British School of Barcelona

BSB Summer STEAM Camp students develop several STEAM skills through play this summer

This summer, at The British School of Barcelona expanded we have expanded our summer camp offer with a groundbreaking 4-day-long Summer STEAM Camp in English, which we carried out in partnership with IGNITE Serious Play, a company specialised in STEAM activities.

Directed at students aged 5 to 15, the new Summer STEAM Camp’s goal was to teach students new STEAM skills through engaging and creative projects based on the values of the Tokyo 2020 Olimpic Games, working with different ‘MAKER’ tools, such as Robotics, Coding, 3D Design and Virtual/Augmented Reality.

The summer camp took place in BSB Castelldefels and it was a great success; the students did not want to miss a single second of it! We have spoken to the IGNITE Serious Play team, asking them to tell us the details of such a positive and enriching experience which helped develop several STEAM skills:

“The entire week was designed, planned and organised with the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in mind. We then created three work groups according to the students’ age in order to adapt the activities to their playing and learning needs.

Early Years Group

We had a pre-school group where children were introduced to the world of robotics and coding based on emotion identification sequences, needs analysis, and solution proposals.

Using LEGO pieces, they built a setting for the Olympic Games, creating Castelldefels, Tokyo and the Olympic Stadium. They were introduced to coding using small robotic caterpillars and bees travelling from one setting to another, and they were also introduced to a new culture, Japan, getting to know their customs and culture.

They also built crossbows, cars and even dragons using small mechanisms which became part of little Olympic challenges and the most fun rúa olímpica. The children were proud to show their creations to older students across the school.

Primary Group

The Primary work group focused in recreating the famous Pong game using Scratch. The goal was to create an Olympic pong competition, where students could develop their coding and software skills, teamwork, positive competition, communication and leadership skills.

In this second group, students had the opportunity of working with makeys, developing their most creative and artistic side, and with motorised machine boxes to develop their building and spatial vision skills. All these skills were developed in a creative and competitive context in the same spirit as the actual Olympic Games.

Secondary Group

The group with the oldest students dedicated this week to working in coding and 3D design skills, always following the theme of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

We started the week focusing on coding, building “Mbot” robots and learning their basic functions in order to quickly move on to using them during the week for racing and even football matches for robots! This activity was so popular among the students that they kept organising robot matches during break times throughout the whole week, attracting pubic and participants from the younger groups.

Also in the context of 3D design and coding, this work group used the “Co-spaces” platform. They designed an interactive Olympic Games museum after an initial analysis and research stage. The museum was adapted to be visualised as a tour using virtual reality glasses and it was afterwards shared with their classmates and the youngest students that attended the last day of SummerCamp, enjoying their 3D and VR works.

In the context of 3D design and Co-spaces, the students also created digital parkour circuit, coding in timers, forbidden zones, obstacles and other interactive elements, creating a project which many students dedicated a lot of time to, even from home!

The students in the third group had the opportunity of developing their creative and artistic side through 3D design and printing using the TinkerCad tool. Students could then design 3D olympic medals, rings, commemorative statuettes, etc, which they took homes as Olympic prizes at the end of the STEAM CAMP.

All in all, it was a great week during which children enjoyed, learnt and developed several skills in the most fun way: by playing!”

Eight Ugandan Children will Benefit from €7,600 BSB Community Fundraise this Year

The British School of Barcelona is proud to announce that the joint efforts of the whole BSB school community (students across all campuses, staff of all phases, parents and friends, school partners and supporters) have managed to raise no less than 7,600 euros during the 2018-2019 academic year for the children in Malayaka House Ugandan orphanage.

This amount will help finance one year of schooling for more than eight children who are being cared for in the orphanage.

Mrs Maria Kovac, IBDP and CAS Coordinator, stated: “We are fortunate enough to have access to an excellent education, and we want to create equal opportunities for Malayaka children providing funds to cover their school tuition.” And added: “BSB students are contributing to create a better future for Malayaka children and Malayaka House is contributing enormously, in turn, to the global mindset development of our students. We feel very proud of them and we have to celebrate every success.”

An Amazing Year of Events and Initiatives

This year our school community has organised and/or actively participated in all these activities and initiatives (not a comprehensive list):

Launch of Malayaka House Friendship Bracelets on Friendship Friday in order to raise awareness and promote the #friendsofmalayaka campaign, a BSB Nexus initiative
Primary Christmas Fair, at the BSB Sitges campus
BSB Sponsored Walk, at the Olympic canal, a whole school event organised by the BSB Nexus CAS Committee
BSB International Summer Fair, a whole school event organised by the BSB Castelldefels Primary team
Primary Non-Uniform days, at BSB Castelldefels and BSB Sitges
Fundraising sales of handmade products by the Secondary Enterprise Society, at BSB Castelldefels
End-of-school-year Secondary event with raffles, stands and activities towards fundraising, at BSB Castelldefels

The BSB Support Dimension

BSB’s commitment to raise awareness about the importance of helping others in a variety of fundraising events and non-monetary initiatives is deeply rooted in the DNA of the school community.

This year our amazing community has taken part in many global and local activities to raise funds, support awareness campaigns or just help others (not a comprehensive list):

Fundació Glorr, Banc d’Aliments Barcelona, Red Cross, Caritas, Un gest de calor – Christmas Grand Festive Collection
Un Gest de Calor – Primary Fundraising Market to help refugees around the world
#pelsvalents – Children’s cancer awareness campaign
Geicam – Breast cancer research
Water Aid – DaanUtsav, The Joy of Giving Week
The Royal British Legion – Poppy Appeal, Remembrance Day
Tongole Foundation – Funding of a solar panel for a school in Malawi
Indigo Life – BSB International Summer Fair
SolarBuddy – LightUp Learning Day project to tackle energy poverty in Papua New Guinea
Sitges Park Residence – Students’ weekly visits to elderly residents
Language Assistance Programme – Sharing to Learn project; English support in local schools

About Malayaka House

Malayaka House España is a non-profit, international humanitarian organisation that works to guarantee the rights of Ugandan children and offer them a better life.

For more information, please visit: Malayaka House España

“Thank you for your contributions”: Wishing all the best to our Class of 2019 Graduates

The end of the school year also saw the Graduation of a new cohort of 87 Year 13 students of The British School of Barcelona: The BSB Class of 2019. (See video below)

In a warm summer evening, our students, their proud parents and relatives, and members of the Pre-University staff of BSB Nexus gathered at the Restaurant Les Marines, in Gavà, to celebrate this milestone together in a beautiful scenery by a flower garden and a shady pine forest.

Mr James Petrie (Head of Secondary and Pre-University) made the opening speech followed by Jethro and Annette’s, our pre-University Prefects, who shared a few memories of their time at BSB. Jethro highlighted “kindness and openness” as two of the qualities which “encapsulate not simply our graduating year group but also the essence of what means studying at BSB”, and Annette stated that “studying here is feeling good with oneself and facing cultural and personal diversity, which pull us out of our comfort zone and allows us to develop an open mind and feel at home.”

Luz, a Year 13 bright pianist and vocalist, entertained everyone with a beautiful piano performance and song, and Mr Rod Musson, Head of Year 13, rounded up the event with his moving and witty poem addressed to the students.

Mr Jon Jocke, BSB Principal, focused his closing speech in Nelson Mandela’s inspiring words to the South African rugby team in 1995 World Cup, based on Theodore Roosevelt’s speech “The Man in the Arena”: “The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, […]; who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Mr Locke concluded: ”I hope, and I think that the evidence is clear, that BSB has helped you to understand how important it is that you put yourself in that arena, and you don’t stand in the side-lines with those cold and timid souls. Thank you for your contributions, good luck, and we wish you all the best”.

These inspiring words were the perfect end to a graduation ceremony full of amazing memories, as well as bright dreams and hopes for the future. A refreshing cocktail followed in the garden preceded by a photo group of the Class of 2019. Recent graduates and the teaching staff enjoyed a delicious dinner.

Many congratulations to our new BSB Alumni! This is an exciting time for them with so much to look forward to, and we wish them all the best.

BSB Nexus Hosts Cognita Compliance Challenge

The British School of Barcelona hosted the latest meeting of the Cognita Compliance team at BSB Nexus, the Pre-University campus, recently.

Members of the Operations and Finance Teams of Cognita Spain’s seven schools and its regional office recently took part in the Cognita Compliance Challenge, as part of their training and networking programme.

The gamification session is a business simulation which allows managers to see in real time the impact of their operational compliance and ethics decisions.

Our thanks to Murray Grainger and his team at Impact on Integrity for delivering an engaging and stimulating session.

For further information, please visit Compliance and Ethics Training

BSB Alumni Network Celebrates its First Anniversary

On Friday, 14th June, we had another emotional reunion with former students from The British School of Barcelona. (See video below)

Since the launch of the BSB Alumni Network exactly one year to this date, the number of BSB graduates that have reconnected with the school has kept growing. Throughout the school year, several BSB Alumni, whether professionals or university students, from different fields of activity have visited our classrooms to share their expertise and career experience with our students. From marketing and communications professionals to medicine, engineering and business students, including a virtual reality expert, are some of the BSB Alumni that have already participated in this year’s Programme of Activities!

The BSB Alumni Reunion 2019 was a great opportunity for students who graduated ten, eight, five years ago, or maybe last year, to celebrate the achievements of this still young network together, and to reconnect with those who could not attend due to previous professional commitments but still sent their greetings from different parts of the world (London, Lisbon, Berlin…) and were eager to collaborate in the future:

“If you ever need someone to help students get into TOK, you can always hit me up!” Electronic Engineer

“I certainly hope to be involved in future events.” Analyst, Programmes & Innovation

“Look forward to future events and talks and do let me know if I can be of any assistance.” Investment Banking Analyst

“I would be more than happy to pop by and talk about my experience.” Computer Science with Management

In his welcome speech, Mr Alan Woodruff, BSB Alumni Link, commented: “Many cannot be with us today, but it is clearly an idea that appeals to past students as we are seeing the registration of graduates from BSB grow in number from all over the world. We have with us students that graduated from BSB eight, nine, and even ten years ago. It is fantastic how this service is meeting its objective and keeping us together.”

This year’s reunion, which has already become an annual summer event to look forward to, set off with a moving farewell to Mrs Janice Serra, our current Deputy Head of Pastoral in Secondary, who is retiring after 43 years of service. Being able to meet up with so many BSB graduates expressing their best wishes for this new chapter of her life was, undoubtedly, one of the evening’s most touching moments.

The attendees were then off to socialise, catch up, enjoy some tasty food and refreshments. The photos speak for themselves.

We are very excited with the planning of activities for next year and all BSB Alumni are very welcome to join!

BSB Raises Awareness of Protecting the Environment on World Environment Day

World Environment day falls on Wednesday 5th June. It is the United Nation’s dedicated day to raise awareness of the issues affecting the environment and to educate the public on what they can do to protect the natural world.

Using this day as the central focus point, the Cognita Community launched a global initiative aimed at educating the next generation on human interaction with the environment and its negative impacts (such as global warming and plastic pollution) and arming the next generation with the information and practical skills they need to conserve our natural world.

For the past few days Cognita schools worldwide have been participating in a number of different activities. The British School of Barcelona has contributed to this goal across all phases:

BSB Sitges led another successful Beach Cleaning activity for Years 2 and 5. This action-packed day saw practical and tangible efforts by pupils related to their curriculum: ‘Explore, Rescue, Protect’ and ‘Planet Earth’.

At BSB Castelldefels Primary school children were encouraged to wear green on the day. They managed to raise a whopping 370.50 euros which Year 2 will donate to an environmental cause of their choosing.

At BSB Castelldefels Secondary school students in Year 8 French lessons worked on making posters to promote an “Environmentally friendly lunchbox”, describing foods and steps to take to ensure that we reduce the amount of waste we create. Students worked on the vocabulary for food and environment (vocabulary sheets, quizzes, etc.) in French in order to create their poster.

Also, different year groups in Geography designed campaigns to reduce pollution and raise awareness of climate change, including some Year 8s making geography versions of well-known boardgames (work in progress!) and some Year 10s decorating some masks to raise awareness about air pollution and climate change as a whole.

English students across Key Stage 3 analysed a thought-provoking cartoon challenging those who denied the evidence for climate change. They then used this text as a stimulus for their own creative writing. Some wrote poems about the environment whilst others wrote narratives from the perspectives of the creatures most affected by climate change. A lot of fun was had by all!

Sophie Hickzy, Communications Officer at Cognita Schools said: “Thank you to everyone for sharing your World Environment Day activities with us here within the community and on social. We have loved seeing what you and your students have been doing to raise awareness of climate change. Thank you also to Nina Hamilton from Hydesville Tower School for coordinating and championing the group-wide activities that so many of our schools took part in. A World Environment Day to remember I think!”

BSB Sitges Begins the “Share a Story Around the World” 2019 edition

The British School of Barcelona is very excited with the new edition of “Share a Story Around the World”, a creative, collaborative, student-led project within the Cognita family. This year Mr Joe Woodhouse, a poet and literacy support teacher at BSB Sitges, is leading on the creative writing element of the project, which is expected to be bigger and better than last year, with over 20 schools across the network collaborating.

We have spoken with Mr Woodhouse to learn more about what to expect of this year’s edition:

What’s the main purpose of the project?

“The ‘Share a Story Around the World’ is an initiative that brings together inspirational creative writing from across the panoply of schools within the Cognita network. Last year, Fiona Ritson, from Colchester High School in the UK curated and co-ordinated a stunning piece of work that was written collaboratively by 17 Cognita schools.”

What is this year’s story about?

“We want to create a story centred around a magic lift that can take you anywhere, anywhen. With this quite simple narrative framework, the idea is to unleash the imaginations of the students, whilst keeping the flow of the story easy to continue.

In our story, this magic lift transports two students, a brother and sister, through a series of worlds and time periods that our students dream up. The main theme of the story is how “the things about ourselves that we perceive as challenges can become superpowers”. For example, Lyla, the main character, has just been diagnosed with dyslexia, which means that she has difficulties in a classroom environment, but can flourish in terms of things like creative problem solving.”

How have the characters been chosen?

“With growing awareness around the globe about children’s health, both physical and mental, we’d like to add to this conversation and have ‘wellbeing’ as a running theme throughout the story. To this end, our two main characters have difficulties (that can of course become strengths) of their own.”

How does the project work?

“Each week, a chapter of the story is written by one school, then passed on to the next, ultimately ending in an action packed, truly global tale that the students can cherish, be proud of, and be emboldened by to do other great things with their lives. The tale is then printed, published and distributed to every school involved.”

Has the 2019 project started?

“Yes, BSB Sitges has begun the story, which was written by students in Year 5, and has already been passed on to the next school involved.”

About the Share a Story Around the World Project 2018

‘Sameera and Javier’s Cog-tastic Adventure’ was the first book of the project, a scintillating story that followed characters Javier and Sameera through a series of (beautifully written) trials across the globe.

Inspiring our German and History students in Berlin

On Saturday 27th April, 39 students from Year 10 and 4 staff set off for Berlin on the German and History trip. Miss Rebecca Klys tells us all about this fantastic and enriching experience!

“After a quick visit to our hotel, we set off on foot along the Spree to the Oberbaumbrücke (a former check point), passing by some impressive murals, and on to the Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park. On the following days, we visited several museums and land marks including the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate and the TV Tower at Alexanderplatz. We also had a fantastic guided tour of the Jewish Museum and an informative bike tour, which focused on the Berlin Wall and its history.

Two of the staff members lived in Berlin for several years and so we were able to show students around the city by foot and on the U-Bahn. We were also able to take students to some great areas for lunch, giving them a more authentic experience in the city. Some students used this opportunity to practise their German, while others commented on the cool and relaxed atmosphere in Berlin and tried out popular cuisine, including the Döner, Falafel im Brot, Fritz-Kola and Club-Mate (with mixed reviews!).

All-in-all a very successful trip, which has hopefully inspired our German and History students as they approach their final year of study towards their GCSEs.”

Celebrating an Amazing Year of CAS Students Achievements

One of the best way to showcase the work done by our Year 12 students throughout this school year as part of their CAS subject (Creativity, Activity, Service) was to hold a Celebration Assembly.

This Assembly was an opportunity to recognise the creative ways in which our students were bringing local, national and international communities together while gaining valuable experiences for their future. Starting from Language Assistance to MUN & HMCE government role-play events and the fund-raising orientated CAS Committee, our Year 12 students have been involved in more than 10 projects this year.

“We are a diverse community made of caring people who are happy to dedicate their time and effort to give back something positive to their communities”, was one of the messages we could take away from Mr Petrie’s, Head of Secondary and Pre-University, opening speech.

Bea Gutierrez, coordinator of Malayaka House, who came all the way from Uganda to personally award certificates to our students, invited them to always stay the way they are: open-hearted, caring, hard-working and dedicated to community work.

A great event to celebrate a fantastic year!

2018-2019 CAS Highlights

PINK-OUT Day to raise awareness about breast cancer
Remembrance Day
MUN (Model United Nations) debating conferences:
- BCN MUN
- New York MUN
- April MUN
CAS Committee organisation of events:
- Festive Collection
- Malayaka House fund-raisers:
  - #friendsofmalayaka bracelet
  - BSB Sponsored Walk
  - BSB International Summer Fair
  - BSB Sitges Tea Party

Secondary Societies
Sports Leaders
DoE International Award – Silver
Harvard Model Congress Europe (HMCE) 2019
NEXT Magazine, issues 1 and 2
Language Assistance Programme
Drama Performance: “Girls Like That”

BSB International Summer Fair raises 2,100 euros

On Saturday, 18th May, The British School of Barcelona had a wonderful morning of celebration from around the world. It was wonderful to meet parents, students and staff of all campuses to gather at the annual BSB Fundraising Summer Fair.

The International twist of this year saw an explosion of colours, flavours and traditions around the main square of the BSB Castelldefels campus. It was, once again, an extraordinary demonstration of team work and community engagement, with families and staff running tables with delicious food from different countries, activities, games and music… An amazing range of activities which thrilled both children and adults alike.

The event raised a fantastic 2,000 euro for Malayaka House in Uganda and 100 euro for Indigo Life.

Thank You!

Thank you to everyone who helped at and supported the summer fair: parents, pupils and staff.

A special thank you to our Year 12 CAS students who also supported this event at this crucial time of the academic year.

And a huge thank you to the following companies who generously provided raffle prizes:

Casa Paloma
Chez Coco
Lacuna Jewellery
Mish Photography
Wanderlust Events
Canal Olympic
Iguana Chiringuito
The Wellness Guide