This week has been filled with very special visitors, incredibly creative enterprise projects, leaps of progress, and a very long run! Find out about my top five moments from this week, which have really stood out amongst all of the other wonderful things going on.
- Running the Riyadh Marathon. It was great fun to make the most of the marathon coming to Riyadh last weekend. As I didn’t have Crumb to pull me around the course, I only did the 10km, which felt long enough! The very British weather on the day didn’t deter us – if anything, the pouring rain made me feel like I was back in the UK! I was very proud to see some of our students carrying their medals into school the day after, with the younger ones completing the 4km run and the older ones doing the 10km like me (no doubt much quicker than me, too!).
- Swimming in the Shark Tank. I had great fun considering whether or not to invest in Grade 8’s incredible enterprise projects. I was genuinely amazed by the ideas that were being presented: loofah soap that leaves you smelling of Arabic fragrances for at least eight hours; a waterproof Hijab (which would have been great last weekend at the run!); a cheap mobile phone with built-in parental controls; football boots with removable studs; a revolutionary helicopter company; and a subscription snack box made up of native foods from around the GCC. Such thoughtful ideas, all worthy of investment. The questions from the class were very challenging indeed, and each group was able to really think on their feet.
- Finalising the preparation for Founding Day. After a rousing assembly today led by Ms Haya and some of our pupils, it is clear to see that we are in for a real treat next week. I don’t want to give away any clues about what has been arranged, but let’s just say that we will all have every opportunity to celebrate this wonderful day in the Kingdom, and I just hope that no one gets the hump about the ideas and activities that are planned….
- Showing around some very special visitors. I am always very proud to tour our school and share it with the wider community. Just this week, we were honoured to host our amazing investor, our proud landlord, and also the education team from the US Embassy. It is always exciting to see the new spaces being put to use, and our pupils are so confident to welcome visitors and tell them all about life here at Beech Hall School Riyadh.
- Signing off on the next set of learning spaces to be commissioned. As a very new school, we are blessed to have entirely new learning spaces, all of which have been designed with innovative and inclusive approaches at the heart of them. We have a very exciting programme of works that will start when the children are off for Spring Break, and finalising these plans this week has been a very exciting process. Now I just can’t wait for them to be open!
What a busy week! Due to Founding Day, next week will be a shorter one, with children going home on Tuesday for the long weekend. No doubt, we will still have a great deal to celebrate in our blog, even with a short week! Until then, have a wonderful weekend.
Clemmie Stewart,
Executive Principal
