British School of Barcelona

BSB Will Open a New Campus in Barcelona City

Opening September 2021

We are delighted to share the exciting news that Cognita are launching a project to create a new, all-through British International School in the centre of Barcelona city. The BSB City campus will become the fourth campus of The British School of Barcelona and will be a great complement to our BSB Sitges, BSB Castelldefels and BSB Nexus campuses.

Drawing on our expertise of over 60 years of academic excellence, transformation, and continuous improvement, BSB City offers us the chance to further our vision for inspiring creative, curious young people. Through this growth of the BSB family, we will be able to offer opportunities for more students to achieve excellent academic outcomes whilst developing the qualities they will need to thrive at school, university and in life beyond.

The BSB City Campus

The school will initially open next September 2021 at the Foundation Campus, a modernist building located in the upper area of Barcelona. It will include 500 square metres of outdoor learning areas and 750 square metres of purpose-built indoor space. The school will have a capacity for up to 200 students aged 3 to 10 (Early Years and Primary).

In September 2023, BSB City will expand with the opening of the main building in Sant Gervasi, near John Kennedy Square, just a 5-minute walk from the Foundation Campus and with fantastic public transport connection. It will offer an all-through, first-class education to 3-to-18-year-old students (Early Years, Primary, Secondary and Pre-University). The new school will include 5,500 m² of indoor space and 1,200 m² of outdoor space, with first-rate, spacious sport facilities, both on-site and off-site, in the very heart of the city centre.

A Well-Established International British Education with a Student-Centered Approach

BSB City will build upon the well-established, proven approach to teaching and learning and the academic excellence that has led BSB to be considered one of the most important and prestigious international schools in Spain. The new school will offer an educational experience that goes far beyond the academic curriculum, allowing students to develop the learning habits and the personal skills they need to become global citizens.

As with the whole of BSB, all of our campuses offer individualised learning pathways that ensures students are inspired to fulfil their true potential. From self-determined learning in Early Years, project-based learning in Primary and options choices throughout Secondary, students are architects of their own learning and leave the Pre-University, able to make informed decisions about their future career paths.

In fact, BSB has been a pioneer in offering two international Pre-University pathways: the British curriculum and the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma. These, along with the validation of the Spanish Bachillerato and our unparalleled University and Career Mentoring Programme that enriches our curriculum, open up unique opportunities for BSB students to gain access to the best universities, both in Spain and abroad, or for whatever next step they choose in life.

As a caring, learning community committed to the physical and emotional wellbeing of young people and adults, we also offer an overarching student support and wellbeing programme which focuses on meeting students’ individual learning and emotional needs throughout their school life.

Contact Us!

If you would like to request more information, please contact us at enquiriesbcn@bsb.edu.es

Early Years and language immersion: The keys to full mastery of English

Learning a second language from an early age is highly beneficial cognitive development of a child. Among the great advantages of learning a second language as early as possible and using it in any daily activity, we find that the children are not only capable of communicating in said language with enough self-confidence and ease to consider themselves bilingual, but they are also able to associate concepts more easily and develop their concentration and memory skills. Learning a second language during childhood also helps assimilating other languages with more ease and, furthermore, promotes creativity and critical thinking, as well as the ability to apply better solutions to the problems they may encounter during their growth.

Language immersion from an early age: the best method to achieve a high degree of communicative proficiency

Studies show that, in order to master a language, it is necessary to learn it in a social context in which the child is exposed to vital stimuli and events. If this is done before the age of five, when 85% of the child’s brain is developed, the probability of success increases.

‘One of the advantages of starting learning a language as early as possible is the possibility of learning it in a natural way in a stage in their lives when the brain is more maleable and receptive to learning’, assures Mr Rochester, Early Years teacher at The British School of Barcelona. Mr Rochesters explains how at our international school we immerse children in the English language starting at the age of three: ‘From the very first day the child enters through that door, English is the only language we use: from welcoming them, to playtime, to music, to story time, etc. At first, we talk to them slowly, using a lot of body language and facial expressions; we also take part in their games, applying a system of repetition and reinforcement. Obviously, for the first two or three days, the child feels a little awkward, but they soon adapt to their new dynamic without a problem’.

Balancing two languages is not a hindrance

Contrary to popular belief, learning a second language from a very young age does not affect a child’s communication skills in their native language. ‘We have not observed this happening,’ says Ms Martin, Early Years coordinator at BSB Castelldefels campus. ‘What is really important is that the child understands in what context they should use each language and be through with the language they use at home and at school. Children understand it in a very easy way and learn to manage language exchange in a natural way.’

This holistic and immersive system, applied to all daily activities, makes it easier to learn the new language and for it to flow spontaneously and quickly, so that the student deepens their knowledge of English as they grow. During this process, the specialist admits that it is absolutely normal for children to make mistakes when they start speaking English. ‘Children are less embarrassed than adults, so they are less afraid of making mistakes,’ says Mr Rochester. ‘Furthermore, they are immersed in a learning environment, where error is precisely part of that process to progress and learn.’

In fact, environment plays a major role in achieving language immersion. From our specialist English-speaking teachers qualified in Early Years, to our indoor and outdoor spaces where we take care of the pedagogical aspect in detail, children have multiple opportunities to express themselves creatively in English.

Families are essential in this process

Complicity with families is a determining factor for The British School of Barcelona and it is part of our comprehensive support program, which we make available to those families who do not speak English. Ms Martin explains: ‘We work very closely with the families and we get to know the child’s environment and their interests very well.’ This allows specialists to fully personalise the child’s learning and design activities that will facilitate the acquisition of the language through play and everyday activities. ‘We organise workshops and information sessions in both languages and we also provide resources to families so that they can help their children continue learning at home.’ She adds that ‘as we integrate families into student learning, they also acquire a deeper understanding of how the school works, as well as the British curriculum that we teach.’

Related links

Early Years Curriculum at BSB

Celebrating BSB Women In Science!

To mark International Day of Women and Girls in Science on 11th February, we want to join UN in celebrating women and girls who are leading innovation and call for actions to remove all barriers that hold them back. It is a day to inspire girl students to keep working to ensure full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls, and further achieve gender equality and empowerment.

We’d like to start off by celebrating the outstanding task of the Secondary and Pre-University Science department at The British School of Barcelona, who challenge our students to achieve their best potential, with a fantastic team that includes no less than 7 women teachers: Marie, Alice, Sarah, Maria, Encarna, Rachel and Amy.

We’d like to continue by celebrating our historic of girl students achieving prestigious Outstanding Learner Awards annually as Top Performing learners at both (I)GCSE and A Level exams:

Sara – Top in Spain in Biology
Claudia – Top in Spain in Biology
Marta – High Achievement in Biology
Claudia – High Achievement in Physics

We’d also like to celebrate first-year BSB Alumni who graduated last June and are currently studying Science in top universities in UK and Spain:

Gabriela, Biomedical Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University
Alexandra, Natural Sciences, Durham University
Anna, Biological Sciences/Immunology, University of Bristol West of England
Mari, Biomedical Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London
Cristina, Veterinary Science, Cardenal Herrera University (CEU)
Andrea, Biology, Universitat de Barcelona (UB)
Noa, Veterinary, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)

And we also want to celebrate all of our women BSB Alumni who successfully pursued a career in Science after leaving BSB, such as (to name but a few!):

Patricia, Aircraft Design MSc Graduate at Cranfield University
Romi, Bachelor of Science (BSc) Biomedical Sciences (Hons) at University of Reading
Claire, Master of Engineering – MEng Mechanical Engineering, at the University of Edinburgh

Finally, we would like to keep encouraging current Pre-University girl students to participate fully in science and contribute to narrowing the existing gender gap in science! We are proud to congratulate Year 13 girl students who have received amazing offers for September 2021 and look forward to many more!

Abril, Year 13 IB Student – Imperial College London – offer for Materials with Nuclear Engineering
Maria Year 13 A Level Student – Imperial College London – offer for Medical Biosciences

Join us in celebrating #WomenInScience!

BSB Alumni

CEO Microsoft highlights the incredible work done by Cognita Schools during pandemic

At recent online BettFest 2021, Barbara Holzapfel, VP Education Microsoft, and special guest Satya Nadella, CEO Microsoft, highlighted this year as an unprecendented period of complexity and ambiguity where educators, students and parents had to embrace whole new ways of teaching and learning.

For them it’s been inspiring to see the incredible work that has been done to keep students engaged and learning.

We are pleased to share with you this video where Mr Nadella’s showcases ‘what Cognita Schools were able to do all around across UK and Europe, that’s about using tools like Teams, bringing all the students to engage in a collaborative way with the teachers. That’s -he says- phenomemal’

This recognition is an inspiration for everyone at The British School of Barcelona to embrace our BSB Digital Strategy and continue creating truly immersive, inclusive experiences that inspire lifelong learning and empower students to achieve more.

BSB IT team attend BETT first industry show in the education technology landscape (BETT 2019)

BSB at leading educational training technology show (BETT 2018)

IB Student Olivia wins Empowering Girls Scholarship

Olivia is a Year 12 IB student who has taken part in the ‘Inspiring Girls’ Project for over 6 months.

‘Inspiring Girls International’ is an organisation that has as an objective to accomplish the professional confidence and ambition of girls that are still in school (aged 10-15 years). They do this by making the students visualise the wide variety of jobs that exists and show that no women can have any type of limitation to become what they want’, Olivia explains. ‘They inspire them to aim high’.

The project started in October 2016, and this is the first one they are offering a scholarship. Olivia’s mother encouraged her to volunteer with their campaign as an opportunity to realise how many possibilities girls have in life well beyond gender stereotyped roles. ‘Every young woman should feel free to choose whatever she wants to do in life. The only limit to her dreams should be the extent of her own efforts. Leading by example is the best way to show girls how they can achieve, which is why we put real women in front of girls to talk about their experiences’, the founder of Inspiring Girls International says.

As a volunteer Olivia connected once a month to an online class (due to COVID 19 restrictions) and ‘learned loads from other women who have loads of experience’, she concludes. ‘This has helped me develop skills such as leadership, finance, self-growth and communication’.

As a result of this, she has become Ambassador of the new program for 2021, she has won a Scholarship which will take her one or two weeks to Boston (USA) where she will be able to get to know different businesses and represent the organisation in reunions, and she has become a Mentor on the program ‘Inspiring Girls Junior’, an opportunity to inspire young girls to work hard to achieve their dreams, whatever they might be.

Olivia aspires to pursue a Biology-related career probably in the field of Biotechnology. She would like to study in Colombia after graduating from The British School of Barcelona.

Olivia has definitely become an Inspiring Girl.

BSB first ever Gold Duke of Edinburgh student

Strong, inspired and dedicated Year 12 Yingzhu has become BSB first ever Gold Duke of Edinburgh student!

She has just achieved her Silver Award in record time, and participated in a live webinar broadcast worldwide with two other Award students (Matteo and Keira) about their experiences of participating in the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award during the global pandemic and giving advice to others in a similar situation.

Yingzhu’s achievement is a great step forward for The British School of Barcelona, as we are now Proud to Deliver all three levels.

We have spoken to Yingzhu to find out more about her Award journey:

When did you start your Duke of Edinburgh International Award?

I started my Duke of Edinburgh International Award Bronze when I was in Year 10.

What was your experience like at that time?

On my first Bronze expedition (see featured imaged above – adventurous expedition 2019), the weather was unexpected, though the forecast did suggest there were chances of rain, but it was much heavier than we realised. Under the harsh weather, I was very underprepared, my clothing did not provide enough warmth over the journey. Everyone was exhausted on the second day of the journey, and we managed to arrive at the destination. Then, on my assessed journey in summer, the weather was much nicer. I also learnt from my experience, so I brough sufficient supplies for my expedition.

Moving on to the Silver award was a personal choice, since this level is not part of the tutorial curriculum at BSB. Why did you decide to pursue this level of the Award?

I moved onto Silver award because I enjoy the sense of accomplishment DoE Bronze gave me. I continued to practice violin, do physical activity and service when I finished Bronze, so might not as well participate Silver. Another reason why I chose to continue is that DoE helps me become an all-rounder. I benefit from participate DoE as it gives me motivation to do sports and enhances my self-discipline.

You achieved the Silver Award at an extraordinary speed. How long did it take you and how did you manage?

I started Silver Award in Year 11 and I finished it in October 2020. I could’ve finished it in June, but due to Covid-19 restrictions, our assessed journey was postponed. I managed to complete all the activities in a short of amount of time, because I practiced violin and did fitness workout and service at least one hour per week and logged them onto the Online Record Book. When you actually remind yourself to put effort into them every week, 26 hours is not that hard to accomplish.

What activities did you carry out? How did you achieve this during lockdown?

As I mentioned above, I play violin as my skill. For physical activity, I learnt how to play rugby at BSB afterschool club before lockdown. Then, I switched to fitness training at home using a fitness app during the lockdown. I was helping Secondary to recycle paper as my service; however, I had to do online service on a website called Zooniverse due to Covid-19. And my job was to help scientists to circle mitochondria that are present in the microscopic photographs of cells.

The next step in your journey is the Gold Award. As the first BSB student ever to pursue this level, what are your expectations and what do you intend to do?

For the Gold Award, I’m still learning the same skill, and doing the same physical activity and service as I did before. However, the standard for the SMART goals must be higher than the ones in the Bronze and Silver Awards. Along with the goals, my expectation for my violin skill is to pass the ABRSM grade 7 violin exam this summer and pass grade 8 when I finish the Gold Award. For physical activity, I’m currently doing fitness with a fitness app, and I expect myself to reach K3/K4 level in fitness—this is evaluated by the app itself. Moreover, my goal for service is to help Nexus become a more sustainable community.

What makes the Duke of Edinburgh Award so special to you?

DoE opened up new opportunities for me to explore my potential and I’m mostly intrigued with the adventurous journey. By doing DoE, I always have to step out of my comfort zone. For example, walking 28 km in one day. Ever since I accomplished my assessed Silver journey with my amazing group, I felt as if everything is possible as long as I put effort into it and I also continue to hike when I’m free with my family.

How have your teachers supported you during the award?

Mr Bower has always been extremely supportive during the award. He provided me information on what service to do during lockdown. He organised the expedition well in order to make our Silver expedition take place during the pandemic. Thank you, Mr Bower! I also want to say thank you to Ms Asbury, who is my group’s supervisor. She was also extremely supportive during our expedition and she patiently waited for us at the destination, even though we arrived there about 2 to 3 hours late.

What would you say to other students around the world who are currently taking the Bronze or Silver Award?

Keep going and, most importantly, enjoy the process! You would thank yourself for taking DoE 😉

BIYSC and Crazy for Biomedicine (Bojos per la Ciència — Biomedicina)

I got accepted into Barcelona International Youth Science Competition and Bojos per la Biomedicina (both programmes are held by La Pedrera Fundació). I’m passionate about sciences and Mr Bower suggested me this opportunity to do science research in depth, so I applied. Now I have theory lessons on Saturdays for Bojos per la Ciència and our practical sessions will take place in the Institute of Research Biomedicine (IRB) in Barcelona. We are currently having different workshops on biomedicine, biochemistry, computational biomedicine, learning about Drosophila (fruit fly) and how to use them in vitro trials on novel cancer treatment. We connect to PhDs from IRB for our sessions and I will do my individual research on cancer science with my assigned tutor from IRB for Treball de Recerca.

For BIYSC, I got into an organ transplant course with Hospital de Bellvitge. This course will take place in the summer and we will learn about organ transplants, robotic surgery and treatment before and after the operation.

An amazing story all in all. Thank you, Yingzhu. We wish you the very best in your future endeavours.

Year 12 runners-up in Oxbridge University’s essay competitions

Very good news from BSB Nexus this week! Neen and Matteo, both Year 12 students, have come runners-up in Cambridge and Oxford 2021 Immerse Education Essay Competition, resulting in a 20% and 10% discounts on fees for their Immerse Summer School programme of study.

Neen is a French student who aspires to study Business Management when she graduates, whether that be at Oxford, Kings College London or Bocconi (in Milan) – these are her ‘aspirational destinations’, she says. She had to write on the question: ‘What business leader has made the biggest impact on society in the last fifty years?’ and she chose Oprah Winfrey:

‘I’d like to believe that Oprah, has changed society’s view on both “women in business”, but also” Black people in business”. Despite anyone’s political views on society, it is undeniable that she has shown that no matter where you are from, what race or gender you are, you can make it. (…) Overall, I think that Oprah Winfrey has made the biggest impact on society in the last 50 years, also because she won over multiple battles, like poverty. She is the perfect example of a warrior, that managed to fight the current gender and race norms. Inspirational.’

Matteo is also a French student. His scientific mindset will probably take him to study Maths and Physics in the world-renowned university of Cambridge, precisely the place where he may spend the next summer holidays, thanks to the great perfomance on his scientist essay.

When asked why they decided to take on the challenge, they are both clear that, rather than winning, this would be great experience for their personal statement.

Building successful profiles

Indeed, when talking with them one realises of the extraordinary mentoring task behind the scenes, one that makes students want to try harder and go the extra mile, step outside of their comfort zone and take on new challenges.

As it is, both Neen and Matteo are currently completing their EPQ (Extended Project Qualification) mentored by Mr James Petrie, Headteacher of Secondary and Pre-University, and Mrs Catherine Burns, our University and Career Counsellor.

Neen’s project researches the ‘Social economic impacts of the terrorist attacks in France (2015-2017)’ whilst Matteos’s topic of study is ‘The content physics behing photosynthesis’.

EPQ is a demanding piece of research which will take students quite a few months to complete, but will help them develop some key high-level skills, hone quite a few learning habits (such as Curiosity, Thinking, Reflection, Organisation or Determination), and will definitely add considerable value to their university applications.

They acknowledge that their aspirations for the future aim high, but we know that hard work very often pays off and they are definitely on the right track.

Related links

Pre-University Education at BSB

BSB Nexus, our Pre-university campus

An extraordinary term for the Mentoring and Careers Guidance department

BSB donates to Malayaka House despite lockdown

We would like to congratulate the whole BSB community for making it possible for The British School of Barcelona to donate 1,166 euros to Malayaka House, the orphanage in Uganda that BSB has been fundraising for for the last few years.

Students, parents and staff managed to raise these funds through different events which took place last school year, up to March 2020, when the school’s lockdown made it impossible to organise other anual major charity events such as the Sponsored Walk (which had to be cancelled just one week before the lockdown) or the International Summer Fair, which was due in May.

From September until March, however, our Pre-University CAS students had managed to run a range of fundraising activities, such as:

Sale of friendship bracelets (Friends of Malayaka)
The BSB Sitges Christmas Fayre
Cake sales
Donation boxes campaigns
Sale of T-shirts for the Sponsored Walk (previous to the sudden cancelation)

Cornelie and Mamiko, our parent volunteers who lead on projects for Malayaka House in the Barcelona area, organised for the funds to reach Malayaka House in time for Christmas. We are very grateful for their support and looking forward to finding creative ways of supporting the orphanage during the COVID restrictions.

BSB Launches Cognita Connect, a parents app

As part of our ongoing commitment and priority to improve school-to-home communications, over the last few months, we at The British School of Barcelona have been working with our colleagues in the Cognita team to transform the way we communicate with our community.

With the start of the Spring term, we have launched Cognita Connect, our secure app and web-based parent portal. It will give parents 24-hour access to personalised news and information in relation to their child(ren)’s school life and activities via their mobile, tablet or desktop device.

Key benefits of Cognita Connect

Single point of interaction for schools and parents
An intuitive tool with a user-friendly interface to offer an improved parent experience
Information available 24/7
Personalised communication
A completely secure platform for private communications with school
Mobile app and web-based portal to suit each family’s preferences

Key features of Cognita Connect

Personalised newsfeed with information relevant to families
Smart calendar to keep track of important dates and events
View letters and give trip permissions
Information about student’s academic timetable
School documents available in The Hub
Direct contact Parents – School through the Message center

We are very excited with this new development as we are sure this will help streamline our home-school communication.

Related links:

BSB Parents webpage

Cognita Connect Parents App & Web Portal

Our first term of Mentoring brings worldwide universities to BSB Nexus virtually

This has been an extraordinary term for the Mentoring and Careers Guidance department at The British School of Barcelona. The current circumstances have made it necessary to adapt the usual annual programme of visiting universities, a situation which has, in turn, made it even easier to connect our students with a diverse range of universities across the globe throughout the first term.

All the way from UK, Canada or even Australia, Admissions officers of best-in-class universities and colleges have virtually entered BSB Nexus to present their amazing facilities, academic programmes and the exciting future they can offer our students should they apply for one of their undergraduate courses.

Mrs Catherine Burns, our University and Career Counsellor, explains: “This year we have organised our Pre-University mentoring programme around three areas: introducing the university offers around the world, exploring career options and understanding the application process.”

First term: Virtual university presentations

Our first term has concentrated our “visiting” universities geographically so students and parents could choose the online presentation they wanted to attend during the thematic week:

Universities in the UK: with Imperial, Kings College, UCL, University of Cambridge, London School of Economics and Political Science and St Andrews University.
Spanish universities: with UIC (Universitat Internacional de Catalunya), IE University, La Salle and ESADE University
Other universities around the world: with University of British Columbia (Canada), Trinity College (Dublin), RMIT University (Australia) and Sports Scholarships in the US.

Mrs Burns explains: “There is a growing interest in European universities and overseas which we started to see last year and has been further boosted by Brexit. This term we have been hosting universities for the first time, such as St Andrews and Trinity College, and we are planning upcoming sessions with universities from Denmark, Germany, Central Europe and the US. We want to present our students with a wider picture of the exciting opportunities that lie ahead.” She adds: “Universities are collaborating to create online Virtual University Fairs for schools to access in place of the usual annual events hosted in schools. The recent online Dutch University Fair was well attended by our students in November.”

In December we began 3 University preparation groups for students from Year 12; University of Oxford and Cambridge, Medicine & Veterinary and US Universities. We are delighted this year to have the support of an Oxbridge specialist leading weekly sessions and to be continuing our work with EducationUSA.

Lastly, a huge congratulations to our Y13 students on their work on university applications this term which has required them to adapt rapidly to Brexit fee changes, travel uncertainty, the inability to visit universities making their decision making a big challenge. They have and continue to navigate this season with great resilience.

Second term: Exploring career options

We look forward to a second term full of events, both face-to-face and virtual, where students will be able to look into different career paths. In January our Year 11s will be choosing their options, which will help them focus on the curriculum pathway they will be following at BSB Nexus from September 2021.

Current Pre-University students will have the opportunity to attend our first virtual “What Next” Careers Event on Friday 5th March, with the participation of parents and BSB Alumni.

Tutorial sessions this term will also concentrate on careers exploration.

Third term: The application process

Our third term will focus on the requirements and the understanding of the application process.

We will end the year with our annual Transition Week (probably virtual again this year) with presentations and workshops on a selection of subjects, university destinations, careers, and soft-skill development activities based on students-related interests.

We look forward to sharing more about this each term.

Related Links:

BSB Nexus

Pre-University Education

Mentoring and Careers Guidance