Silver Duke of Edinburgh Expedition
By Bibhushan and Saanvi
Last week, some of our Year 11 students went on their Silver Duke of Edinburgh practice expedition in Herb Nepal. Over the course of the trip, they engaged/participated in a variety of activities, including two full days of hiking, skill-building sessions, and meaningful community and environmental work such as trash picking along the trail, through different villages and towns. The students later shared that the experience allowed them to develop several valuable skills, from cooking meals using recipe books to pitching tents independently, ultimately making them feel more confident and better prepared for their actual qualifying expedition/journey.
On the first day, the students cooked their own dinner and set up their tents at the campsite. The evening ended with a relaxing, smoky campfire where everyone gathered, preparing for the adventure ahead. The second day was especially memorable. The groups set off early from the campsite and embarked on a challenging 5-6 hour hike around the Ashapuri area. Although tough at times, the hike rewarded them with breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains, forests, and landscapes, sceneries that made the journey unforgettable. Along the way, the students collected multiple bags of rubbish from the trail, motivated by the reward of one house point for every kilogram gathered. Each group returned with several bags, the product of their collective effort to help keep the environment clean.
Along with this, students also took part in a hands-on permaculture gardening decision where they learned about sustainable farming, role of minerals in soil health and the importance of compost. They even planted a tree as part of their learning, giving them a deeper connection to environmental stewardship.
After completing their activities, the students once again cooked their own delicious lunch, with each group preparing mouth watering meals. Throughout the day, they had an amazing time exploring nature, developing practical outdoor skills.
Year 11 IGCSE Drama Students perform their final piece of coursework
By: Upasana (Y11)
On Wednesday this week, the Y11 Drama students performed their IGCSE Group Performances. This was the final component of their practical coursework, meaning they have completed 60% of their Drama GCSE!
The first piece of the evening was performed by Ashvath and Pranava, who enacted the characters Sweeney and Mugsy in a scene from the play ‘Dealer’s Choice.’ In the play, Sweeney and Mugsy are coworkers at a restaurant where Sweeney works as a chef and Mugsy as a waiter. Although these characters both have goals they desperately want to achieve – they are held back because of their gambling addictions, which shapes their lives. Sweeney wants to be a better father and spend more time with his daughter, but is unable to break free from his addiction and quit gambling. Mugsy, on the other hand, can’t achieve his dream of opening a restaurant due to his ever-increasing debt from gambling. Through their performance, Ashvath and Pranava perfectly captured the self-destructive nature of gambling and put on a wonderful show.
Following the first performance was Mateo, Maulik and Fahmi, with their scene from ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead,’ a play based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In the scene, the characters Ros and Guild (played by Maulik and Mateo) are trapped in an absurd reality where the laws of probability are defied. This is seen when the characters toss coins and are able to flip 85 consecutive heads. While Ros doesn’t question this, Guild becomes increasingly frantic trying to make sense of it. Later on, the characters meet the Player (played by Fahmi) who is an Elizabethan tragedian actor who is struggling because of peoples’ preference for a younger group of actors. To survive as an actor in these hard times, he does “suggestive” performances. Together, the three drama students gave a very memorable performance.
The final piece was performed by Manashi, Athalia, Saivi and Aafia, taking on the roles of four waitresses (Adele, Carol, Mel and Nicky) working at a cocktail bar in the 1980s. Their piece combined several scenes from ‘Shakers,’ a play portraying the daily struggles faced by women through a humouristic lens.
The group opened with a scene highlighting how waitresses are often disrespected and not treated fairly, yet are still expected to smile politely and be patient with the customers. The next scene explored body image, revealing just how quickly women can be to criticise – especially behind each others’ backs. This was followed by a scene where the girls were getting ready for a party, each one convinced she had to change something about herself in order to be considered “pretty.” Finally, the piece ended with a sequence where each character described a day when she believed she might be pregnant. Their stories explored feelings of anxiousness and doubt about relationships, finally ending with relief after realising it was a false alarm.
By performing their piece in this chaotic style, the drama students were able to explore serious themes while keeping the audience engaged and entertained. The piece was definitely one of their best!
Overall, all three groups delivered outstanding performances and all the Drama students should be incredibly proud of themselves. After the relief of finishing all three components of his practical coursework, Fahmi, one of the IGCSE drama students says that “Our class is super happy to have completed our three practicals, even after all the challenges we’ve faced for each! It is quite bittersweet to say goodbye to the pieces we’ve worked on since Year 10, but we’re all looking forward to what we can do in Drama in the future!”
Senior Photographers Visit Local Exhibition
By Shayaan Nabi
(Special thanks to Chaya, Mr Sands, Ms Daly.)
This week, our Senior Photographers visited a local photography exhibition to help them develop their own understanding of the art form.
“We went to the photo Kathmandu exhibition, a collection of exhibitions at the Nepal Art Council. These exhibitions had a mix of photography mainly, but they also featured some films, poetry and other features of art. The Art and Photography students went there to take inspiration from photographs and see how we could put that into our own work. The photographs varied in subject matter, political issues, personal memory and personal histories; some were about the places the artists were, and some were all about the religions.” – Chaya, year 13.
“We led a series of students from Year 9 to Year 13 to visit the exhibition, which runs from the November of 14 to December of 14 across various locations across the Kathmandu valley. Showcasing a range of artists and photographers all across the visual arts and photography.” – Mr Sands
“The theme of the expedition was global south solidarity; it brought together artists from across the global south and their work primarily explored connections to the land and the intersection of the person and the political. Students had the opportunities to reflect on the importance of family language and homeland and how this can be expressed through visual art.” – Ms Daly
Awards Assemblies
Our Key Stage Awards assemblies took place this week where we present awards for: high attendance, punctuality, marvellous mentees and of course individual and collective House points. Well done Makalu for winning the Term 1 and 2 trophy!
Housepoint Award Ceremony Upset!
By Vedanshee Pandey (Y8)
The atmosphere was tense in the hall on Tuesday morning as the Key Stage 3 students waited impatiently to hear who would be the current champions in TBS house points.
In the overall housepoint award assembly, the 1st place winner ended up being a new winner: Makalu! This came as a shock to many, as Makalu is the house that has barely been on the podium in recent years.
This comeback from Makalu consists of not only one keystage, but across all of secondary school. This was the first time in a long time that Makalu won the top of the leaderboard. “I was so happy to see that we were finally first!” said Upasana, a current year 11 Makalonian.
The 2nd place for overall house points was Annapurna; they played a good game last year and this year, but they were beaten by Makalu.
3rd place for overall house points ended up being Dhaulagiri; they have gotten a couple wins throughout the years, but not this time!
Finally, 4th place overall house points went to Kanchanjuna. Better luck next time!
Every house did their best, especially Makalu with their comeback of the year – but can they hold their title going forward? Well done, houses – let the games continue!
Winter Concert
The CPA faculty and music teams would like to invite all parents to our secondary Winter Concert on Tuesday at 5.30 pm in the hall. Any parents who would like to attend but are not available at 5.30 pm would be welcome to join the performance for Primary Key Stage 2 students at 1.15 pm on Tuesday afternoon, also in the school hall.
Head of Secondary Music, Ms Freeman writes “ Join us for our Winter Concert on Tuesday, December 9, beginning at 5:30pm! This festive evening will feature performances from the KS3 Choir, Senior Choir, talented soloists, duets, and our lively rock bands. You’ll enjoy a vibrant mix of music from Classical to Pop to Jazz, along with exciting dance and rhythm routines, and even some communal Christmas carol singing to bring everyone together!
Doors open at 5:15pm.
We hope you can join us for what promises to be a joyful and memorable celebration of music and community!”
Clubs & Activities Term 3 & 4
Next Wednesday will see the secondary clubs fair and clubs sign up during PSHE period 3 on Wednesday. Please talk to your child before then to help them choose a broad range of clubs that they will be interested in. For year 10 – 12 students it is important to be able to evidence commitment in all three types of activities: physical, skills and volunteering so that they meet the requirements for their Duke of Edinburgh International Awards and their British School Graduation Diploma.
Please see the letter Mr Samsom Lama sent you today for more details.
