The history of the British International School began in September 1979 when the doors were opened to 212 expatriate students who required a British-style education. At that time, the British and Dutch embassies had identified a need for such an establishment to support their communities living in Riyadh and consequently a villa complex in the Malaz area of the city was modified to house the students and provide the facilities and resources they needed.
The school was an overwhelming success and the number of registered students in Years 1 – 8 started to steadily increase. To cope with the demand the school had to quickly re-locate to a construction site beside Junction 9 of the Airport Highway in 1981. When I arrived in 1988 the school population stood at around 800 and by that time the majority of the development work had been completed. In those days we were more or less operating a preparatory school that was equipping students to return to education in the UK. Whilst there was a strong academic focus, the school also organised local trips and camps to the desert to promote awareness of the Saudi culture and environment. One of my first responsibilities was to organise the annual two week camping expedition for Years 6 to 8 to Thumamah Park. The students had two days under canvass, but I spent the entire time on the camp site. It was a great experience to be under the stars, or searching for fossils on the escarpment; the highlight was a visit to the gazelle breeding enclosure. The other event I remember from those early days was the sporting exchanges between ourselves and the Jeddah Preparatory and Continental Schools. The whole school spilled out of the classrooms and sat around the pitch to watch the netball and soccer matches.
In 1990 Year 9 was added as a decision had been made to begin the process of extending the age range. Sadly, this expansion coincided with the Gulf War. It proved to be a difficult year as the number on roll oscillated. The year began with only 338 students, but quickly rose to 760 by the end of the first term. However, the numbers dwindled to 120 when the air and ground offensive started in early January. It had been the intention to keep the school open throughout the encounter, but the threat of a chemical or biological attack eventually convinced the Board of Governors to close the school for a short period as they felt the staff could not protect the students. It was a rather bizarre situation teaching students science and insisting they had their gas masks in front of them, on the desk. Thankfully, the school escaped the Scud missile attacks and passed though the conflict unscathed. As soon as the war ended students flooded back into the kingdom, pushing the population to 660 by the end of the academic year. To ensure that the curriculum was adequately covered a 6 day week was put into place and, through a combination of hard work and extraordinary commitment, the year was completed successfully.
Move to the Al Hamra Site
In 1995 the third move was made to the current site at Al Hamra. It was an essential development as the school had reached capacity and it could not accommodate the increasing demand from the expatriate community. Once the school settled into the new premises the Foundation Stage was added in order to accept pre-school age children. At this time the school was educating children from Foundation Stage 1 to Year 9. There now followed a period of consolidation whilst new initiatives were introduced to support teaching and learning and drive up standards, which at that point were measured in Years 2, 6 and 9 using the UK SAT’s and across Key Stage 2 and 3 using the CAT’s test: it was clear that by all these measures the students were performing exceptionally well and way beyond the UK average.
2003 Bombings
Throughout the late 90’s plans were put in place to introduces Key Stage 4 and offer students I/GCSE courses. The careful planning bore fruit in September 2002 when the school accepted just over 20 students into Year 10. Unfortunately, only 15 completed the two year programme as the school suffered a second serious and violent setback. The 2003 bombings in Riyadh, and in the Al Hamra compound in particular, had a devastating effect. Sadly, the damage to the school and compound, not to mention the trauma suffered by the staff who were living there, resulted in the closure of the school for the remainder of that academic year. When the doors were reopened in September 2003 the roll had fallen from 1100 to below 500. Thankfully, the majority of the staff returned, determined to continue to work in a dangerous situation and support the expatriate community. Security was tightened, road blocks were thrown up all over the city and a strong police and military presence took to the streets to provide a visible and credible deterrent to the terrorists. The approach by the Saudi government gradually reduced the threat, and confidence slowly returned to the expatriate community. To support the 15 remaining GCSE students the upper school shifted to a 6 day week and lessons after school. It was a tough schedule, but they were determined. It was an amazing feeling to utter the word, ‘begin’ at the start of the first GCSE exam as many people felt we would never get to that point. The students and staff were proud to have succeeded against a backdrop of adversity and they were even more elated when the results were published, as they were outstanding.
Recovery and Development
The school is never prepared to standstill; it always wants to move forward. Therefore, after the successful introduction of I/GCSE, AS and A Level (Key Stage 5) were introduced in September 2008. As a result of offering education from 3 – 18 the demand for places in the school has continued to rise and this has meant the continuous development of the current Al Hamra site. In the 2009/10 academic year the number on roll could rise to 1200.
At the same time as introducing post-16 education the school also embarked upon a partnership with BAE Systems and opened a primary annexe for the company on the Salwa compound. The Salwa Section has now been in operation for 2 years and educates students of primary age up to Year 5. The project has been a resounding success, drawing praise form the directors of the company and parents.
It was fitting that in 2009, the 30th anniversary of the opening of the school, Prince Andrew officially unveiled a plaque to open the new building that houses the Sixth Form and help the school celebrate the fact that it had finally achieved the long cherished goal of offering an education to students from 3 – 18.
I have spent many years at the school and in that time I have watched it grow and develop from a small institution in a collection of villas to one of the largest in the region, boasting a solid reputation for academic excellence. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at the school and will look back on all my experiences with fond memories. There were highs and lows, sadness and joy, but through it all the school has stuck doggedly to a core mission: supporting the expatriate community by offering a first class British style education. I firmly believe this is an exceptional school and it has been my honour to serve it in various capacities over 21 years.
