The Term 1 Essay Writing competitions stretched from Year 5 to Year 13, where students are invited to write on the same topic at different levels. Essays are judged on their ability to follow academic conventions, demonstrate originality, and present a convincing argument. House points are awarded, as well as the winning essay being compiled annually into a publication.
Spelling Decathlon
The Term 1 Spelling Decathlon is a house event in Secondary, where students can compete to demonstrate their ability to spell increasingly difficult vocabulary and their enhanced lexicon.
Chess Tournament
Chess is seen as a valuable activity at ICS as it aids cognitive development and spatial reasoning. The annual chess tournament hosted in Primary and Secondary seeks to find which student is the best at these skills through a series of knock-out rounds. Students can prepare all year for this coveted house-based accolade.
Term 2 Competitions
Debate Championship
The annual debate championship involves students in multiple leagues across different age ranges, so that house teams can compete to see who is the best debaters at ICS. This multidisciplinary challenge takes place over a month, and every student can enter in a house team if they choose.
Poetry Competition
The ICS poetry tournament, hosted in Primary and Secondary, gives children the opportunity to demonstrate their independent and novel creations with judgements made for style, technique, and presentation. Any student can enter to demonstrate their linguistic skills.
External Competitions & Events
- October - BSME Learning Festival
- November - BSME Science Championship
- December - COBIS Debating Championship
- January - COBIS Maths Competition
- February - COBIS Poetry Competition
- March - BSME Languages Championship
- April - COBIS Student Achievement Awards
- May - BSME Arabic Championship
- June - BSME Junior Humanities Championship
- June - World Scholars Cup
- Whole Year - Oxbridge Essay Writing
Oxbridge Essay Writing
Students in Year 12 are encouraged to participate in a range of essay writing competitions hosted by the various colleges at Oxford and Cambridge. Examples include the Humanities essay writing competition from Girton College which encourages students to develop networks of knowledge appropriate for exploring a different humanities topic each year.
Alternatively, students may choose Trinity College’s prizes in Literature and Linguistics, which seek to raise awareness of these interesting fields. However, there is also Peterhouse College’s Science Prize which encourages students to think creatively about the Sciences. With over 30 different competitions to choose from, Year 12 students are supported and encouraged to enter a wide range of these prestigious competitions that can lead to scholarships and prizes.