The Beaconhouse Newsletter Gulshan A Level E-28 Block—4, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Karachi. Ph: +92 21 34992869
August – December 2014
In this issue
First Word GAL World Societies in Action The Access Centre Click on GAL
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First Word Rising nation, Kudos for the batch of 2014 Dear Parents, We began the New Year with sad tidings in the country that left us shell struck but then we are a nation that rises above all crises . We have since enhanced the security of the school and expect your full cooperation for the safety of our children. All the outdoor activities have been postponed but the school societies will remain active in the school premises. However kudos to the batch of 2014 for having done so well that they are now enjoying good college placements. Wishing our students the best and safe school life . We remain at GAL. Looking forward to an even more productive year ahead! Regards,
Humaira Mustafa
A Must Know
For latest BSS news log onto www.tbt.beaconhouse.net www.facebook.com/beaconhouse.gal Students must come in proper school uniform including school duppatta & black shoes, without which they will not be allowed inside the CIE centers. If you wish to get in touch with your child’s teacher and you are unable to come school to meet them, feel free to contact them over the phone. 1
BEACONHOUSE Newsletter
Aug – Dec 2014
10th August 2014: OPEN DAY
12th August 2014: CIE RESULT
The Open Day provided an excellent opportunity for prospective AS to explore the campus and, meet the faculty. The diligent and experienced teachers, were open to all kinds of queries and facilitated the class of 2016. Our Alumni and current A2 students were also present and they shared their success stories and made the newcomers acquainted with the campus life.
30th August 2014: ORIENTATION The Orientation Ceremony was held to provide an insight on the happening life at “GAL’’. The students of Grade XI & their parents were briefed by the Career Advisor about the strengths of GAL and guided them how GAL can help them to ensure a bright future. Words of wisdom were shared by some faculty members as well. It was an extremely memorable event!
GAL WORLD Fly high! As always GAL had a brilliant result, six students achieved 5 As in their CIE including Asad Ahmed, Kanza Abid, Asra Tus saleh, Kassam Shamoon Qureshi, Syed Muhammad Haaris and Wajiha Shah. Thirteen Galians scored 4 As, fourteen got 3 As and ten 2 As.
17th August 2014: GRADUATION To commemorate the success of our students in the Cambridge International Examinations 2014, The Graduation Ceremony was held at Agha Khan University Auditorium. Dr. Noman Naqvi—Director of Liberal Core from Habib University was the chief guest.
23rd September 2014: REFERENDUM Selecting leaders is a crucial job of a nation, one right leader can make whole nation fly high, to inculcate the sense of this national duty in our students referendum were held, in which students selected their representatives by the simple rule of dividing the house. Ahsen Virani was selected as Head Boy, Nisma Iqbal—Head Girl, Abid Qadri—Deputy Head Boy and Shiza Tariq - Deputy Head Girl. Presidents of different societies were also selected. The Oath taking ceremony was held on 25th September 2014.
27th September 2014: TRAILBLAZER To celebrate the success of Beaconites in curricular and various extra curricular activities Annual of Beaconites Trailblazer in curricuceremony was organized by the GAL at Agha Khan University auditorium. lar and Mrs. Tammy variousHaq extra was the chief guest. The achievers were given medallions and certificates. curricular activities Annual Trailblazer ceremony was organized by GAL at Agha Khan University Auditorium. Mrs. Tammy Haq was the chief guest. The achievers were given medallions and certificates.
15th October 2014: GLOBAL DIGNITY DAY As a collective reminder of the universal right to be respected and to treat everyone else with that respect, particularly those who work for us, Global Dignity Day celebrated is celebrated across across BSSBSS in in thethe month month of of OctoOcber tober annually. annually.On Onthis thisoccasion occasion support support staff was asked to give trophies to the winner and the team of TCF Obhartay Sitaray Singing Competition.
2nd October 2014: 2nd October 2014: SO DIN CHOR KAY SO DIN CHOR KAY A TRIP TO NAPA A TRIP TO NAPA To increase cultural awareness and the importance of theatre as a serious form of art the –importance GAL took of over theatre a 100asstudents a seri- to watch play “So Din Chor Kay” at NAPA. ous form of art – GAL took 100 plus students to watch the play “So Din Chor Kay” at NAPA. 2
BEACONHOUSE Newsletter 16th October 2014: PSYCHOLOGY STUDENTS @ DARRULSUKUN
To have a closer look at human behaviour and empathize with the less fortunate, students of Psychology visited Dar Ul Sukun; escorted by their subject teacher and career adviser. The students met with the residents and spent some quality time with them.
Aug – Dec 2014
GAL WORLD SOCIETIES IN ACTION
23rd October 2014: WELCOME PARTY The endow a chance to the freshman students to mingle up with their sophomores, the Event Management Society organized a welcome party for the new batch. The student council welcomed the new-comers warmheartedly. The evening was studded with a fashion walk, dance performances and concert and provided an excellent opportunity to socialize. Students enjoyed every moment. The media society actively covered the party. 7th November 2014: PARENTS TEACHERS MEETING To make parents aware of the performance of their child, we had a PTM that was very effective to guide parents about the future prospects of their child.
21st November 2014: URDU LITERARY FESTIVAL Beaconhouse as its tradition of marking new milestones orchestrated Urdu Literary Festival entitled as “ ”ہمارے ادیب ہمارے ہیرو. The event was organized to discuss the challenges faced by the Urdu language as well as the younger generation’s lack of interest in it. The purpose of the event was to broaden students’ reading interests, introduce Urdu writers and poets. Pakistani literature celebrities Fahmida Riaz, Zehra Nigha, Attiya Dawood (Sindhi poetess) and Wajid Jawad (critic of Faiz and Ghalib) were invited as panelist to answer the queries of the audience that why our local authors are no longer our heroes, as they were in the past? The Zambeel Dramatic Readings also performed at the event elocuted “Ghoongat” beautifully. Later, two students Shehreyar Ahmed and Maryam Ali sang ghazals and performed piano recitals. 28th November 2014: OUR WRITERS OUR HEROES ENGLISH LITERARY FESTIVAL Mohammad Hanif (author of A Case of Exploding Mangoes), Shazaf Fatima Haider (writer of How it Happened), Mrs. Ahsanuddin (Literature teacher KGS) and Mr. Salman Qureshi shared stories of their lives and encouraged the audience to write, especially focusing on young adult fiction. It was a memorable session which motivated our students to get into habit of writing and even offered inspiration on how to be a promising story-teller. 17th December 2014: FATIHA FOR MARTYRS OF PESHAWAR INCIDENDENCE As the whole nation was mourning for the martyrs of Peshawar incidence, GAL offered Fatiha to ask Allah for peace and mercy for the martyrs and their families in the morning assembly.
1st –19th December 2014: MID YEAR EXAMINATIONS MOY Examinations commenced on 1st of December and ended on 19th. It gave students a chance to work on their strategies to improve their performance before the CIE exams.
BRILLIANT GALLIANS We are proud of our student Tooba Khalid (A2—B) for securing 1st Place in Google at NUST’s Photography contest entitled, “Googley Independence Day”. The winner’s artistic brilliance has brought many accolades to her name in the past as well. Shahzad Khan who has recently joined our campus to complete his second year of A Level topped in Applied Information and Communication Technology in China in May—June 2014 session. Kudos to the prodigy! 3
BEACONHOUSE Newsletter
Aug – Dec 2014
2014: GYM AND YOGA CLASSES Amit Ray says in his book Yoga and Vipassana: An Integrated Life Style, “Exercises are like prose, whereas yoga is the poetry of movements. Once you understand the grammar of yoga; you can write your poetry of movements.” so to bless our students with a healthy way of living, GAL has started Gym and Yoga Classes. 17th October 2014: JAPANESE DOCMENTARY To introduce students with the Japanese culture and way of living, the President of Japanese Cultural society, Affan Nemat (AS- F) shown a Japanese cultural documentary film “Secrets of The Samurai Sword”.
23rd October 2014: GAL VS NAL FRIENDLY CRICKET MATCH
SOCIETIES IN ACTION 11th October 2014: TCF OBHARTAY SITARAY The Citizen Foundation annually organizes Obhartay Sitaray Singing Competition to raise funds for educating the underprivileged children. This year our star singer Sheheryar Ahmed (AS-C) won Voice Final (Ghazals) of TCF Obhartay Sitaray Singing Competition held at the Marriot. Sheheryar sang the famous ghazal "گلوں " میں رنگ بھرےby Mehdi Hassan and highly extolled by the judges and audience. Our two other team members who qualified for the final, Saqeb Zafar (Milli / Folk Category) and Hasnain Khan (Pop / Filmi), also sang very well. Hadeeq Shahid (AS-C) was the Star Fundraiser of GAL.
A friendly cricket match was organized between North Nazimabad A Level and Gulshan A Level. The match was a tie but GAL Team won the match on the basis of run rate. Taha Zafar (AS –A) was the man of the match.
26th October 2014: FUTSAL GAL Futsal Tournament for the academic year 2014-15, organized by the society head Ahzam Sannan, commenced on 26th October and emerged as the most popular event, spanning over 10 days. The campus was abuzz with enthusiastic energy and eclectic spectators showed their support for their favorite teams. The final match was played on 6th of November between Majjay Majjay FC and GAL All Stars and the former was the winning team- captained by Khizar Abbas. It was consisted of Ahzam Sannan, Saad Aslam, Abdul Ahad and Azam Ameer. 28th October 2014: AUDITIONS FOR MUSIC CLASSES Music is known as food for the soul, Gal has arranged music classes, in which not only singing but instrument playing will also be taught. To begin this journey Sheheryar Ahmed (AS-C) President of Music Society organized an audition session.
27th - 28th October 2014: URDU / ENGLISH ESSAY WRITING COMPETITION It is rightfully said that, “Fiction is necessity and Literature is luxury”. Indubitably writing has sculpted civilizations and lubricated the intellectual mechanics of human society. With that in Mind, Urdu and English Essay Writing Competitions were held on 27th and 28th November respectively. More than 30 students participated and some very fine pieces were created by our students that moved hearts. Tooba Khalid Khan (A2— B), Aliya Imam Rizvi (AS-E) and Sunila Aftab (A2-A) were the winners. 4
BEACONHOUSE Newsletter
Aug – Dec 2014
SOCIETIES IN ACTION
29th October 2014: AUDITIONS FOR DRAMA
30th October 2014: CO-PRESIDENTS OF DEBATE SOCIE-
Syeda Rida Rizvi (A2—B) president of Drama Society and Haisum Raza (AS—F) Deputy President Drama Society arranged auditions for the upcoming Drama “Black Widow”.
TY IN ELOCUTION COMPETITION AT GP VI Our Co-presidents of Debate Society Nisma Iqbal (A2-C) and Shayan Manzar (A2—D) were invited as judges in Elocution Competition at Gulshan Primary VI.
30th October 2014: SCRABBLE COMPETITION Scrabble is very effective in polishing language skills. Copresident of Sports Society M. Salman Abbasi (A2—A) organized a captivating Scrabble Competition that was completed in three rounds. Hareem Akram (As-B) and Zaufeshan Nadeem (A2– B) were the finalist. Hareem Akram won by scoring 200 points.
10th November 2014: GAL LIFE PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION Art is the universal form of expression. From the aesthetic streaks of paint on the canvass to realistic photography, human thoughts dwell in numerous cubicles of creativity. A Photography competition “GAL life” was organized by Media society Head Usman Hikmat, provided students a chance to prove their shutterbug mettle. The competition was judged by our alumnus, Owais Ahmed. Asad Shah (AS - C) was announced as the best photographer.
13th November 2014: SCIENCE EXPO
Naima Riaz, President of the Science society, organized ‘Science Exposed 2014’ on 13th November. The event witnessed amazing projects and students exerted much effort to lucidly demonstrate the complexities of various phenomenon inhabiting the framework of our daily lives.
18th November 2014: ART BEAT Art is one of the best way to express oneself. Our Students participate in ‘Go Green’ Art Competition, organized by the Little Art Organization.
7th -8th November 2014:
PAF DEBATE Debates always give you to view things from another prospect so as a part of developing rethinking skills, our students Hasan Zaidi, Isra Ahmad, Batool Dad and Salman Abbasi participated in PAF Parliamentary Debate. They won 2 out of 5 rounds.
11th November 2014: CHESS COMPETITION According to Lawrence Day Chess is meritocracy so to polish thinking and challenge taking skills, a competition of this high cerebral game was organized by Copresident of Sports Society M. Salman Abbasi (A2-A).
15th November 2014: SCIENCE EXPO @ GC Winning team of GAL Science Exposed participated in Gulshan Cambridge science exposed. Dr. Attaur Rehman was the Chief Guest.
20th November 2014: CHILDREN’S DAY @ DARRULSUKUN Students of Community Service Society, headed by Isra, ran a collection campaign for under-privileged children. A ‘Minion Box’ was placed and students showed utmost sense of community welfare and compassion, collecting items hoping to bring smiles on the faces of the needy. 5
BEACONHOUSE Newsletter
Aug – Dec 2014
SOCIETIES IN ACTION
21st November 2014: GAL MATHS LEAGUE “GAL Maths League 2014”, an event organized by the society heads Areej Iqbal and Ali Qazi, was held in the last week of November. Mind boggling questions and whizzy problems challenged students to exercise their mathematics genius throughout three demanding rounds. Final was held on 27th November. Abeera Tariq (AS ) was the winner.
THE ACCESS CENTRE 10th September 2014: WWF SESSION
22nd September 2014: DYNAMIC SPEAKER FARAZ KHAN The famous social entrepreneur Faraz Khan conducted a very interesting and exuberant interactive session about how to choose a career, to the students of Gulshan A Level , PECHS and North Nazimabad.
To inculcate not only a sense of environmental but civic responsibility as well in students, representatives of WWF demonstrated the importance of WWF Eco Internship to create awareness about the eco dynamics and challenges of the ecosystem.
22nd September 2014: DYNAMIC SPEAKER KHOALA JAMIL
27th September 2014: HABIB UNIVERSITY FILM FESTIVAL
As part of Compassionate Karachi – Khaola Jamil really bucked up the students and motivated them to give something back to the community and society.
The Literature class was invited by Habib University to attend ‘The European Film Festival’ which was held in collaboration with the German Consulate General in Karachi and the Goethe-Institute Pakistan. The students watched “Good bye Lenin”, a touching story of the struggle of a son to keep the news of the collapse of East Germany from her fragile mother who had recently come out of a long coma.
29th September 2014: ICAP PRESENTION
20th October 2014: USFEP COLLEGE FAIR
Chartered Accountancy is a popular choice for many commerce students. Keeping the demand for CA in mind a session with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan was arranged by the Career Advisor— Fahim Zuberi.
United States Educational Foundation Pakistan (USEFP) hosted a College Fair at BSS Defence Campus |auditorium where different College and University representatives explained their admission and scholarship policies.
15th October 2014: USFEP PRESENTION The representatives from the U.S. Educational Foundation in Pakistan advised pupils on studying in the U.S., at a special session organized at GAL.
15th October 2014: CAMS PRESENTION Representatives of College of Accounts and Managements Science gave a very informative session at our Access Center Conference Room. 6
BEACONHOUSE Newsletter
THE ACCESS CENTRE
Aug – Dec 2014
6th November 2014: ICAP SESSION
21st October 2014: TRIP TO FAST UNIVSERSITY FAST has always been synonymous to high quality education particularly in Computer programming. Access Center arranged an excursion to FAST where students saw first hand the University life, a tour of their Campus was also arranged.
In this session representatives of ICAP clarified their new admission and scholarship policies.
22nd October 2014: DYNAMIC SPEAKER DR. FRAMJI MINWALA Dr. Framji Minwala (Chairperson Social Sciences Department IBA Karachi) motivated the students and had a general discussion on ethics as well as the importance of social sciences in modern times.
13th November 2014: LUMS SEMINAR @ DEFENCE CAMPUS Lahore University of Management Science is one of the top business school in Pakistan. The Access Center made special arrangement for their representatives and deans to come and give a session exclusively to the students of BSS.
24th November 2014: HABIB UNIVERSITY PRESENTION Representatives Habib University held a detailed session about the Liberal Arts and Engineering program Habib University is offering along with their admission route.
12th November 2014: SCHON AIR As some of the students are aiming to pursue their career in flying our CA took them to KK Aviations (formerly Shon Air) to satisfy their queries about flying schools.
17th November 2014: HEARTFORDSHIRE UNIVERSITY PRESENTION Representatives of Heartfordshire University explained their admission policies and scholarships and offered special scholarship to BSS students.
10th November 2014: CIMA PRESENTION CIMA in their session informed students the route to acquire a CIMA degree and answered the mind boggling questions of students. 7
BEACONHOUSE Newsletter
September 2014: TRIALS FOR CRICKET / FOOTBALL TEAM Trial for selecting school cricket and football teams trials were held in the month of September. Cricket Trials were held on 6th September at Custom Cricket Academy and the Football Trials were held on 13th Sep at NED Football ground.
22nd November 2014: THE FUTSAL TOURNAMENT GAL FUTSAL Team participated in The FUTSAL Tournament . GAL played final against GSA Horse Star. GAL Team made us proud once again by winning the final.
GAL SPORTS
Aug – Dec 2014
17th November 2014: INTRA-REGION CRICKET TOURNAMENT Intra-Region Cricket Tournament was held on 17th—19th November . Final was played between GAL and PECHS A Level. GAL was runner up. Asad Shah (AS—D) was declared as the best bowler of the tournament.
25th—26th November 2014: INTER REGIONAL CRICKET TOURNAMENT Inter Regional Cricket tournament for O Level was held on 25—26th November. Our Sports In charge Mr. Masood Ali Siddiqui was invited as the member of Technical Committee. As team of Southern R egion qualified in the final, GAL students were taken to the Moin Khan Academy to support the team.
GAL SECURITY 22nd September 2014: FIRE EXTINGUISHING As an integral part of safety training fire extinguishing methods were demonstrated by our Security Supervisor Mr. Liaqat Ali. All students and staff took part very Enthusiastically.
LOCK DOWN AND EVACUATION DRILL 2014
A special training program remained the highlight of the campus, amongst the various activities, were included the rigorous lectures on school evacuation (held twice 25th August & 22nd October) and lock down (held on 12th November). The program also included the inauguration of the newly constructed ‘Emergency Exit’ at the campus. 8