We have enjoyed a really fruitful week at Beech Hall School Riyadh, returning for the second half of term with aplomb! Here are the top 5 moments that have stood out for me – although I must confess, one is from the half-term break!
- The Longines Global Champions Tour – we were very privileged to be invited to attend this event with our pupils as it came to Riyadh this week. All of Grades 6-9 were invited, and I flew back from the UK just in time to take a lovely little group of our children to this prestigious event. We got to hear all about the project to ‘Green Riyadh,’ and we each planted a sapling. We then moved on to hear from the event’s vet, so we could all better understand how the horses compete. After that, we got to watch some of the finest show jumpers in the world compete over a very challenging course. It was so lovely to share this passion with our children, and we hope for many more opportunities like this one in the future.
- Parents’ evenings have been running throughout the week, enabling us to share with parents, first-hand, just how hard their children have been working, as well as celebrate all of their amazing progress. The relationship between home and school is such an important one, and we are blessed to be working with parents who are so committed to supporting their child’s education.
- I received a very special invitation to meet with Ms Alison’s Grade 1 class this week, to hear all about their most recent Unit of Learning. The children blew me away with their knowledge of how the brain works and what we need to do in order to help our brains learn – our brains need lots of physical exercise, lots of water, and heaps of sleep! They were so confident and proud to share their learning with me, and it was a real highlight of the week.
- Attending GESS in Dubai, the region’s leading education exhibition. I was there to celebrate Beech Hall School Riyadh’s nomination in the Best Initiative to Promote Inclusivity category at their awards dinner. It was amazing to represent our school, and to see our name up there with such amazing institutions from around the world. It was also wonderful to celebrate so many of our educational partners being nominated for, and even winning, headline awards! Some of the partners up for awards included: 8billionideas, GL Education, Arc Pathway, LinkyThinks and Kinteract.
- Finally, it has been a pleasure to see the 8billionideas team here on the ground, working with our senior school pupils. I have loved seeing the prototypes for cities that will enable us to live more sustainable lives, and also hearing TED Talks from Grade 7, delivered with such confidence and charm. It is so wonderful to see two strands from our Tapestry being brought to life: Sustainable Leadership and Enterprise and Innovation. Next time, it will be the turn of our Primary pupils!
It’s been another week filled with exciting opportunities and heartwarming moments at Beech Hall School Riyadh. I hope you all had a restful break and are looking forward to the next half of term – I know I am!
Clemmie Stewart,
Executive Principal
