Principal’s Letter to Parents – Beginning of 2024-25

Dear Parents,

Welcome to all those of you who are new to the school to the Brummana community.  We greet you with warmth and excitement on admitting your children to the school and hope that they will be happy and thrive here.  To all those of you for whom this is not the first experience, welcome back!  I hope that you all have had a relaxing and peaceful summer in spite of all the uncertainty and threatened calamities which have troubled us in Lebanon in recent weeks.

Whatever the challenges we face, this is a wonderful country, with many beauties and great potential.  It is our task at school to ensure that the potential is drawn out in your children and that they have a fulfilling, educational experience which concludes by their going confidently and enthusiastically out into the world to make a difference in the future.  To do that, we need your support and help so that we can work in genuine partnership and to the advantage of your children.

This letter is important, as are all the letters I shall send to you, by email and on the Parents’ App.  They will always contain essential information you need to know; so I would be grateful if you would read them carefully.

Examination Results (2023-2024):

Examination results at Brummana High School, were good, in many cases very good, and in all programmes much improved on those in 2023.

• Checkpoint:

Many children sat checkpoint examinations/tests in Grades 6 and 8, overseen by Cambridge.  These measure children’s progress with the Cambridge Programme, an approach to education which aims to develop critical thinking and independent learning.  I am delighted to say that the results exceeded our expectations with children performing well against international standards.  Children will be awarded with certificates of achievement/diplomas in these tests at the start of the school year by Heads of Section.

• IGCSE (Grade 10 International Programme):

The IGCSE’s taken by 44 students in Grade 10 generated very good results with an overall pass rate (A*- C) of 78%, an improvement of 18% on the 60% achieved in 2023.  Students should be very pleased with the outcome of their hard work, and teachers with the results of their wholehearted commitment to the students.  As a matter of comparison, in the UK where GCSE’s are taken (an easier form of the IGCSE) the top performing area of the country was Greater London with an average pass rate of 72%.  Our students have done well although there are still areas which need further refinement and development, and we shall be focusing on those this year with the new Grade 10 cohort.

• DELF:

All of our students studying French will at various stages of their school careers sit for DELF qualifications in French, which are internationally recognized, and invaluable when students apply for employment on the international market.

This year, students in Grades 6, 8 and 11 sat these examinations and achieved extremely good results and much improved on those of 2023. 

In the A1, students scored 100% pass rate; in the A2, students scored 98% compared with 78% in 2023; in the B1, students scored 82% compared with 75% in 2023; in the B2, students scored a 62% pass rate. (Students did not sit for A1 and B2 in 2023)

• ‘A’ Level:

Students in Grade 12 in the International Programme sat for ‘A’ Level examinations.  The pass rate was 68% by comparison with 60% in 2023.  Although these results were clearly better than the previous year, there is still much more to be done and my colleagues and I shall be working on raising expectations, work rate and levels of competence in the approach to this qualification in the coming year.

• International Baccalaureate:

Students in Grade 12 in the IB Programme sat for the IB.  Results were exceptional, with a 100% pass rate, an average points score of 38 and with six candidates scoring 40 points or more (where the maximum possible is 45).  This was comfortably the best set of IB results achieved by any cohort since we joined the IB in 2016 and placed us 1^st in Lebanon amongst IB schools, a significant achievement, not least because it was also our largest cohort.

• Lebanese Baccalaureate:

Students in Grade 12 in the Lebanese Programme sat for the Lebanese Baccalaureate.  Results were very good with a 100% pass rate, and with 3 mentions of very good, and 12 mentions of good.  The comparable results in 2023 were 100% pass rate, 3 mentions of very good and 6 mentions of good.

I would like to congratulate students on their performances and teachers on their hard work and commitment to the development and promotion of young people in their care.

Success is a result of good teaching and sustained application of effort by students.  There is no substitute for hard work, and the work ethic, a daily routine which places emphasis on focus, concentration and effort by students is something which we all need to teach young people from the day they begin school.  Pleasure, satisfaction, success and the joy of learning came from sustained effort and work.  It is not always easy, but it is what is required.

• Qualifications in the coming year:

You should note that your children may be taking international, official or final examinations in the coming year for which there may be separate and independent charges and for which the school will issue statements timeously.

These are:

Checkpoint:  Grades 6 and 8

DELF: Grades 6, 8 and 11

IGCSE: Grade 10 International Programme

Early ‘A’ Level papers: Grade 11 International Programme

‘A’ Level: Grade 12 International Programme

International Baccalaureate: Grade 12 IB Programme

Brevet: Grade 9 Lebanese Programme

Lebanese Baccalaureate: Grade 12 Lebanese Programme

Who to go to?

There will be times at school when you want or need to speak to someone.  All teachers, subject coordinators and Heads of Department have office hours and can be contacted during them, on academic or pastoral matters concerning your children.

In more serious matters, you should approach the Head of Section (Mrs. Shatha Abu Khalil, Primary Sections); (Mrs. Racha El Murr, Infants’ Section); (Miss Aline Alam, Head of Upper School – Academic matters); (Mr. Rabih Aouad, Head of Upper School – Pastoral, personal matters).

In the Lower School (Infants’/Primary Sections), Mrs. Youssra Abi Haidar – Director of Studies, can be approached on Academic Matters related to the curriculum, while in the Upper School, the Vice Principal, Mr. Georges Rizkallah, can be approached on matters related to the curriculum.

And if all this confuses you, then email me so that I can advise you to go to the right person, or if all else fails, you can come and see me.

Peer to Peer Support:

There are many ways in which we can help children at school.  One way we have introduced in the past two years is peer to peer support, where older, or specifically, talented students in the Upper School (Grades 7-12), help other students who may be struggling in particular subjects.  We promote this service to our students both to help and to be helped and, through Miss Aline Alam, the Head of the Upper School, we shall contact you if we feel your child would benefit from peer support.

Make up examinations:

Make up examinations are held in advance of a new academic year.  They are taken by the students who have struggled, and in particular, in two or three specific subjects in which they need to spend more time over the summer, through our summer educational programme, with a tutor or working independently.  “Make ups” are not a punishment; they are a way of getting students to reach a level of attainment whereby they will be able to flourish in the subjects in which they have a make up, in the next academic year.  They are designed to help and support the students.  Please support your child in preparing for them.

Anti-Bullying and Key School Policies:

Bullying happens in every school and in adult work places too.  Repetitive teasing or discrimination on whatever grounds against others is unacceptable and will not be tolerated in our school.  Any cases of bullying that your child may suffer from we want to know about.  Please approach the Head of Section in such cases who will deal with the matter.  You can find our anti-bullying and other key school policies on our website.  Please feel free to refer to them.  They are posted there for your information and to help you know the school’s stance on a range of issues. 

Key school policies are posted prominently on our school website

These are:

	E-Learning and IT Policies:	Other Policies:
	Eco Friendly and ICT Policy	Admissions Policy
	E-Learning Policy	Assessment Policy
	Pastoral and Child Protection Policies:	Language Policy
	Child Protection Policy	Laptops Loans Policy
	BHS Counselling Policy	Promotions Policy February 2020
	Pastoral Policy Statement	School Calendar Policy
	Pastoral Discipline Policy Statement	Staff Professional Review and Development
	Anti-Bullying Policy	Sun Smart Policy
	Policy on the Taking and Use of Photos and Videos of Students	Bus Transport
	Social Media Policy	Lost Property Procedures
	Accident and Medical Emergency Procedures	Tutoring Policy
	Trips Policies:	External Private Tutoring
	Trips Policy – One Day School Visits
	Residential and Overseas Trips Policy

 

If bullying persists, we suspend children from school, and in extreme cases, children will be asked to leave the school altogether.  As a Quaker school we actively practise the values of Respect, Tolerance and Peaceful Resolution.

Academic Integrity:

Honesty is a basic tenet of any society.  Without honesty there can be no trust.  We expect our students to be honest, to tell the truth, to produce work which is their own and not anyone else’s and not to cheat or try to in any way to gain outcomes or results which are not the consequence of their own hard work.  As your children grow up there are severe penalties for plagiarism, whether in school, or official examinations, or course work.  Please discourage your children from using forms of AI (Artificial Intelligence) as a mask for their own work.

Honesty is always the best policy.

Tutors and Academic Centres:

I would advise parents to avoid employing academic tutors or sending their children to “academic centres”.  Students have enough to contend with just managing all that they must study during the school day as well as the many extracurricular activities which we provide which go to make up a holistic, all round, enriching education.

Private tutors are inadvisable because (a) private lessons lengthen the school day and make for student fatigue (b) they encourage some students not to focus at school but to wait for the tutor to “feed” them information at home (c) cause confusion in the student’s mind by teaching a subject or topic in a very different way from the way it is delivered at school (d) discourage independent learning which is the goal we are trying to achieve.  The same can be said for “academic centres”.

There may be cases where we, at school, might feel a student will benefit from a tutor in a subject where he/she is struggling badly.  If so, the Head of Department or Head of Section will advise you.

Early Intervention:

We encourage our teaching staff to contact the Head of Department, Subject Coordinator, or Head of Section early if they become aware of a student dealing inadequately with difficulties in a subject or suffering in some other way.  In this way we can provide the best form of support (the Counsellor, help from the Support for Learning Department, additional help from the teacher) for the student while letting you know of the issue and dealing with it.  Equally if you realise there is a difficulty, please operate the same approach – early, by contacting the relevant persons so that such difficulties can be addressed before they become unmanageable.

New Things to Notice:

• Refurbishment:

All Upper School classrooms have been refurbished over the summer.  ICT connections have been upgraded, some classrooms have been “flattened”, new white boards have been installed, teachers’ desks have been provided, and all old fashioned desks have been replaced with lightweight individual chairs and tables which will make for modern, flexible teaching arrangements.  We are indebted to the Old Scholars’ Association and the Parents’ Association for funding these transformational improvements.  At the same time, new boys’ toilets have been provided for the Intermediate Section next the Volleyball court, the Secondary Section boys’ toilets off the main driveway have been renovated and, in the Lower School, the computer lab has been divided into two by partitioning, allowing us to halve the size of computer classes from 30 to 15.  In the Infants’ Section, two outdoor spaces have been developed to allow our youngest children to enjoy a sensory garden and in the second space to plant flowers and vegetables, nurture them, and watch them grow.  And in the meantime, thanks to the wisdom of the Governing Body, the very welcome financial help of the Old Scholars’ Association and the hard work of the Bursar and his team, our solar panel project is now completed, and generating large reductions in costs of electricity at school.

• Curriculum:

Several curricular changes have taken place:

• The teaching of ICT/Computing in the Primary Sections will benefit from reduced class sizes.  A new teacher, Jennifer Salloum, has been appointed for this purpose.
• The number of lessons for Computing in Grades 7 and 8 LP and IP has been doubled.
• The teaching of Music has been formally introduced in Grades 7 and 8, and an Upper School Band, to be led by new appointee, Mr. Gaby Dib, will be established this term.  I hope many Upper School students will be interested in joining the band or the choir.
• The teaching of Geography has been introduced in Grades 7 and 8 IP to enable the subject to be a natural option for students in the International Programme at IGCSE. 
• Global Studies, which covers History, Geography, and Civics is to be introduced in the Lower School from Grade 4.  This encourages children to take a problem solving, research, project based approach to global issues and helps them to see the world around them in a global context while encouraging them to think, express themselves, and write in a critical, analytical and independent manner.

• E. Kit:

All students will be expected to wear formal P.E. Kit for Physical Education lessons this year.  Heads of Section will be writing to you about this matter in the coming weeks.  P.E. Kit will be worn in the colour of the Houses to which students belong (Little, Rizkallah or Waldemeier) and this should enable much more effective teaching and learning in this subject.  We expect all students in the school to be wearing BHS P.E. Kit by the end of October.  Kit will be sold from the school bookshop on campus.

• Evangelical Schools’ National Conference:

Brummana High School is honoured to host the first Lebanese Evangelical Schools’ National Conference since 2019 which will take place on Friday, 1^st November and Saturday, 2^nd November. It will involve all Brummana High School Staff in attending lectures and workshops and/or presenting these. There will therefore be no classes on Friday 1^st of November..  However, this means there will be classes on Monday 7^th January, which had been scheduled as a Staff Inservice Training Day.  In this way, no teaching time will be lost.

• Parents’ App:

If you don’t have it yet please download the Parents’ App.  You can do so by downloading the BHS Parents’ App from “Play Store” or ”App Store”, which you can locate by searching for Brummana High School

Presence at School:

There are times, as we all know, when it is difficult to be educated in Lebanon.  Constant interruptions and uncertainties punctuate our lives.  But, in the six years that I have been here, on the whole, school has been a haven of peace, a place of hope, in which normality has been and can be maintained.  We all want the children to flourish and to be in an environment in which they will progress and prosper.

To do so, they must be here, continuously.  Please make sure, unless they are unwell, children come to school every day as a matter of course.  Otherwise, they will never get into a healthy routine, will miss valuable lessons and have their education disrupted in a way which is unnecessary.  There will be times when they must be away; I understand that, but school is not part-time.  It is fulltime and full on.

Please take holidays in school holiday time and leave the children to us the rest of the time.  It is worth noting that according to the Ministry of Education, if a student has more than 15 days unexcused absence in a year, he/she is liable to fail the year.  This is something we want to avoid.

I am always keen to hear what parents think and feel so that we can continually improve and provide a better educational service.  We are a partnership.  Together we can allow your children to flourish.  Ultimately, irrespective of the circumstances, God willing, we shall prevail!

Yours sincerely,

David Gray
(Principal)