A hot sunny day provided the backdrop to a day of fine hockey competition as the U11 and U13 boys teams from the 10 Kenyan IAPS schools converged on Kenton College.
Our U13s found themselves in a highly competitive group. They won two of their matches, but in a tournnament of quality play and fine margins, they were edged out of two others, resulting in a 3rd place in their group and therefore not able to advance to the semi-finals. There were strong perfomrnaces from all of the team, and four of them - Storm, Ethan, Hammet and Rafe - were recognised for their contributions by being selected to play for the Nairobi School versus the Up-Country Schools next Sunday.
The Braeburn U11s played superbly from the start, winning all of their group matches and topping their group. In the semi-finals against Kenton they played with confidence and skill but could not finish off their attacks until the first minute of extra-time when a golden goal scored by brilliantly taken by Kit sent them through to the final.
In the final versus The Banda the boys mustered the last of their energy and threw themselves into the match. As good as the attacking play was, the defence was every bit as good and stayed rock solid throughout the tournament, not conceding a single goal. This base provided the platform needed for the midfield and attack to surge forward. After a goaless first half, the tense game changed in the second with Braeburn scoring 3 wonderful goals against a skilled and determined Banda team.
Huge congratulations to our U11 boys for their total commitment, tireless teamwork, skill and energy which led to their success. Congratulations also to Mr Jones who coached and motivated them so well. To add to the team's success, Kit was named U11 player of the tournament.
The Young Programmers competition took place on 8thMarch at Peponi House Preparatory school. This competition gives a platform for students to showcase their programming skills while interacting with students from other schools, enabling learning to be a fun, out of class experience.
Students were also able to learn new skills. They learnt how to program real life control software using Arduinos software, with experts from the Davis and Shirtliff Company leading the way in showing the students how to use and program this software.
Six of our Year 7 and 8 students participated in the competition and they managed to scoop awards in the coding and 3D design categories. We would like to say congratulations and well done to all of our students.
Our swimmers have been involved in a number of events this term, near and far, large and small.
Last Saturday, our swimmers took to the pool at Peponi Secondary in the IAPS swimming gala. The team put in some fine performances and finished a close 4thplace in a much improved points tally for the team from last year’s result. Risha put in particularly strong performances, setting 2 new meet records, adding to 3 previous records he set and in so doing holding the most records by a single swimmer in Kenyan IAPS history. As if that was not impressive enough, his new 50m butterfly record was previously held for twenty years by Kenyan Olympian Jason Dunford.
Prior to the IAPS gala, Abdul from Year 8, along with swimmers from our high school and other schools, competed for the Kenyan national team in a meet in Namibia. An excellent achievement.
Pupils from six schools met up for a day of musical comaraderie at Pembroke House School for a delightful music event on Sunday, 3rd March.
After a morning vocal practice, lunch and a swim in the pool, the pupils converged on the chapel for an afternoon of organ and choir recital. Despite only having had the opportunity to sing together once in the morning, the pupils sang in beautiful harmony and left many a parent and teacher in tears.
Our thanks to Pembroke House for organising such a lovely celebration of music and collaboration.
On Wednesday the 27th of February, over 400 Year 3 and 4 students, teachers and parents gathered together at the Braeburn Theatre, in a celebration of music.Braeburn School welcomed singers from 15 other schools in a morning of incredible variety in musical styles and presentations.
Braeburn School opened the festival, leading the National Anthem in Kiswahili, followed by their performance of ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’, in keeping with the theme for the communal song.
As in previous years, each school strove to keep the audience entertained and as such, there were pieces derived from musicals, pieces with inspirational messages and some that just made the audience laugh!
This year, we had a special treat from Nairobi Academy - a dance that fit well into the spirit of the communal song, ‘Down in the Jungle’. The dance set the mood for the entire audience as they sung the communal song with uplifted spirits and ended the festival on a high note.
As always, each director of music has since sent a positive message on how this festival provides a perfect platform for quality performances, without the pressure of competition. They have all stressed how much they learn from each and every school performance, and are looking forward to it again next academic year!
Braeburn School
