SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2013
Teachers relax and have fun in the weekend to celebrate a day dedicated to them
PARENTS, STUDENTS AND TEACHERS CELEBRATE A VERY SPECIAL DAY IN THE ACADEMIC CALENDAR By Zaina and Aika (6B) Teachers are like guiding stars that show us the right direction and path. They play a huge role in building the foundation of our lives. So in order to appreciate our dear teachers, every year we celebrate “Teachers Day”.
Two big boats - filled with teachers from all the Islanders Group schools reached the beautiful isles of Maadhoo Finolhu in the morning. Teachers explored the island and then sat down to a traditional breakfast, after which the games began. Teams had a wonderful time participating in the games. A tasty Lunch and entertainment by the teachers was followed by most of the staff going for a dip into the beautiful sea. Evening tea was followed by the teachers return to Male’. All the photographs will say more than a thousand words as to the amount of fun that the teachers had on that day.
This year in Billabong High International School, the students, together with the parents and management, celebrated Teachers Day 2013. We celebrated it on the 8th of October. The students received Teachers at the gate; they walked along a red carpet like celebrities as they were given sashes which read “Best Teacher 2013”. Afterwards, we had a shared breakfast at the canteen along with our dear Teachers. And after breakfast it was time for us to comment on our teachers. All teachers had their own
comments board with their name on it. After commenting on our teachers, we left to the hall for our special Teachers Day assembly. The assembly was organised by the students’ council and the hosts were Shadfa and Imaan. Peter performed at the start with his wonderful piano solo. And of course the Impact Crew—the most famous dancing group of Billabong secondary—performed along with our Italian teacher, Ms. Maria. It was a lovely performance. We must also not forget our awesome choir and the video created by the grade 9 students. One of our favourite items was the awards ceremony organised by the students’ council, and the awards were given away by our School captains, Zuha and Mizaan. We loved some of the awards given since it really matched our dear teachers. Here are a few of the awards:
Princess Teacher – Ms. Hawwa Best Smile – Ms. Fortune Coolest Teacher – Mr. Johnson Celebrity Teacher – Mr. Najeeb Chic Fashions’ award – Mr. Misbah Most Greenest award – Mr. Odon Best Voice – Ms. Shimla Afterwards, our Principal sang a Hindi song (which was awesome). Overall, the teachers day celebration was a huge success and all the students hope that they made their beloved teachers feel special on that day.
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TEACHERS DAY 2013 By Aini Musthaq (4B) The first event was the parents’ drama. They performed a story about Foolhudhigu Handi’s birthday party and his lost foolhu.
The second event was the teachers’ drama. Their drama was based on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Miss. Maria played Snow White and Miss. Aisha was The Evil Queen.
The third event was the parents’ news show. Their news was about Mr. Matthew disappearing into the curtains, only to become GODZILLA! The fourth event was the teachers’ news show. Their news was about Tom Sir crying over spilt milk, and Miss. Fazla winning a medal for swimming to Sri Lanka and back.
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Welcome to the Student Gallery!
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Grade 4 were assigned the task of writing thank you notes for people who are important in their lives. Many students wrote thank you notes to the workers of Billabong High. These individuals work tirelessly to ensure the School is clean, teaching materials are ready, and the hall is prepared for the many events which take place throughout the year. Grade 4 would like to thank you for your hard work and dedication.
“The best teacher is the one who suggests rather than dogmatizes, and inspires his listener with the wish to teach himself.” - Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Azan (4A) created this wonderfully surreal picture as part of his art project. I’m sure if Salvador Dali could see this, he would be most impressed.
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Student Gallery! A Day Out
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Random facts
By Looth (1C) The sky was blue When we went to the zoo. It was a sunny day When we went out to play. We ate a chicken bun
There is no such thing as a Zebra. They are just horses that have escaped from prison.
And we had so much fun. Then the rain came And we had to stop the game. Then the rain went away And it was a sunny day.
When Ms. Eda was a child, she believed the people she was watching on television could see her too.
Silly Hat Day! By Thaima 1C In English Literature, we are reading ‘The Cat in the Hat.’ The Cat in the Hat was a silly cat very different than normal cats. Today we created our very own cat masks. My mask has spots on it and is just as silly as the Cat in the Hat.
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Student Gallery! Dr. Seuss was a wonderful author full of silly fun! Our grade 1's followed in Dr. Seuss’s fun theme by celebrating with a Silly Hat Day! In conjunction with the literature book, The Cat in the Hat, Grade 1 students made their very own silly hats and came to school with their own creations. Grade 1 shared their hats with their classmates and elaborated on how they made them. It was a joyful day with lots of silly fun!
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Student Gallery!
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Grade 1’s Adjective Booklets Grade 1 has been learning about adjectives and the importance of describing words and how they make the world a colourful place. These are some examples of Grade 1’s wonderful and colourful adjectives.
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Student Gallery!
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Student Gallery
Whilst reading James and the Giant Peach, Grade 3 students were encouraged to find some interesting facts about sharks. The learners gathered plenty of information on the misunderstood creatures. Did you know over 100 million sharks are killed by humans each year! Sharks have actually been around for hundreds of millions of years, and are even older than the dinosaurs! Please continue reading and discover more interesting facts about these beautiful animals.
The Whale Shark is the world’s largest fish, growing to over 12.65 meters (40 ft) in length!
Great white sharks off the coast of Seal Island, Africa are known to jump 10 feet (3 meters) in the air to catch unsuspecting seals.
Despite having a fearsome reputation, sharks are not as dangerous as many believe. In fact, you are more likely to get killed by a donkey than a shark.
The Bravest Knight By Rohan (3C) Behind the highest mountains; Inside the deepest woods; There was a tiny kingdom Ruled by a king so good. But behind the castle Lived the most furious dragon. Who will save the kingdom? Here comes the bravest knight Riding the fastest horse, Wearing the shiniest armour As he goes to fight! Here comes the scary beast, Breathing the hottest of fires But the knight picks up his sharpest sword And cuts the dragon’s throat! All the people in the kingdom Cheer and shout with joy, “Long live our bravest knight, Who is not afraid of a fight!”
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SECONDARY STUDENTS DISPLAY TREMENDOUS TALENT By Raba and Suma (6B) Wow! BHIS has got talent! The talent of our friends was awesome. Everyone loved the talent show. The best performance was “What is a Fairytale”. But in our opinion, the best was our dance, which was an Indian and Arabic mix dance. The best part was having our own class teacher, Miss. Fortune, helping us to make and practise our own dance steps. We had loads of fun with her. Our group name was “DANCE AND BEATS”, and we were awesome.
pact Crew” made a huge difference to the show. They added colour to the entire show. All the performances were really good and we loved each and every act. A special thanks to all our dear teachers for their support, and for organising the event.
Everyone had a great time. Also, we must mention that “The Im-
We look forward for an awesome and great talent show next year.
Grade 5 step into the big world of business as they open up their shops in the School hall
Students take a dive into the water… factory By Aishath Lumaak Naseem (5A)
By Aishath Lumaak Naseem (5A) Our shop’s name was Shopakabunga. We brought a lot of things to sell, including cakes, sweets and crisps. Our shop items sold really well, especially the ice-cream. By the end of the day, we had acquired a lot of money. We counted our money carefully and gained a profit. We had to keep track of our cost and the selling price of different items. Everyone knew exactly how much money we spent. This made things easier when it came to calculating our profit. We realised in the end that what matters wasn’t getting a good profit or a bad loss. What mattered is that we enjoyed and experienced what it is like to open a shop and to run a business.
We visited the Handy Water factory in Hulhumale’. We learned how water was desalinated and how the bottles were made. In the factory itself were hundreds, maybe even thousands of bottles. After we had visited the factory, the parents treated us with a barbeque. We had lots of food and ate marshmallows roasted on the fire. We enjoyed playing football, climbing the sandy mountain (I got to the top) and skipping around the playground. We had a great time learning about the way water was processed. All of Grade 5 would like to say a huge thank you to the Handy Water company for letting us visit the factory, and for the wonderfully informative tour.
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Billabong High takes on Table Tennis For the first time, BHIS participated in the Inter School Table Tennis Tournament. Our students have only practised with our coach, Mueena, for 4 months - obviously not enough time to create champions. However, our players did a good job. Our U9 boys team won the silver medal in the team event. The U13 Boys beat Iskandhar School in the quarter finals, but lost in the semi finals against Jamaaluddin School. Chaand (4A) managed to reach the semi finals in the U9 individual tournament. The table tennis tournament was the last tournament under Csaba Sir’s guidance. We would like to thank Csaba for his excellent work and wish him luck with his new initiative: the KY Youth Sports Academy.
THANK YOU! This is the last issue of the Focus Newsletter for 2013. However, before we sign off, we would just like to say a huge thank you to all the students, teachers and parents who have contributed throughout the year. We are so proud of the positive response from the students. Many have worked hard to provide articles for the newsletter, and have done so within the deadlines we set. It has been an absolute pleasure to display your skills and abilities to the rest of the world.
Editor-in-Chief
Secondary Editors
Primary Editors
Mr. Matthew
Ms. Fortune, Ms.
Ms. Mariyam,
Sophia, Ms. Sharon, Ms. Ashleigh
Ms. Carol
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If you would like to provide any feedback, please contact Mr. Dinesh Bakshi at principal@billabonghigh.mv
The Final Random fact!
Mr. Matthew loves films, and when he was young he used to watch a lot of old black and white movies. When watching these films, Mr. Matthew believed the world used to be without colour, and once even asked his dad when the world stopped being black and white.
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” - Mahatma Gandhi