Thursday May 2014

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Thursday Dear families,

It is now the season for power cuts and water shortages. We have generators for Aboul Ela and Euclid. These provide goand, in some classrooms, our interactive whiteboards can be operated through laptops, if available. Providing sufficient power for A/Cs using generators is not feasible. The cost of providing power in full for the whole school with generators iexpensive. Most frequently, power cuts also mean no water. The school cannot operate without water for the toilets for more than 1/2 a day at a time.

There seems to be a pattern in terms of time of day and length of power cuts / water shortages. We are asking the electricity and water companies for as much information as may be available to us so we can plan accordingly.

One significant other problem with power cuts and water shortages is the effect on our teachers and other staff who alsexperience long periods without electricity and power at home. is obviously unreasonable to ask people to work if they cannot wash, cook and clean at home before and after a days work. We offer our staff advice on the preparations necessary to maintareasonable lifestyle even though water and power are not always available.

We are making every effort to keep the school open every day for the rest of this academic year. However, there may be days when we have no option other than to close. We willas we can and keep you well informed. We thank you for your ongoing support and understanding. Stuart Dennis B.Ed (Hons) NPQH FRSA Principal CEO

Bursar’s Update

2014/15 FEES The ratio of Sterling to Egyptian for 2014/15 fees has been altered to lower the exposure of exchange rate fluctuations.To do this we: 1. Converted Egyptian to Sterling and added them together.2. Changed the ratio to 50/50. 3. Converted it back to Egyptian using the same rate (1:12).Please note that the largest increase is £483 for the annual full rate of the Sixth Form fee. This is traditionally the most course due to the specialised teaching and the small class sizes. It should be noted that for some years now, costs have risen faster than our fees have been increased. Most costs are predictearound 9-10% next year. However the Board are conscious of the need to keep any increase to a minimum and have worked

hard to achieve this. Mr El-Eisawy will be issuing the 2014/15 invoices soon; parents are reminded that there is a substantial discount for paymentbefore 30 June 2014.

From the Principal

Weekly Newsletter May 2014

Volume 6 – Issue 4

Weekly Newsletter

Pre-Prep School News from

This week Year 1 Blue have been investigating Light & Dark science. The children had fun investigating the ‘dark house’ and reading books by torch light. They discovered that light isnecessary to see and that being in the dark can be a bit scary. For ‘Show & Tell’ the children brought in a variety of light sources from home to share with the class.

Pre-Prep School News from

The last term has arrived and although it is a shorcertainly busy. This term our science topic is light and dark. Tstudents have begun by reading the story “Ohave discussed seeing in the “dark”!The topic this term for humanities is Africabeen using maps and atlases to find out about Kenya and tracing local maps of school as part of our

Important Notice by Mrs Greaney

On Thursday 15th May the annual FoS “Summe

held in Aboul Ela and Zahran field this year. Children

come to school in non – uniform on the day. School finishes at

12:30 for Pre-Prep and 1pm for Prep

2pm.

Thursday 8th May 2014

It is now the season for power cuts and water shortages. We have Ela and Euclid. These provide good lighting

and, in some classrooms, our interactive whiteboards can be operated through laptops, if available. Providing sufficient power for A/Cs using generators is not feasible. The cost of providing power in full for the whole school with generators is prohibitively

o mean no water. The not operate without water for the toilets for more than

There seems to be a pattern in terms of time of day and length of rtages. We are asking the electricity and

water companies for as much information as may be available to us

One significant other problem with power cuts and water shortages is the effect on our teachers and other staff who also experience long periods without electricity and power at home. It is obviously unreasonable to ask people to work if they cannot wash, cook and clean at home before and after a days work. We offer our staff advice on the preparations necessary to maintain a reasonable lifestyle even though water and power are not always

We are making every effort to keep the school open every day for the rest of this academic year. However, there may be days when we have no option other than to close. We will inform you as soon as we can and keep you well informed. We thank you for your

The ratio of Sterling to Egyptian for 2014/15 fees has been altered ange rate fluctuations.

Converted Egyptian to Sterling and added them together.

Converted it back to Egyptian using the same rate (1:12). Please note that the largest increase is £483 for the annual full rate the Sixth Form fee. This is traditionally the most expensive

due to the specialised teaching and the small class sizes. It should be noted that for some years now, costs have risen faster

Most costs are predicted to rise However the Board are conscious of the

increase to a minimum and have worked

invoices soon; parents are discount for payment in full

Prep School News from Mrs El Eisawy

investigating Light & Dark in cience. The children had fun investigating the ‘dark house’ and reading books by torch light. They discovered that light is necessary to see and that being in the dark can be a bit scary. For ‘Show & Tell’ the children brought in a variety of light sources om home to share with the class.

School News from Ms Walsh

The last term has arrived and although it is a short one it will be certainly busy. This term our science topic is light and dark. The students have begun by reading the story “Owl Babies” and we

“dark”! The topic this term for humanities is Africa. The students have been using maps and atlases to find out about Kenya and tracing local maps of school as part of our unit “Alexandria is in Africa”.

Important Notice by Mrs Greaney

the annual FoS “Summer Bazaar” will be

la and Zahran field this year. Children are invited to

uniform on the day. School finishes at

1pm for Prep. The Bazaar starts at

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Making the most of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) by Ms Nagulendran

What is a VLE? It’s basically an online area for schools to share information and resources with their students. Unlike a normal website where this information might be hosted and accessed by the public; the VLE allows private access to learning and teaching resources.

Here at The British School, Alexandria, students in Preand Prep campuses should all have their own login and password, which parents can use on their child’slogged in, parents can view their child’s progressspellings, access links to lesson resources and find information about upcoming events.

Students in the Senior School have their individual logins and can access their homework, revision materials and web links via their login area. This particularly useful if they copy of the homework; they can log on and download another copy. So now there’s no excuse for not doing your homework or for saying “sorry Miss, the dog ate it”.

Whilst our bsalearning.net site is still in its infancy we’re looking to develop it further so students can submit homework and receive feedback online (which means you can also keep an eye on how they are doing!) and we can do our part to help the environment with less printing!

Access to the school’s VLE can be found here at www.bsalearning.net.

If you can’t access your account please email me at mnagulendran@bsalex.net

Dates for your diary...

11 May Y7 Coffee Morning - Arabic

10:00am at Euclid Campus

15 May FoS Summer Bazaar & Non

14:00 at Zahran Field

20 May Y8 Coffee Morning - English

10:20am at Euclid Campus

23 – 27 May Half Term Holiday

9 June Y9 Coffee Morning - Physics

10:20am at Euclid Campus

12 June Summer Concert

18:00 at Zahran Field

19 June Prize Giving Ceremony

Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Great Hall

23 & 24 June Prep School Performances

Consulate Campus

Weekly Newsletter

FoS Summer Bazaar – 15Virtual Learning agulendran

hat is a VLE? It’s basically an online area for schools to share information and resources with their students. Unlike a normal website where this information might be hosted and accessed

private access to personalised

Here at The British School, Alexandria, students in Pre-Prep ve their own login and

child’s behalf. Once progress in weekly

resources and find information

their individual logins and als and web links via

area. This particularly useful if they lose their paper they can log on and download another

copy. So now there’s no excuse for not doing your homework

ilst our bsalearning.net site is still in its infancy we’re looking to develop it further so students can submit homework and receive feedback online (which means you can also keep an eye on how they are doing!) and we can do our part to help the

Access to the school’s VLE can be found here at

If you can’t access your account please email me at

Arabic

& Non-Uniform day

English

Physics

reat Hall

Prep School Performances

Professor Sahar Hamouda appointed to The Board of Governors We are pleased to announce that the Board of Governors hasthe unanimous decision at their last full meeting to accept the application of Professor Sahar Hamoudaand member of the Curriculum Committee. This follows the open call to candidature and interview process led by the Board’s recruitment committee. Professor Sahar Hamouda has been in currently Chairperson of the Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Arts, at Alexandria University. At the Library of Alexandria, she is Director of the Alexandria and Mediterranean Research Centre, and also ofor Hellenistic Studies, and her publications include ‘A History of Victory College’ and ‘Once Upon a Time in Jerusalem’.

15th May 2014

Professor Sahar Hamouda appointed to The Board of Governors

We are pleased to announce that the Board of Governors has taken the unanimous decision at their last full meeting to accept the

Professor Sahar Hamouda as full Board member and member of the Curriculum Committee. This follows the open call to candidature and interview process led by the Board’s

Professor Sahar Hamouda has been in education since 1981 and is currently Chairperson of the Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Arts, at Alexandria University.

At the Library of Alexandria, she is Director of the Alexandria and Mediterranean Research Centre, and also of the Alexandria Centre for Hellenistic Studies, and her publications include ‘A History of Victory College’ and ‘Once Upon a Time in Jerusalem’.

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