Welcome back to school - Message from the Principal and Senior Team

Dear families,

It was a joy to welcome our returning and new students and families this week, and, against a backdrop of uncertain weather, the certain thing was the excitement and happiness we all felt to be back in school. As we launched our new Vertical Tutoring I walked into classroom after classroom and found a wonderful atmosphere with a range of ice breaking activities going on, as students met and introduced themselves to students from different Year groups; the warmth and friendliness was tangible. What a lovely start to the year.

Of course a school doesn't shut entirely over the summer. As well as a hugely successful summer school in July, and much work being carried out in the building including the wonderful, vibrant wall displays that now adorn the primary school, we also celebrated the summer exam results - which were truly excellent.

By far the best results in the school's history, our A (and AS) students' success was outstanding, with Year 13 students achieving a 100% pass rate and an amazing 60% at the top grade of A*/A (40% at A*). Amongst all the successes, special mention to Anna Ciudad who achieved four A*s, and Maria Shaposhnikova who achieved 3 A*s. Maria has turned down two medical schools in the UK to study medicine in Madrid, whilst Anna is still awaiting confirmation at medical schools. Karla Kallentoft achieved three A*s and one A, King's College, London, to study International Relations, and Nacho Diaz, who has been at BIC since he was six years old, achieved two A*s and two As; he is going to study aeronautical engineering at Delft University in Holland. The tremendous growth and success of our sixth form in the last two years, which sees us sending so many young people to the world's most prestigious universities, is testament to the outstanding teaching now in the school, as well as, of course, the determination and hard work of our students.

Our Year 11 GCSE results were also outstanding, with students achieving a 100% pass rate in their exams, and an amazing 38% at the top grade of A*/A. Whilst the students did well across the board, in all subjects, a special mention must go to the English team where 100% of the students achieved a level 5 or above, 81% achieving a 6 or above. Many of these students do not have English as their mother tongue, making this success all the more impressive. In addition, Spanish saw a similar 100% success rate at C or above with 86% achieving an A or A*, none of whom have Spanish as their mother tongue!

But a school is about, of course, so much more than just academic success, important though that is. This year we look ahead to more extra curricular activities, to a continued focus on kindness and well-being, to our Awareness Afternoons, to fantastic new leadership in maths and EAL, to our Activities Afternoon, to inter-House fun and excitement and to the continuing growth and involvement of our brilliant Parent-Teacher Association.

Here's to the best year ever at BIC Sa Porrassa.

Alison Colwell,

Principal

Baleares International College, Sa Porrassa

Dear families,

I hope that you have had a very enjoyable summer break. The children have certainly returned to school full of enthusiasm for the year ahead! As the new school year begins, it has been wonderful to see the children’s smiling faces as they come through the door.

During these first days of term, the children have thoroughly enjoyed participating in many different types of settling in activities which help to create a positive mental attitude. There has been a happy buzz of activity in the primary department; pupils making their own superhero masks, writing summer thoughts on flip flops, inventing bright colourful poetry about themselves and making huge, colourful well-being flowers. These activities have inspired the children, as well as helping them to develop their English skills, gain confidence and of course to get to know each other better in their new classrooms.

The primary team are very much looking forward to a fantastic year of learning.

Have a wonderful sunny weekend.

Ms Hodgson

Acting Head of Primary

This week in our welcome back assembly, I spoke to students of the joy of our community being back together for not only the first assembly of the academic year but the first secondary House assemblies we have held since the pandemic began.

Students of all Year groups joined in House assemblies yesterday morning at the start of the academic year and shared in the sense of hope and purpose that meeting in this way after so long brings. I urged students to work hard, play hard and to foster a sense of fun and happiness in everything they do at school as we prepare them to meet challenges with a sense of purpose, conviction and compassion.

The atmosphere in school over the last two days has been truly one of gladness, both in the return to fantastic learning and increasingly normal life but also as we celebrate excellent GCSE and A Level results. All students have shared in the pride we feel towards our staff and students who worked so incredibly hard to achieve such marvellous success.

Well done to all of our students for such a wonderful return and for creating such a beautiful atmosphere on the first few days of term. I know that it will continue all year.

Alexandra Tomlinson

Head of Secondary

No, this isn’t my age (you’ll know I am a little older than that)! It is the number of students in the Sixth Form this September, which is so exciting. The buzz around school with this number of older students is palpable. They are excited to be here, their teachers are excited at the prospect of teaching them and, I think, the younger students’ excitement at seeing so many older ones (and having them in their tutor groups) adds to that. All of these students are here because they were successful in their IGCSEs or AS Levels; this breeds self-confidence and aspiration for more success. Moreover, they are all extremely lovely young people, who subscribe to the values of BIC. They know and accept their responsibility to act as positive role models for the younger students. They all show kindness in their everyday activities and all have a ready smile for the people around them. With such students in the school and in such numbers, BIC can only continue to go from strength to strength!

This buoyant atmosphere has been fed by the fantastic A Level results in the summer, as Ms Colwell has written about above. 50% of the grades in Year 12 were A grades. A fantastic 59% of Y13 grades were A* or A. All Y13 who wanted to go to university got their first choice universities. The highlights were:

Masha and Anna who have gone to medical schools in the Spain, both having achieved straight A*s. Masha got two offers from medical schools in the UK ( a fantastic achievement in itself) and turned them down in favour of Alfonso X in Madrid.

Nacho, who has been at BIC since Year 2, has gone to T.U. Delft in Holland to study aero engineering, having gained A* A* A A.

Karla has gone to Kings College, London, to study International Relations having gained grades A* A* A* A

Santos has gone to Leeds University to study banking and finance having gained grades A* A* A B

Having achieved A* A* B Dmitry is going to Madrid to study Sports Management.

We were extremely proud of these students, who worked so hard for the grades they received. But we were also very proud of all of our other Sixth Form students. Some students take longer to reach their peak but learning from their mistakes is an important element of this. For example, I was very proud of the Year 12 student who contacted me after the publication of the exam results in the summer to say:

…Although they are a big improvement from my mock grades (E,U,U) I am still not 100% happy with my grades which I think is a good sign. Over summer I have done my interviews and preparing for the IPQ sessions back in time for September, in addition I have been listening to the “A-level Politics Show” podcasts on Spotify to further my knowledge on our last topic on conservativism. I am hoping that all the extra work put in will help me achieve the grades I desperately want to get into Uni. Regardless thank you for patience with me and I can’t wait to carry on in September.

I don’t think I could ask for a more positive response. Sixth Form is not just about grades, it is about the young people maturing and readying themselves for independent life at university. The young man quoted above will be fully ready for university when he gets there and I think I can say the same for all the Sixth Formers at BIC.

I will proudly continue to report on the progress of our new Year 12 and 13 students over the coming year. I am so excited to see what they finally achieve. Hopefully they can go past the record results set by last year’s Year 13, but the key thing is that they all fulfil their potential, get the best grades possible for them and feel that they have fully justified their time in school.

John Barter

Head of Sixth Form

john.barter@balearesint.net