separate senior school."

The school has a four-form entry and plans to add new sections in the Reception Class and Years Eight, Nine and 10 in the forthcoming academic year. The school also expects a significant increase in the number of students in the Sixth Form and an additional section for Year 11 in 2010.

The school also plans to extend its library and sports facilities to the community.

Mr Frost said: "When parents relocate to Bahrain you bring a family. From our point of view the critical members of the family are the children, because we are a school. But, if that school has the capacity to respond to the needs of the other members of the family than I think we ought to and we are looking forward to that."

With three access points and several pedestrian entrances, the campus will also have a covered parking facility for 192 cars and a sports field.

The new building is largely split horizontally with the juniors on the ground floor, the lower seniors on the first-floor and the upper seniors and sixth formers on the top floor.

A suite of six science-laboratories with a central presentation area and lecture area is also part of the new school block.

A wing on each floor will have sound-proofed rooms set around a common area that can be used for various group activities.

Mr Frost said that the school will offer music technology A-level from September. Music rooms are on all three floors.

He said: "I have never seen music facilities for the junior students like that before with individual practise rooms, PC areas and very large performance areas. We have diverted significant resources to ensure that children benefit in the best possible way not just from extra-curricular music but also in terms of establishing an instrument programme.

"In terms of developing music at a senior level we have got a very good core root tradition ... a range of ensembles at senior level. In September, we are going to start music technology A-level where we are planning to use Apple technology."

A key strategic aim for the school is to integrate digital technology into the curriculum and plans are to equip every classroom with a capacity for digital learning.

In the senior levels, the school will begin offering design graphics and food technology and the new building has identified areas where these specialist subjects can be taught.

The arts department facilities are also highly-enhanced with two very large spaces on different floors dedicated to display and kiln facilities for pottery and other aspects of the curriculum.

The sports field will be located over the parking facilities. Elaborating on the broadening of the physical education aspects Mr Frost said: "The open space over the parking lot has a synthetic surface ... a very hard wearing one. It will be our main sports field.

"Students will get access to a very large sports field on their site which can be used for soccer, athletics or whatever else.

"It can also be used as a general play area, surrounding which there will be our basketball courts, tennis courts and cricket nets. In the plan we have not sorted out funding yet but are going to have this flood-lit.

"We see the whole concept of our school really as somewhere where children and adults come in the morning and can stay until 7pm.

"So, we see the whole sports curriculum expanding. For example in the past we had to recommend that our tennis players go down to club facilities, or to the Bahrain Tennis Federation ... we are going to train them onsite.

"That is already happening in our swim facilities. We not only have curriculum PE swimming. After school we have got training for teams, beginners' improvement courses, water polo training going on Fridays to develop a team. And on Saturday we have a PADI diving course on in conjunction with the Coral Beach Club. And that's a very good model for all the other sports facilities we have got.

"Primarily they are there for our kids. But if we can use it as a community facility our next line would be our mums and dads and ultimately we could hire out facilities to generate funds that could be put back into our kids' pockets, which is what we are going to do."

The new school library planned in the new facility is one of the most attractive facilities and is bigger than the current sports hall. It has a dedicated area for the sixth formers and will be opened to the parents as well. Mr Frost said: "The whole size of the facility presents us with quite exciting challenges and the most important one is to find the right resources to equip it the way we want.

"We are not aware of any public lending facility nearby. We want to offer a learning centre not just to our students but to their parents as well, although there is a lot of work in progress with regard to logistics ... and access and security and how and when we really want to make it a community facility."

Mr Frost also reiterated that additional benefits the school students will enjoy are not at the cost of increasing school fees but through sponsorship.

He added: "We have major success with major corporations taking over the sponsorship of specific facilities and some are interested in various aspects of our programmes.

"We tend to spend as much as possible on education and as little as possible on bureaucracy. Our major priorities next year are on technology and developing our new facilities. But we are not going to take the easy way out by doubling the school fees overnight."