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THE British School of Bahrain (BSB) has been given the green light to go-ahead with an ambitious BD4.1 million expansion of its Hamala premises.
The project aimed at building more facilities to ‘support and enhance’ the learning experiences of its pupils will start next May and will take 18 months to complete.
The school currently has 1,585 students, aged from three to 18, and the development is part of a four-year plan to increase the number of places available to a maximum of 2,300.
Head of School Karen Moffat said: “These are exciting times at the school and you can feel the positive energy in the air.”
BSB has teamed up with architects Bahrain Engineering Bureau (SPC) and contractors Skyline Trading Corporation to carry out the project.
Phase 1 is already underway with an infants’ library and multi-media centre, dance studio and music rooms currently taking shape and the necessary planning approvals were received last week for the main site expansion, labelled phase 2 & 3.
This work includes additional classrooms and technical rooms on the first and second floors, a new eight-lane covered swimming pool, a first floor 400-seat auditorium and adding an additional floor to its existing underground car park at ground level.
After the expansion, the car park will boast around 350 parking spaces.
The roof of the new car park will accommodate the artificial turfed football pitch and tennis court.
The plans also include a unique shaded terrace at the top of the building with a playground, basketball court and seating, a new sports hall, examination floor, music and drama rehearsal studios, a sixth form area and a new reception classroom.
Mrs Moffat said that extensive project planning has been put in place to ensure a minimum amount of disruption is caused to students whilst the work is being carried out.
The school opened in 1995 in a small campus in Adliya with only 172 pupils. It is now owned by Bahraini businessman Esam Janahi who merged it with Al Ruwad School in 2007 and its modern campus opened in September 2009.
“These expansion plans are a reflection of the development of Bahrain,” she said. “We were that little school in Adliya and parents liked what we were offering, namely academic excellence with strong pastoral care.”
Mrs Moffat, 56, was promoted from the position of acting director to the ‘Head of the School’ in September 2011, replacing Bill Frost, a former British Club of Bahrain chairman, who returned to the UK after playing a significant role in the school’s development for more than eight years.
She had a long association with Mr Frost having worked with him at St Christopher’s School as deputy head for three years before moving to Hong Kong and joining the BSB in February 2007 as deputy director.
BSB is also celebrating a glowing report by The Schools Review Unit (SRU), part of the Quality Assurance Authority for Education and Training (QAAET), an independent national authority, established to raise standards in education and training.
It was labelled ‘outstanding’ in every category monitored including the effectiveness of teaching and learning, how well the students were guided and supported, as well as its leadership, management and governance.
The pupil expansion plan could make BSB the largest British curriculum school on the island, nudging ahead of St Christopher’s, which also recently announced ‘outstanding’ independent assessments, and is based on two sites in Saar and Isa Town.
Mrs Moffat said: “Bahrain has enough space for two high-performing, quality international schools offering a British curriculum.”
Although BSB proudly boasts the ability to ‘offer students a seamless education on one site’ if demand for places continues at a pace, Mrs Moffat said the school may consider opening feeder primary schools in Muharraq and Manama or even creating a sister bilingual school in the future.
There are also discussions about setting up similar BSB-style facilities in Oman and Qatar.
