At BJAB, we have two formal Open Days, one in October and one in March, where parents can receive a tailored presentation and tour covering ages 3-9 in the morning at our Lower School and ages 10-18 at our Upper School site.
Open Day is a great chance to get an overview of what makes a school tick and in our case the fundamental ingredients so crucial to our BJAB ‘DNA’ – a personalized, bespoke education, with high academic standards and plentiful opportunities for ‘character education’.
Additionally, we offer focused tours at other times too – we pride ourselves on the care and attention we devote to these tours and discussions. Our enquiry form enables us to tailor a visit to the needs of an individual family and pupil, ensuring that visitors leave well-informed and with food for thought, having received an authentic representation of day-to-day life at BJAB.
Common to both types of tour is our emphasis on student engagement; at Lower School our Year Three and Four pupils take great pride in showing off the school, from the newly-resourced library, to the ‘Sunshine Gym’ and Modern Languages classrooms. They relish talking to visitors and are proud to talk about their school; naturally, this is beneficial for their burgeoning presentation skills, already well-practised owing to regular assemblies and musical performances. In this way they develop empathy, listening skills and an ability to relate to people, which will prove of great value to them later in their lives.
At Upper School tour guides are selected from the current year group of the prospective student concerned. In this way, parents can judge the comparative level and what their child can expect when they start. The guides themselves are able to bring to the fore their well-honed skills from their Oracy lessons. They give a clear picture of what daily life is like at BJAB, including our broad and balanced curriculum, pastoral care and wide range of daily extra-curricular clubs, such as sport, film-making, musical theatre, lego, science and Dutch!
Belgian pupils have the opportunity to prepare for their CEB exams; non-native speakers are able to study for DELF exams, showcasing their language skills. Additionally, LAMDA exams can be taken to show prowess developed in Music and Dramatic Art.
Visitors are welcomed warmly by Sophie Ellis-Retter, our new Head of Admissions, bringing with her the experience of 14 years working in a boys’ boarding house and 27 years working in a variety of educational contexts in the maintained, independent and boarding school sectors in the UK. As an experienced teacher of both English and English as an Additional Language, she is very well placed to judge a child’s linguistic ability and what level of support may initially be required.
On individual visits there is a discussion with me as Headteacher, during which parents can ask questions about the school, the future development of BJAB or other subjects pertaining to the education of their children. In addition, we outline the BJAB system of pastoral care, provided by our class teachers and tutors. Contact is maintained following this, as we all know that frequently we may well forget that key question in the ‘heat of the moment’.
Many pupils and students take advantage of a taster morning or afternoon, in order to cement the decision; this also serves as excellent early preparation for the transition to a new school. Of course this is not always possible, but it is key that the Headteacher meets every child before they start. Standardized testing – typically in verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning and Mathematics – helps enormously when it comes to ensuring that the child is placed in the right class.
With a class size from Reception to Year Six of maximum 16 and in secondary of 18, each child benefits from a small ‘teacher:pupil’ ratio and the concomitant opportunity for teaching and learning tailored to the individual. Teachers carefully monitor assessment data, class and homework to ensure progress.
At BJAB we are delighted with the academic and personal outcomes shown by our children. We are proud of all that the school has achieved since 1992, with data showing that we regularly outperform students at UK schools. We are very excited at the prospect of our first Cambridge IGCSE results in the summer, following two years of Cambridge Checkpoint Tests where our students gained results comparable with some of the best schools in the world.
We have submitted our application for authorization to offer the IB Diploma to Year 12 in September. We see as the natural progression from the academic rigour of the English National Curriculum, Cambridge Checkpoint and Cambridge IGCSE. In addition, we are a highly committed member of Round Square, which is popular from Year One right up to Upper Secondary. From Year Nine we offer the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme at Bronze, Silver and Gold levels and are developing a reputation for sport and music. In September we launch our Academic Lecture Programme aimed at Sixth Formers, when speakers from our staff body are going to talk on subjects such as ‘Masculinity in Crisis: from #Me Too to the Manosphere’ and ‘Presentations of Race in American Literature’, as well as outside speakers set to talk on ‘The Impact of AI’ and on Belgian and European politics.
Conveniently located near the European Quarter, our aim is to be the best small school in Brussels. We have limited availability in a number of year groups for the coming year, so if this article has whetted your appetite, please do not delay in getting in touch. We look forward to welcoming you to both our sites on one of our forthcoming Open Days or for a bespoke, individualized visit. These are exciting times at BJAB – do come and see what our parents are talking about!
Discover more about the Open Days at BJAB here.
