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HEAD of School Dr Charles Wall is confident a combination of impressive new recruits and a series of internal promotions will help steer the British School of Bahrain (BSB) and its pupils to new realms of academic achievement.
Not content with its ‘outstanding’ inspection accolades of recent years the 53-year-old international educator wants the school to grow its reputation and says his new team, the pupils and their parents are united and supportive of his vision.
As a result there has been a significant move from ‘a pastoral to an academic focus’ at the growing Hamala-based British curriculum school which currently has 1,740 students and 125 teachers. When the new school year starts in September it will boast 1,940 students and 163 teachers.
“Our plans are to make BSB a truly world class school,” he said, in a frank and forthright interview, with no subject off the table for discussion, following GulfWeekly’s recent Page 1 article which highlighted staff changes at the school.
“Frankly, although we have outstanding provision and excellent outcomes, we are not yet world class. We are not a Tanglin or a UWC or a Patana or a St George’s ... yet our BSB ambition is to become such a school and this is what we are going after with a purpose.”
The BSB is a proprietary, independent, international school constituted under the sole proprietorship of its owner, Dr Esam Janahi, until recently executive chairman of Gulf Finance House, and a member of one of Bahrain’s most prominent families.
There have been rumours that the school was about to be sold. Dr Wall said: “In our parents’ meeting of April 24, the parents were reassured that the school is not being sold and that Dr Esam and his brothers have no intention of selling the school as the success of BSB is something they hold dear and regard as part of their corporate social responsibility.”
To prove the point a ‘significant investment’ is being made over the summer. Dr Wall revealed: “We shall take the opportunity to refurbish a number of classrooms and sports spaces, to develop our IT infrastructure, to construct a mezzanine floor in our library and to develop our playground spaces.
“We are introducing our own BSB bus service in line with the Ministry of Education’s Health and Safety requirements and shall continue to develop our marking provision.”
eplaced axed head Karen Moffat and brought a considerable academic edge to the school, with a first class honours degree in physics from Imperial College, a PhD in theoretical physics from Edinburgh University, a PGCE from Oxford University and the National Professional Qualification for head teachers from The National College of School Leadership.
He had worked in Singapore and England and his last port of call was a five-year spell as Head of Seniors at The British International School (BISC), in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.
In his opinion, has there been an unusually high turnover of BSB teaching staff this year? He said: “With two-year contracts and an average of four years per staff member we would expect a turnover of 25 per cent per annum. Internationally, the number of schools is increasing exponentially and with that the number of teachers, including stints in international schools, is also increasing. This is good for education.
“BSB has been growing steadily and is increasing in roll by 10 per cent as we become ‘seven form entry’ to Year 7 to accommodate students on our waiting lists who have passed our admissions exams.
“Put these two factors together and you can see we might expect our recruitment to be 35 per cent of our current staffing. It has been a little higher than this in Seniors and lower than this in Primary.
“A lot of energy and care has gone into recruiting quality applicants with academic edge, UK National Curriculum, GCSE, A’ level and IB experience, a relevant degree and recognised teacher training qualification and an international outlook and passion for teaching young people.”
The recruitment drive fits into his plans for the school’s development. “We are bringing in the International Baccalaureate Diploma alongside A’ levels thus offering different gold standard pathways to the world’s best universities,” he explained.
At Key Stage 2 nearly 60 per cent of BSB students achieve Level 5 or above in Maths and English and are therefore on track to achieve A or A* grades by the time they sit GCSE and A’ level exams.
In tandem with this, the school will be aiming for its IB average point score to top 35. Such outcomes are, in his view, ‘very realistic’ and will mean an increasing number of BSB students ‘progressing to Ivy League and Oxbridge universities’ and able to secure Crown Prince Scholarships.
He said: “With our move towards IB we also wish to further develop our use of enquiry-based learning which is a great way to foster curiosity and the lifelong love of learning so necessary in the 21st Century. This is already well established in Infants and Juniors and will be developed throughout the school as appropriate.
“As an international school with 66 nationalities we are increasing our emphasis on languages so that all students have the opportunity to learn Arabic, French, Spanish and other languages, right up to A’ level and IB.
“Our student voice is strong and shall become even more important as we look to ensure students are given leadership opportunities and a role in shaping how we achieve excellence.”
He says the already strong BSB enrichment programme will be further developed so that all students can enjoy field trips, Duke of Edinburgh Award, Model United Nations, World Scholars’ Cup, World Challenge, and take part in business and enterprise, maths and science competitions.
In the fields of sport and the performing arts, he says the school has recruited ‘excellent staff’ to further bolster its provision and pupils can look forward to taking part in more whole school productions.
“As a school we look outwards and have a teaching faculty who want to share their expertise with others,” he added.
BSB teachers were instrumental in holding the first ‘Teach-meet’ gathering in Bahrain and through its work as a member of International Quality Marque and as an Ambassador School championing the International Schools’ Award the school is keen to work with the Ministry of Education to help share best practice across Bahrain and beyond.
“To that end we are already working closely with the Pakistan, New Vision and Bangladesh Schools and shall continue to make it a point to collaborate with all schools on the island to enhance educational opportunities for students and professional development of staff,” he said.
As reported in GulfWeekly, a clean sweep has been made of Dr Wall’s top management team with the appointments of Khalil Ahmed as Head of Seniors, Katie Brand, Head of Juniors and Tarryn Patel, Head of Infants.
Dr Wall said: “A number of senior leaders elected to move on this year for personal reasons. We have taken the opportunity to make a change from a pastoral to an academic focus and to a wider distribution of leadership with no deputy heads but more assistant heads.
“All the new assistant heads and heads are outstanding teachers and are putting together development plans to move their schools forward to world class status.”
Dr Wall is confident existing teachers are up for the challenges ahead. Seven of the new assistant heads have been internally promoted. He said: “We have renewed and promoted many staff who have impressed; many promotions have been done internally for senior management and middle management positions. The BSB leadership team is made up of tried and tested outstanding BSB teachers.
“This is generating the positive climate and the dynamism we need to forge ahead. A number of these colleagues would have moved on if such opportunities had not come their way; I would be failing in my duty as Head of School were I not to recognise, harness and develop such talent for the good of the school.
“We have met with parents recently and shared with them our teaching faculty and leadership teams. In all cases the parents are very much reassured that we have strong teachers in all the leadership positions. Furthermore, they are pleased that we have worked very hard to ensure we recruit appropriately experienced and passionate teachers to join the BSB team.”
He believes many have a ‘significant academic edge’. Dr Mark Slater, the new Head of Geography, for example, is a fellow of the Royal Geographic Society. The keen environmentalist is currently on an expedition in Norway.
Yasin Motari, who joins the Maths team has a private pilot’s licence and a love of aeronautics and is looking forward to ‘adding some edge’ to the teaching of mechanics modules and perhaps the challenge of landing a Cesna on the BSB astroturf.
Shabana Jabine, the new Head of History, Dr Wall says ‘could easily be mistaken for a BBC newsreader’ with her Oxford background and her impressive credentials as a vice-principal and leader of humanities in her current school. “I could go on,” he said. “Sufficient to say, we have gone the extra mile on our recruitment to ensure and assure quality.”
IB is already an option to students at some other international schools in the kingdom and Dr Wall has been mindful that BSB had to grasp the nettle.
He said: “IB alongside A’ level is desirable and is part of our plan to broaden pathways and force IB learner profile/enquiry-based learning into our pedagogy.
“This is generally regarded as an important aspect of 21st Century education because it fosters curiosity.
“We will still retain the best of literacy, numeracy and language learning whilst, at the same time, taking the opportunity to develop enquiry and problem-solving abilities in our learners.
“This will better prepare them for university and the challenge of being effective and influential forces for good through their professional and social lives.
“We have yet to begin the IB programme. I would anticipate starting with 40 per cent IB and 60 per cent A’ level. However, we will provide strong careers guidance and mentoring which will ensure students adopt the optimal option and subjects choices within that for their intended career. The IB percentage may be smaller to start with.”
His message to readers, many of whom may be existing parents or who may be considering enrolling their children in BSB in the future, is simple. “Please do enrol your children at BSB. We have excellent teachers who will ensure your children enjoy their education and achieve their full potential and we are able and willing to go the extra mile to ensure Ivy League and Oxbridge are very possible for those with such aspirations.”
The work of the school’s management is also supported by a Board of Trustees, under the chairmanship of Rashad Janahi, the founder of Abu Dhabi Investment House and its chief executive officer. A representative of the Ministry of Private Education, Ahlam Murad, attends board meetings.
And the parents will be playing a significant new role in the school’s operation following the introduction of ‘parents’ representatives’ having direct access to each year group head to raise any issues of concern, make observations and offer suggestions.
Dutch expat Ellen van Manem has two sons studying at BSB, Floris, 16, and Pim, 13. She is a volunteer senior school parent representative and said: “There is an ‘open door’ policy for parents at this school and one of the best things is that the members of staff truly care for our children and make time for them.
“The boys love it here and as well as being happy they are thriving academically too. It’s a winning combination.”
It was music to Dr Wall’s ears and he hopes the message will continue to spread.
“As a parent with a 13-year-old son at BSB, I am here for at least five years, and have a personal as well as a professional vested interest in BSB becoming world class,” he said.
“I truly believe we can achieve this and that we have the students, teachers and supportive parent community to realise this ambition. I look forward to working closely with all at BSB as we stride purposefully along this path.”
