Baku-Oxford School Autumn Newsletter 2017-18

It has been a very exciting and busy time at the school as we welcomed the joint CIS/NEASC visiting team to the school for our accreditation visit. Over the last three years the school has been working towards this by making improvements across the school in line with international best practices in both our academics and operations. The visiting team were very impressed with the positive changes made in the school and our drive for continual improvement. We will not get the result until just after the winter break when I will inform you in a separate letter of the outcome and a summary of the commendations and recommendations written in the report. Thank you all for your support!

The visiting Team members came from a number of countries and international schools as follows: Jim Swetz (General Director, Bilkent Preparatory School) Mr. William McIntyre (Vice President of Academic Affairs, Nashua Community College), Jennifer (Alex) Dailey (American International School of Vienna), Johnson Jacob (Director of Technology American International School of Bucharest), Aysen Yurdakul (Head of the English and Foreign Languages Department Özel Büyük Kolej), Emine Ozbey (Al Sahwa Schools Oman).

Even during this very busy time there have been a lot of events and activities going on across the school and these are outlined in the following pages. Please take the time to look through.

PTA election results:

On Friday October the 20^th we had the annual PTA elections. The results were as follows: Early Years-Elvira Anadolu, Primary School-Fidan Ibrahimova, Secondary School-Ulviyya Seyidmammadova and Adelya Nabiyeva, Expatriate-Muhammad Asim. Congratulations to all and for the general interest among the community. We are still looking for one extra Early Years volunteer and one extra Primary school volunteer, so please let us know if you are interested.

Upcoming Events:

Please make a note in your diaries for the following events:

Monday 13^th November Parent-Teacher meetings, 3-5pm (Invitation only)

Tuesday 14^th November Parent-Teacher meetings, 3-5pm, All other parents

Thursday 16^th-Saturday 18^th November: SRAA Football, Basketball and Volleyball competition

Monday 27^th November- Friday 1^st December: Modern Languages week

Monday 25^th-Wednesday 3^rd January: Winter Break

We look forward to your continual co-operation

Kind regards,

Alexander Simester

Early Years Foundation Stage

Welcome to our first newsletter of the year!

A warm welcome to our new families this year and to those of you returning. For some of you, your children have entered their third year at Baku-Oxford School - what a difference since they came in age three in September 2015!

Already the children have been very busy and in just two months we are seeing great progress from the beginning of the year; they have learned the class routines and are becoming increasingly independent in taking care of themselves and their belongings. We would like to ask that you continue this at home and encourage them to dress and feed themselves.

From this academic year, we are proud and very excited to be the only school in Azerbaijan that offers the International Early Years Curriculum (IEYC). This is a new, research-based curriculum that supports learning through holistic enquiry and play-based approaches that cover all curriculum areas. Our first unit ‘This Is Me’ has enabled the children to get to know one another, their families and most importantly to realise that they are all special and unique. Every day the children take part in Phonics, Literacy, Maths and Art activities and are introduced to Drama through role play. They learn new songs and dances during our circle time that enhance learning and they explore the world around them.

We have also enjoyed a number of special events, beginning with Book Week and our now annual book character parade. Our Humanities week was rounded off by a spectacular Flag parade, celebrating both Azerbaijan and our international community. We look forward to many further events throughout the year that contribute to our Baku-Oxford School and the wider community.

Thank you for your continued support.

Ms Clare Ranns

     Head of Early Years Foundation Stage

It is a pleasure to write to you on behalf of Primary School at the start of another very busy and exciting academic year. It is hard to believe that with Book Week, UN Day and the commencement of our largest ever After School Activities Programme, that we have only just started our annual learning journey.

I would like to welcome all of our new families to the Baku Oxford community and I very much hope that all children are settling in well. We are delighted to have as part of Primary School for 2017/18, new teachers and assistants for English, Humanities, PE and Learning Support, as well as returning members of our faculty. I am certain that you all will make an outstanding contribution to our continued success.

At Baku-Oxford School, we are dedicated to ensuring that every child achieves their full academic potential. At the same time, we are passionate about nurturing characteristics that will allow our pupils to be tomorrow’s leaders. Educational research shows that to be successful as adults, today’s children will need to be able to multitask, be digitally literate, process huge amounts of information and adapt to new innovations. The world in which we live in is more interconnected, mobile and faster changing than ever before. It is clear that often children do not learn in the same way as previous generations; many display shorter attention spans, require rapid feedback on performance or require support in developing social skills beyond social media. The key to this is to provide a broad and balanced educational experience that, in addition to knowledge acquisition, promotes emotional intelligence, communication skills, problem solving and critical thinking.

The pictures below of our learning day demonstrate the ways in which Baku Oxford is providing this balance, through a mixture of quality core learning in English and Maths, practical and creative work in Science and Humanities, to creativity in Performing Arts. When also combined with our integration of technology into class based learning and the new opportunities for sports provided by our new sports facilities, I am proud of our start to the new school year and the outstanding education our new Primary School team is providing for our students.

Graham Tait

Head of Primary School

Secondary School News 

Book &Library Week

Each year BOS holds a Book Week celebrating books, famous authors and encouraging students to explore the world through books. Throughout the week various activities and competitions were designed to highlight the importance of reading skills. A Book Cafe trip, Reading Buddies, Favorite Book presentations, Repair Damaged Books competition and Book Fair helped students to discover new authors, enjoy great books and develop their own creative writing skills.

Stop Animal Abuse Project

On October 5^th, a group of Community Service students visited the IDEA Animal Shelter. Prior to the trip, the 11 graders prepared presentations concerning animal abuse for the 6^th graders, who later visited the Animal Rescue Center. From the moment we stepped onto the bus, we knew the trip would be amazing. Motivated by the idea of contributing to the animal shelter, we each bought packs of food for the dogs and cats of the shelter.

We were welcomed by an employee who later showed us a presentation about the aims of the shelter and its hard work. Their main focus is raising awareness about animal cruelty around the country. The students were so moved by the presentation that some even asked about volunteering. However, the most important part of the trip was experiencing the reality of the animals. As we were leaving the shelter, we realized the impact of this experience on us. Having encountered the unfortunate conditions and struggles that the animals have to go through every day due to lack of care and love, we will strive to raise awareness and encourage people around Azerbaijan to stop animal abuse.

Our objective is that such programs should be incorporated within the curriculum of all Azerbaijani schools. Since we do realize that this experience is incredibly valuable in every student’s life and that we were provided a great opportunity, we believe that Community Service ought to be available to as many people as possible as opposed to just a group of twenty.

International School Assessment

ISA tests were held on 3-4 October, 2017 at Baku-Oxford School for students of Grades 3-8. The ISA Assessment is an assessment program designed by The Australian Council for Educational Research for students in international schools and schools with an international focus in grades 3 to 10. The aims of the Assessment include: to measure students’ performance in relation to scales that describe levels of proficiency in mathematical literacy, reading, writing and/or scientific literacy performance in relation to other international school students at the same grade level.

News from BIMUN Club

Grade 12 student Nazrin Rustamzade has been selected to be a Student Officer in THIMUN ’18 conference in The Hague. Her Position is Deputy President of HCHR (OHCHR in UN). The THIMUN conference is one of the most famous Model UN conferences in the world and the largest in Europe  
Serving as a Student Officer is an enormous honor and great responsibility. Nazrin Rustamzade continues BOS MUN traditions and after Mikayil Aghasiyev she is the second student from our BOS MUN Club who has acheived this position.

Humanities Week

During Humanities Week grade 7 students visited The Centre of Excellence in EU Studies established in ADA University in 2013. The participants of the field trip had the chance to get acquainted with the Diplomatic Academy and different educational and training opportunities offered to students. The Center provides different programmes, not only for University students but also school children increasing their awareness of the EU and promoting its values. The visit to ADA helped raise awareness of international quality education that students can benefit from in the future.

A visit to the Carpet Museum was another successful field trip held during the Humanities Week. Grade 6 students had the chance to go into the history of carpet weaving that is considered to be an integral part of Azerbaijani culture. The participants got broad information about each type of carpet, the collection of embroidery patterns and various techniques used in it. Raising awareness of national heritage among the younger generation helps develop consciousness about cultural diversity.

Student Council Elections 2017-2018.

Secondary and grade 5 students wishing to be on the Student Council for the academic year 2017-2018 took part in elections recently. It was encouraging to see a packed conference room with so many keen students making speeches, seeking to persuade their peers to be elected. All the students spoke with enthusiasm, providing reasons why they felt that they have the relevant qualities to be a member and explaining what contributions they could make to the council and ultimately our school.

Jamila Chiragzade

Head of Secondary School