“We Strive for the highest academic achievement, but want to achieve it in the best way”
From the Principal
It is my pleasure to welcome you to the website of the British Overseas School.
Whether you are already a member of the BOS community, or a prospective member, from inside or outside Pakistan, we hope that you will find our site helpful, informative and even inspirational.
Some time ago I was asked what about our school makes me most proud; as I searched for an answer I realized that there are so many things. There are headline achievements, such as our British Schools Overseas accreditation, our children’s attainment in reading and mathematics and our students’ IGCSE examination results.
Of course, headline achievements are often based on data. In schools we love producing data to show how good our school is. Sometimes it must seem that we are motivated by this data: by the quest for ever higher examination grades or ever wider age differentials. At the BOS data is not what drives us. For us data sets are markers to show us how far we have come on our journey – data is not an end in itself; it is not the destination. In fact, I’m not convinced that the journey actually has a destination. We are motivated by the process more than the destination.
So, if I had to single out one aspect the school that makes me proud, it would be the personal development that goes on in the school. Ultimately, I think our philosophy is as simple as trying to bring the best out of everyone. Whether they are a child or a parent, a student or a teacher, our purpose is to try to bring the best out of every one of them.
Bringing the best from everyone, raising beyond expectations, has been the purpose that has guided my work at the BOS, and guides the BOS itself. That is, after all, what value-added is all about; it is what age differentials are all about. They are the markers that show how well we are fulfilling our purpose.
What do we do to try to bring the best out of people? An ethos such as this should permeate all that we do: the curriculum we follow, the teaching we practise, the resources we use.
Most of all ‘bringing the best out of everyone’ should be an attitude – a state of mind. It should be an improvement mindset that is characterized by belief and trust. Instilling everyone with the belief that they can be better: better students, better teachers. I believe strongly that people, given the right opportunities, are capable of much more than they think. And people generally respond positively to high expectations, as long as they are supported by our encouragement and belief.
This ‘state of mind’ has been vital in making the BOS the school that it is today: an academically high-achieving school that retains its family-feel.
This website is a statement of our beliefs, a commitment to a set of values and a depiction of a style of education that we hope brings the best from everyone. It is also, of course, your introduction to the BOS. I sincerely hope that it gives you a flavour of our school and will encourage you to find out more about our achievements, our approach and our plans for the future.