This week we received amazing news that Abayaa in Year 12 has won the KS4/5 2022 COBIS Poetry Competition. This competition is across all COBIS schools worldwide, which is over 150 schools. What an amazing achievement for Abayaa to be the overall winner. As a school, we could not be more proud of her and she has every reason to be very proud of herself. Well done, Abayaa!
Here is her winning poem:
Static
For three months
We left the room untouched.
The unmade bed
The unwashed coffee mug
The plate with cobwebs and crumbs
From a half eaten sandwich
A then-fresh set of clothes
Left hanging on the chair
The slippers by the couch
The old, broken radio- its battery dead-
Sits there on the windowsill
Collecting dust.
This morning
They took the bed away
Washed the coffee mug
Threw the sandwich out.
Strangers’ footsteps in a peaceful room
disturbing that quiet carpet of dust.
I wear your watch,
And your slippers,
-both too big-
I cling to those un-worn clothes
Like a child would
to a teddy bear.
Are you watching me fix the radio?
Watching as I try
To tune time back to
that long-gone frequency:
my life with you
fading into the sharp static
Of the past.
‘He’s in your heart’
They say
‘He wouldn’t want to see you cry’
They plug up my grief
With tissues and halfhearted condolences
And now where do I go from here?
New Student Leadership Team
Over the course of the last few weeks, many of our existing Year 11 and current Year 12 students have applied for, and been interviewed for, various positions within the Student Leadership Team. The Head Prefect candidates have been presenting their thoughts and ideas on both leadership and their role within the school community at various assemblies in the secondary school this week. Well done to all those who were interviewed and, of course, to our Head Prefect applicants who very eloquently displayed their thoughts and initiatives in the assemblies this week: Abayaa, Anshu, Benjamin, Khaytee, Meghna, Shatraveer and Taha. All secondary students have now voted, and these results along with teachers’ and SLT’s thoughts, will form the basis of the appointments for the whole of the KS5 Student Leadership Team for next academic year. Watch this space for the results soon!
Model United Nations Club (MUN)
For all the MUN enthusiasts, the MUN clubs finally began this week! Students on the MUN team will be assisting teachers in running the MUN clubs for Y7-10. Their first session was on Thursday and everyone was incredibly excited to be able to work with so many people.
Zonta Club
Anshu in Year12 has recently been elected as the new President of Zonta Club. Well done, Anshu!
Anshu would like to share some of her goals during her presidency.
Being selected as the President for a club that stands for something I’m most passionate about has been surreal. Zonta International advocates for equality, education and an end to child marriage and gender-based violence. For the next academic year at TBS, Zonta club aims to expand the work with our community partners on existing programs. Post COVID, although difficult, we aim to focus more on our community partners and ways to empower girls through vocational and educational events on dealing with mental health issues, breaking stereotypes inside families, cyber bullying and expanding more on the works initially started, including providing dignity packs of reusable sanitary pads. Although yet to sit down as a team and further explore our ideas and plans, Zonta club is really looking forward to create meaningful impacts.
Media Studies Revision
In media studies, students have been making use of the greatest resource at their disposal, each other! They have been pair-quizzing on key terminology and theory and presenting confidently on their own independent case studies.
Media students peer quizzing and presenting in recent lessons.
Mentor Structure
Students have been surveyed recently about the secondary mentor structure for next academic year. It was clear that KS5 students enjoy having a mixed year mentor group, and thus, it is likely that next academic year, the current system will remain. This is also of benefit to Year 12 students as they can gain valuable information and insights from Year 13 students about university applications.
Speaking of university applications, Year 12 students have now started researching countries and courses they may like to apply for. With the help of Ms Gurung and Unifrog, students have been looking at various factors to help them focus their decision about which country they may want to study, dependent on various factors from costs to courses.
Chemistry
Following on from their very encouraging unit 1 Chemistry external examination results, Year 12 chemists have been continuing to develop their practical skills. The level of technical competence has improved markedly over the year to date. Students have used a wide range of techniques and have a much stronger grasp on the need to reflect on their practical methodology in order to minimise error in their work.
Geography
The Year 12 Geographers have been continuing to watch developments in Ukraine. Not only is the number of migrants leaving Ukraine the largest fleeing of people in such a short space of time ever, but the impacts of the devastating events in Ukraine could be felt for years to come. Ukraine, as a major global exporter of grain, has seen its agricultural sector decimated, and it is unlikely seeds will be planted this year or even potentially next year too, which then affects subsequent years’ crops. At this stage, it is predicted that there could be a shortage of food globally. One interesting fact specific to Nepal is that while Nepal is self-sufficient in its egg and poultry production, the grain that is used to feed the chickens is usually imported from Ukraine. The price of these products (as well as already rising fuel costs) may be set to increase significantly. Time for a few free-range hens perhaps?!
Art
It has been very exciting to watch the Year 12 students’ artwork progress over the past few weeks. With AS Art coursework coming to a conclusion soon, Anisha, Samyukta and Shashank have all been working hard creating their final pieces. I’m sure they would be more than happy to discuss the finer details of their processes with you if you see them around school! For their final pieces that will be submitted to the examination board, a professional photographer will come in to school to ensure that the students’ hard work that is reflected in their artistic efforts is visible.
