KS3 News

WELCOME BACK! We hope you had an enjoyable Summer! The KS3 pupils have had an excellent start to the new academic year with a settled transition into their new classes. A huge welcome to all our Year 7 pupils who have also had a fantastic start of the year in secondary and are super excited as they move from class to class for their lessons. We are all looking forward to sharing our achievements with you throughout the course of this term and the academic year as a whole.

I have interacted with the students this week and have been watching them move excitedly, elated to see their friends once again. I have also spotted students reading in the morning and doing assignments in the library… ”This is motivational,” I thought. We have no time to waste. We are ready to grab the term by the horns. At that moment I remembered Ikigai…I only learned about this term recently, myself, thanks to an inspirational assembly done by the Y11 class of 2021/2022. Ikigai is a Japanese concept that comes from Okinawa. It refers to something that gives someone a sense of purpose or the reason for being, for living. It could be family, a career, a hobby, etcetera. Our students are in the age bracket where they are trying to forge their identities. They are in a self-discovery phase and it is important they discover their ikigai.

We have the provision for that journey at BMIS. We have a broad curriculum and numerous activities as well as weekly PSHE lessons to develop essential skills to support the students as they develop. The topics change every half term. This half term the Year 7 class will focus on transition and safety, the Year 8s drugs and alcohol and the Year 9s substance use, peer pressure and gangs. In these lessons students are free to participate fully and air their opinions on these topics; ground rules in PSHE lessons include do not judge others, keep the conversation in the room and make no assumptions. Sometimes these lessons turn into debate sessions. A court. The pupils are supported to understand how to keep their minds healthy and occupied with useful content. We also expose students to leadership positions like the student council representatives and class prefects. The procedures for acquiring these positions are through elections for student council reps and application procedures for prefects and the exercise is ongoing. These equip them with important life skills as well.

I believe amidst classroom learning and all these activities, students discover their ikigai. It is never too late for anyone to do that as well…the sooner you start thinking about it or questioning your sense of purpose the better. Wishing everyone a ‘fun-tastic’ term.

Okinawa is a Japanese island south of the mainland.

R. Simon

KS3 Coordinator