BOMBAY INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL |About BIS

BOMBAY INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

Bombay International School was established in 1962 by a group of parents who believed that education is a true learning process and not a structured way of imparting information. The key to learning was and is a small class size and a very high teacher – student ratio of 1 teacher to 15 students. We continue to believe in child – centered education in which we see the school as a medium through which the individual child can learn and develop; the school is for the benefit of the children and not vice versa.

There is a unique partnership at BIS in which parents are proactive and extremely involved in the functioning of the school. The parents work through committees in which they are an invaluable resource supporting the school in many of its non-academic aspects.

The teachers use imaginative teaching methods of a high standard in their instruction. The potential of an individual child is developed to his or her fullest capability. In the junior school, learning is unstructured and the children experience learning through projects and field visits, as well as worksheets. There is very little homework and no pressure to perform or succumb to external parameters. Each individual child is encouraged to learn at his or her own pace and compete with the self. Our objective is to have an atmosphere in which the teaching – learning process creates a desire in children to learn and perform according to their own potential.

Learning explores dimensions beyond the text book and there is an exposure to a wide range of activities from music, art, drama, elocution, debate, general knowledge quizzes, yoga, swimming and sports including team games and athletics. Participation in activities and performing to one’s best ability is more important than winning. Each week there are three Assemblies: Tuesday is for the Whole School, Thursdays for Middle and Senior School and Fridays is for the Junior School. These enable the children to develop confidence, as they express themselves before a supportive audience.

One of the most vibrant venues in our school is the library, which has an open shelf system. Children are encouraged to borrow books and develop a genuine love for reading and learning from books. The library has a wide range of activities which encourage a love for books and expose the child to worlds within worlds.

Since we do not believe in competition, there are no exams in Junior School (Standards I – IV). The child's progress is recorded through worksheets and projects. In the middle school (Standards V – VII), the children are expected to work consistently throughout the year. There are review tests at regular intervals which add up to a letter grade. These classes have only one Annual Examination. Standards VIII and IX follow the Cambridge IGCSE Curriculum, which is challenging and application oriented. There is great joy in learning through experiential methods. Std. X will appear for the ICSE Exam. We support the classes for the preparation of exams by shifting our own approach to the teaching – learning process. However, even at this stage we do not compromise on the other aspects of education and the wide range of activities continues.

The school is committed to exposing children to forums outside the immediate environment, be it inter-school games, competitions, creative writing and educational trips. We attend these in the true spirit of participation, and not for winning ONLY. Exposure to the outside world starts at the pre-primary level through field trips, which continue all through Junior School. For the Middle and Secondary School students, there is at least one annual educational trip which is compulsory and enables the students to bond together as a class. This then prepares them to participate in international forums with great ease.

We have unique partnerships with international forums. We have been awarded the International school Award through British Council. Our students are selected for the Seeds of Peace Camp in Maine, USA where they interact with Pakistani students in a camp environment. They are invited to a Youth camp in Singapore each year. Summer before High School many students attend the Global Young Leaders’ Conference in Washington D.C. We are now part of a programme through Max Mueller Bhavan, Pasch, Schools of the Future which encourages the teaching of German and cultural exchanges with Germany. We have teachers from other parts of the world visit us. We are truly international in spirit and outlook.

BIS is a school created by a pioneering group of parents who dared to dream. The school was established with a unique vision and dynamic foresight. We uphold the ideas and continue the tradition in which each child can express him / herself in multiple ways. At the same time we have embraced the challenges of the present times and equip our children to face the changing world of today with confidence and ease.