John Maguire, Executive Headmaster at the British School of Bahrain shares the importance of giving back, developing compassion and humility within the school, and how they strive for a positive impact globally through charitable projects.
A school truly at the heart of a community is one that gives back. No longer can private schools sit as ‘islands’ detached from their local surroundings. Outstanding schools should be an integral part of the community and use their position to improve the lives of those around them while nurturing within all of their students the importance of community spirit, philanthropy, and charity.
The British School of Bahrain (BSB) was founded over 26 years ago and has grown tremendously since. The school’s early beginnings relied on the local community, and the school has continued to nurture its position within Bahrain and the global community ever since. At the heart of the school’s educational provision are its character-forming values, of which Community is one of the core values. These values underpin BSB’s ongoing development as one of the leading schools in the Gulf region.
Community-based initiatives are aplenty within the school, including environmental and society-based projects. The monthly Big Beach Clean is a popular and worthwhile initiative. An innovative partnership with Bahrain Precast Concrete has seen the school take this even further by recycling all of the collected plastic from Bahrain beaches into outdoor furniture. Many of the school’s social projects are expertly led by the students themselves, and the school has a thriving collection of committees that all aim to do good in their local community. Through these events and programmes, all students within the school develop compassion and humility. A recent migrant workers charity appeal collected over 750 shoeboxes filled with essential items for local migrant workers. These were distributed by senior students within migrant camps and were greatly appreciated.
BSB has over 90 different nationalities within the school and, therefore, can boast the most diverse student roll in Bahrain. In fitting with this international nature, the school also strives to make a positive impact globally through charitable projects such as its business programmes designed for rural Nepalese farmers as part of the Race4Good initiative.
The positive impact the students have had on their local communities has been recognised by several institutions, including three students recently receiving prestigious COBIS awards for their work in their communities.
It is a delight to see that The British School of Bahrain, which was founded with its roots in Bahrain, is now growing with the global community.
