The student voice

Billabong High EPS International School Newsletter, Volume 1, Jan/Feb 2014 Page 1

The Student Voice Billabong High EPS International School Secondary Newsletter, Volume 1, Jan/Feb 2014

BHIS School Captains

2014

Becoming School Captain is probably one of

the highlights of my school life. As a child, I

never even thought that one day I would

become a School Captain but here we are; I

am a Captain alongside Dhafy. I will try my

best to be the best School Captain I can be.

Sometimes it gets a little stressful and tough

but I know that I can handle it. Before I was

School Captain, I was the Peace House

Captain, so I would say that I have some

experience in leadership. All in all, I want

2014 to be the best year BHIS has seen yet!

Markin Marouf 12A

Hello everyone! Welcome to the year 2014!

Markin and I are very honoured to be your

Captains for the year. We’ve all started this

year fresh, with big goals to achieve and

dreams to hunt; as individuals, as a team and

as one big school community, and we hope

everyone continues working at a similar pace

for the rest of the year. Apart from working

hard in your academics I strongly urge

everyone to take more initiative in co-

curricular activities and to contribute to

giving school a pleasant atmosphere.

I also call upon the students to a) make the

school a bully free environment and b) make

the school greener. Thank you!

Dhafeena Hassan 12A

First of all, I will take this opportunity to WELCOME you all

to the new academic year for. It is my hope that this year will

take our school to the next level in its academics and other co-

curricular activities.

I am very happy that we started this year with a well organised

academic and events calendar, which was communicated to

parents during November 2013. This will help all of us;

students, teachers and parents, to be more prepared for all the

coming events well in advance.

At this point it is worth reminding everyone that all our

programs are designed to ensure that a well-rounded education

is provided at our school, so that our Billabong High family

will continue to widen its impact on the community and to

redefine education in the Maldives.

I am very grateful to my dedicated team of teachers for all their

support and initiatives to make our school a better place for

students to be. At the same time, it is also the cooperation

extended to us by our Student Council, all students and the

parents that makes us successful in all our programs! Thank

you all, I look forward to working with you all for an excellent

year ahead!

Ibrahim Shaheeq - Vice Principal


On the 23rd

of January, we had our Student Council Elections. We held the investiture ceremony on the

26th of January. The ceremony was honoured by the presence of Dr. Abdulla Nazeer, Minister of State for

Education as the chief guest.

Student Council

School Captains

Boy: Markin Mauroof Ahmed

Girl: Dhafeena Hassan Ibrahim

Deputy School Captains

Boy: Daniel Shakeer Griffith

Girl: Aishath Lamha Imthiyaz

Sports Captains

Boy: Mohamed Ahnaf Ibrahim

Girl: Mariyam Afsha Mohamed Jameel

Freedom House

Captain: Zuha Abdulla Zubair Ahmed

Vice-Captain: Mohamed Khalis Abdul Khaleel

Equality House

Captain: Ali Edhan Jaleel

Vice-Captain: Fathmath Zuhura Ismail

Peace House

Captain: Mariyam Hanani Aslam

Vice-Captain: Yaeesh Naseem

Unity House

Captain: Aminath Shadhfa Isaam

Vice-Captain: Ahmed Saraau Saeed

Congratulations to the elected students. I am confident that you will fulfill your duties to the best of your

abilities, setting new benchmarks in leadership that are motivating and inspiring for the rest of the

students.

Miss Nalurath

Class Representatives 6A Mohamed Aik Neesham

6B Aishath Noorain Jiyad

6C Aik Abdulla Rifau

7A Ahmed Akif Maaz Shareef

7B Ahmed Shauban Ibrahim

8A Fathimath Lisa Shuhad

8B Humaam Ahmed Mujah

11A Mohamed Miz-aan Hussain

12A Sara Abdul Ghanee

Student Council Elections 2014


Founder’s Day

Fun Fair 2014

The Founder’s Day Fun Fair was one of

the greatest events our school has ever

organised. It had so many fun stalls that

were directed by our valiant students

and teachers. From 9:00am to 3:00pm

our groups were creating great stalls

featuring different games and awards.

Yaeesh (Grade 9), Shadhfa (Grade 10),

Mr. Odon and I, made an AWESOME

space themed stall, which was truly a

star among the crowd.

It was not only our stalls that made the

day special… The great talents shown

by the students also made our fair cool;

encouraging people nearby to flock to

the Artificial Beach to find the source of

the fun and noise. There was a great new

performance from the Impact Crew,

leaving the crowd cheering for more,

and some wonderful songs from the

Choir, backed up by the musically

talented Miz-aan (Grade 11), Ahnaf

(Grade 10) and Alwan (Grade 8).

It was hard work and tiring, but in the

end we left everyone who participated

with smiles.

Mohamed Khalis Abdul Khaleel

Grade 9

9th of February – the most awaited day of the Billabong

High International School year; as we all know that this

year it was the fifth Founder’s Day.

This year, we celebrated our Founder’s Day at the

weekend, on the 7th of February, with great pomp and

show. The event was held at the Artificial Beach from 4pm

to 10pm. Many stalls were put up; games stalls, food stalls

and event stalls such as the Haunted House, the History

Hotties stall, the art stall and many many more.

Some students celebrated Founder’s Day by showcasing

dances and performances; such as The Impact Crew, the

school choir, and the Kangaroo Kids dancers. During the

night, there was an outstanding live performance by a

Boduberu group (Habeys), which had everyone jumping

and dancing along.

All the parents and students had a great time with the

cheerful and helpful staff and management of Billabong

High. We all appreciated the excellent support from the

teachers and school management, which made all this

possible.

Raba Ismail Asif and Fathimath Eafa Rameez

Grade 7

Founder’s Day

Fun Fair 2014



Ms. Eda is the grade 6 English

teacher. She is from Turkey and she

is 24 years old. She studied English

Language and Literature in Turkey

and English Philology in Poland.

She chose English because of its

universality and because it was her

favourite subject at school. If she

hadn’t become a teacher, she

would’ve liked to be a journalist or

a writer. Her hobbies include

reading, watching movies and

snorkeling.

Ms. Azra is the new Mathematics teacher

for grades 6 and 9. She is from Sri Lanka and

has a Bachelor’s degree in Maths. She chose her

subject because she finds it to be fun, challenging

and interesting. Reading and cooking are among

her hobbies. She thinks she would have been a

counselor if she hadn’t got the chance to become

a teacher.

Ms. Shaahunaz

is from Male’ and she is 22

years old. She has a

Bachelor’s in Teaching

Secondary (Biology and

Chemistry) and currently

teaches Physics and

Chemistry to Grade 6,

Biology to Grade 7 and

Chemistry to Grade 8. She

says Biology was her

favourite subject at school

and when she started

college she was given a

chance to take Chemistry

along with Biology.

Among her hobbies are

reading and writing

stories, watching tv and

learning Japanese. Her

favourite thing about the

subjects she teaches is

doing experiments. If she

hadn’t become a teacher,

Ms. Shaahunaz would’ve

liked to be an author.

Profiles compiled by 6A & Miss Eda

New Teachers 2014

Mr. Khalid is from

India. He is thirty one years

old. He studied Chemistry in

Kunnar University in Kerala.

His hobbies are playing

cricket and reading. His

favourite part of Chemistry is

organic Chemistry. If he

wasn’t a teacher, he would be

a social activist.

Ms. Jalaja teaches ICT to 6th

graders. She is 28 years old and she

is from Kochin, India. She studied

M.Sc Electronics and M.Ed IT in

Mahatma Gandhi University. Her

hobbies include listening to music

and dancing. She likes hardware

and software topics the most about

ICT. She chose to teach ICT

because she used to get high scores

in it.

Ms. Nalurath is the new School Counselor. She is from Male’

and she is twenty four years old. She studied Psychology in HELP

University in Malaysia. She chose her subject in order to contribute to

the creation of a better society. Her hobbies are reading and playing

badminton. Her favourite subjects are Environmental Studies, Life

Skills and Cognitive Psychology. She says that if she hadn’t chosen

teaching, she would have been a human right’s worker.


Geography Educational Tour

to North INDIA (Explore the

Real World)

It has always been our pleasure to

provide our students with the best of education

in order to motivate and encourage them

towards their subject, and to explore the real

world.

This Geography educational tour

focuses on the Cambridge syllabus. By visiting

India students will experience the local culture,

historical background and geographical

features knowledge with an understanding of

flora & fauna, industrial system, different types

of weather etc.

A student not only bears the burden of

the school bag, but also the responsibilities

towards tomorrow, which are more weighing.

To face the challenges of the future, the

students must be well versed in their physical,

as well as, mental stamina. Geography is

dedicated to the creation of such an

environment under which:

Students learn how to develop their

leadership skills (team building, team

leadership etc).

Students learn the building the trust

for better approach.

Students can overcome their fear by

specially designed jungle trekking,

river crossing, rappelling and many

more.

Students learn survival techniques.

Apart from these skills students get the

face to face interactions with a natural scientist,

a wildlife specialist, an ecology specialist,

scholars and professors.

Mr. Suresh

Malaysia, Vietnam & Singapore

A group of thirty one students from grade 9 to

12, along with a parent representative and five staff

members, have planned to visit Malaysia, Singapore

and Vietnam from March 21 to 28, 2014, during the

mid-term holidays.

The theme of this trip is to: EDUCATE,

EXPOSE, EXPERIENCE & ENJOY. The students will

be visiting mega industries, world class business

centres, historical and heritage sites and higher

education providers. They will also be covering other

international organisations, theme parks and mega

shopping malls.

The group will split from Malaysia- one group

will go to Vietnam whilst the other group goes to

Singapore.

Group 1 will be visiting leading car

manufacturing and electronics manufacturing plants and

a farming industry in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia in

addition to visiting a university, IB International School

and Sentosa, Singapore. Interactive sessions with

entrepreneurs and scientists will be arranged.

Group 2 will visit many historical sites linked

to the war of the 1960s and 1970s. They will meet

veterans of that war and enter the famous Cu Chi

Tunnels. There will also be opportunities to visit

cultural sites harking back to the French colonial era

and to experience modern Vietnam by climbing the

Bitexco Tower.

The two groups together will then be doing a

tour of KL, visiting a leading university, and the

Maldives High Commission in Malaysia. One full day

will be spent at the Genting Highlands, which includes

a world class hotel.

The trip includes a city tour, sightseeing and

shopping in Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore.

Latest update: Tickets by Sri Lankan Air Lines have

been purchased and a three star hotel booking has been

made.

Mr. James, Miss Fortune & Mr. Johnson


This activity is organised for grade 9

business students to understand the concept of

“value added” in business. Students brought the ingredients, such as:

bread, cheese and canned tuna. They took the

guidance of Jailam, the proprietor of the school

canteen. Students took up different tasks, thereby

related to previous lesson-division of labour and

specialization. The sandwiches they prepared were

delicious. Some of them were healthier with the

brown bread.

They calculated the cost of ingredients,

excluding the cost of other services and priced the

sandwiches. The difference was the value added.

It was fun for them to learn a difficult

concept through real experience together. They

suggest for a similar activity and sell to make a

profit. “Well this is what basically business is.” said

one of them as they enjoyed the sandwiches they

made – Mr Johnson (HoD Business & Economics)

SANDWICH MAKING ACTIVITY FOR BUSINESS STUDENTS

GUEST LECTURE BY DR. MOHAMED

SHAFIU – NEPHROLOGIST

On 3rd

February, 2014, we invited a guest

lecturer Dr. Mohamed Shafiu from Texas,

USA. He is a Nephrologist. Grade 10, 11 and

12 students attended the lecture along with

Mr.Shaheeq, Vice-Principal and

Mr.Mehaboob, HoD Science.

He explained to the students how he became a

doctor and a professor. He briefed the students

with information on general health, immunity,

disease, kidney dialysis, kidney transplant and

urine analysis. All these topics are in the

curriculum of all the 3 grades.

Students asked questions on different topics

and Dr.Shafiu clarified them. Ms.Dhafeena,

school captain gave a vote of thanks.

Dr. Dharmesh R. Bhatti – Senior Consultant –

Gynaecology – ADK Hospital.

In a series of guest lectures, the second one was held on 18th

February, 2014. It was delivered by Dr. Dharmesh R. Bhatti,

Senior consultant, ADK hospital.

Grade 10, 11 and 12 students participated in this lecture,

along with Mr. Shaheeq, our Vice-Principal, Mr.Mehaboob –

HoD and Ms.Hana – Bio teacher.

Dr.Bhatti explained to the students why he wanted to be a

doctor and how he became a doctor. He asked the students

why they want to be doctors and why some of them do not

want to be doctors.

He explained male and female reproductive systems, gametes

production. He gave details regarding menstrual problems

and why some girls feel pain and others don’t. He also

explained about oral hygiene, the importance of reproductive

health, nutrition and child bearing age for females.

Finally during question hour, he clarified the doubts of few

students, mainly girls, and the session came to an end with

Ms. Dhafeena’s vote of thanks.

S.Mehaboob (HoD – Science)

Department of Science – Biology

Guest Lecturer Series


Assemblies

The 12th graders hosted the assembly on 16

th February, Sunday.

The theme for the assembly was Social Justice. As usual, we

started off with the recitation of the holy Qur’an and the school

song was sung. To give the audience a little preview of our

theme, we showed a little ‘stop motion’ video that seemed to

interest everyone. After explaining parts of the video that

confused people, we went ahead with the presentation. Since

Social justice was a broad topic, we mainly focused on racism,

gender, bullying and labour laws. Despite the long presentation

and video, we seemed to have the attention of the students

more than half of the time.

Sara 12A

Does smoking really kill us? The answer to this question was

clarified after a short presentation held in the school assembly

on January 26th. We had quite a whale of a time during this

presentation and it made us youngsters more aware about this

situation. The presentation mainly consisted of the dangers we

would face if we started smoking. It could even lead to death.

However, as was stated in the presentation, a smoker that stops

smoking before it becomes lethal has a chance of regaining

100% of their health. This was illustrated by a short video.

Overall, the presentation really helped us and surely we all will

avoid such dangers in life.

Rafaal 11A

Planning the grade 11 assembly was the best few days of the year

so far. Shavi, Miz-aan, Daniel and I dedicated a week’s worth of

hard work to making our presentation on the Maldives. With

Amana as a guest star, Rahil, Miz-aan, Aineez and Daniel starred

in a short video we filmed. During the weekend, I spent a few

hours interviewing tourists with a couple of friends and we got to

know what they thought about our country. Overall, I’m really

thankful to everyone that contributed to making this assembly,

and also to Fooz, who helped to prepare our PowerPoint

presentation.

Lubaba 11A


Letter to the Editor

This year started off with a drastic change in

timing for sports. We shifted from having it in

the late afternoon to sports in the early

morning.

The intentions for having sports at that time are

good and there are valid arguments for not

having it in the afternoon. However, last

Thursday, we had a session with Y exercise

from TFG and the instructors informed us that

about 4 hours after exercise, our body

temperature drops below the average

temperature, which in turn makes us sleepy.

This would seem true as half the students who

go to sports in the morning come back all

peppy, then half way through the day they look

like they could drop dead any minute.

“Many teens who sleep less than 8-9 hours suffer

from irritability, mood swings and depression.

Sleep deprivation with poor health and social

withdrawal."

Exercise is important but so is sleep. Most of

us don't get enough sleep at night as we prefer

to study at that time and however much we try

to sleep early and wake up early, it doesn't

work. Also for those who like to study early in

the morning, that time is stolen from them as

they have to attend sports. So we need almost

as much time as we can to sleep in late.

Studies show that late afternoon is the best

time for exercise. Research shows that the

optimal time to exercise is when our body

temperature is at its highest, which, for most

people is 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. (body temperature is

at its lowest just before waking). Strength and

endurance is also greatest in the late

afternoon.

However, despite these early morning

challenges I personally feel that if the school

were to provide a program similar to what they

did in the Y Exercise, I would happily wake up

at 5 in the morning.

Concerned Student

Visit to the Airport (Metrological Department)

All of us met at the Hulhule’ Airport Ferry at 10am on

Saturday 18th. When we got to the airport, we were received by

one of the executives of the Metrological Department.

At the Department, we were shown many of the

instruments that are used on a daily basis to measure and analyze

the climate and weather. Some of the instruments include the rain

gauge and Stevenson screen. In the main office, we saw many

instruments that are no longer used as they have been replaced

with more efficient, electronic devices such as a barometer (used

to measure pressure), which is now replaced by a digital pressure

recorder that records and updates pressure records.

After a few minutes of discussion about the instruments,

we were taken up to the weather studio. The studio was one aspect

of the whole visit that I think many of us enjoyed very much. The

studio is the place where all the daily weather reports are recorded.

These reports are recorded using a very high quality “colour filter”

camera. The video is recorded in front of a green screen as the

camera does not record the colour green. The recording is later

edited to give the viewers a map and further details.

The trip ended with a delicious meal from Burger King.

After the meal, we took a ferry ride back to Male’ at around 1:30

pm; ending a very educational, fun and successful trip.

Mohamed Ahnaf Ibrahim 10A

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