Bulgaria is considered the start-up champion of Europe. So many young people find a cool job throughout their studies in Bulgaria, some even opt to settle down here after graduation. Despite its small size, the country hosts multitudes of young people who are creative, innovative, and are looking forward to making this nation even more attractive for people who wish to invest in businesses.
Studying abroad in Europe is undoubtably worth it. Studying is Bulgaria is a privilege. And the best way to utilize that privilege, when it comes to schooling, is by enrolling in the British School of Sofia.
Headquartered in Sofia, Bulgaria, British School of Sofia (BSS) is one of the most successful international schools in the country, being the only BSO (British school overseas) in Bulgaria.
The school has achieved great success throughout its short yet dynamic 10-year history. It’s an IB (International Baccalaureate) world school, it’s a Cambridge curriculum school and has produced students and results that are recognised throughout the country and the world.
2020 marked a new chapter of BSS’s history – we moved to a new building and now we have three campuses in Sofia and one in Plovdiv. The previous year was a celebration of everything BSS stands for – fantastic and very pleasing IB and IGCSE results, achieved by dedicated children, involved parents and teachers who care.
Philosophy of British School of Sofia
The slogan of BSS is ‘Inspiring Students to Create and Shape the World of Tomorrow’. The school believes every child has the potential to become successful and to take their place in the society as educated, thoughtful and responsible citizens who will have a positive impact on the community.
The school strongly believes that by guiding and inspiring children, they can unlock their talents to become the skilled, self-driven and adaptable minds of tomorrow. “Our philosophy is to provide an educational environment of high achievement,” said the Founder & Principal of BSS, Mrs. Teodora Nenova.
Aims/Objectives:
- Develop knowledge, skills, and values to think, learn, communicate, and solve problems in their students.
- To foster an understanding and critical appreciation of the values (moral, spiritual, social, and cultural) which have traditionally accorded respect in society.
- To develop a spirit of inquiry, and the capacity to analyse issues critically and constructively.
- To nurture a sense of personal identity, self-esteem, and awareness of one’s particular abilities, aptitudes and limitations, combined with respect for the rights and beliefs of others along with the ability to interact and work effectively with others.
Academic Rollout
BSS follows the Cambridge curriculum – an internationally recognised syllabus of quality education. It prepares children for life in school but outside of school as well – there is a great emphasis on curiosity and enquiry.
BSS graduates receive an International Baccalaureate Diploma after fulfilling all the requirements, and just the previous year, the results on an average of BSS were higher than UK as well as the global average – something which the school is extremely proud of.
The school believes strongly in student’s voice and have moved from a teacher-centred approach to student-centred one. In lessons, feedback from the children is always encouraged. One of the main skills developed in children is to learn independently. In this fast-changing world they must be able to think confidently and independently. This is done through curiosity, creativity, and intelligence.
The curriculum of BSS is enhanced with the most innovative educational approaches such as ‘thinking-based’ learning and ‘concept-based’ learning. Throughout the years, the school has developed the ‘BSS Keys to Success’ – dispositions for mindfulness – communication, balance, open-mindedness, knowledge, inquiry, risk-taking, care, thinking, principles, reflection.
“We believe that all students can contribute to learning and improve,” says Teodora Nenova.
An Unborrowed Vision
Mrs. Teodora Nenova graduated from Sofia University with a MA in Bulgarian language and literature (Spanish and Portuguese languages). Mrs. Nenova holds a master’s degree in Business Management and Administration from the University of National and World Economy with additional specialisations from Coimbra University and the University of Lisbon, Portugal.
With her visionary and forward thinking she has implemented many innovative models of education, focused on the success and prosperity of children in their future life. Mrs. Nenova is dedicated to the continuous development not only of the school, establishing an internationally recognisable institution, but in terms of the development of the teaching staff and ensuring the success and well-being of BSS pupils. She has developed a highly effective system for the continuous training of the teachers.
To demonstrate her vision of a sound education, Mrs. Nenova commented, “The school challenged me mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually … and I loved the challenge. That is what education should do … inspire educators and students to go beyond their limits.
I believe one important job of a school together with parents is to find the educational process that brings out child’s gifts and inspires their love of learning. It is most important that the educational process inspires the child and brings out their genius, rather than punishing them for not doing well on tests.”
Tour De Force
Initially, upon its setting up, BSS occupied the Russian School in Bulgaria. In 2013 BSS moved to its own premises. Later, due to the increasing number of students, it relocated the kindergarten to its own separate building and starting from 2020, it has three campuses in Sofia, accommodating all pupils.
Students of different nationalities are studying at the British School of Sofia and the academic process is carried out in a highly diversified environment.
“We would like to point out the fact that we are the first school in the world to manage to meet the IB criteria in an extremely short span of time – 9 months (only). And now we are an IB career-related programme candidate school,” added Principal Nenova.
Despite all the challenges they face every day meeting the highest standards for education, the British School of Sofia continues their self-driven and motivated route to success and further development.
Thriving on Adversity
The greatest challenge for educators today is that they must prepare their students for their future careers in 10 – 15-years’ time by implementing the technology and matrix of education available today. Therefore, one of the most important strategies of BSS is to develop an educational model that will enable it to overcome the challenges of the future.
Mrs. Nenova expressed, “Being the first digital school in Bulgaria, we try to help children become confident in the use of digital technologies in a safe and controlled environment.”
BSS is proud to announce the beginning of the project ‘S.C.H.O.O.L. +’: co-funded by the ‘Erasmus +’ programme of the European Union. ‘S.C.H.O.O.L. +’ is an acronym for Sustainable, Creative, High-tech, Open-minded, Outside the box Learning. With this project the school aims to encourage the students to become the protagonists of their own learning process and involve them in shaping the new model of education.
Building the Future
BSS plans to transform the education game to produce students who are ready to meet the challenges of the 21st century. No longer is school a place where you go and learn facts and study from a textbook. Students nowadays must learn to have good communications skills, teamwork skills, problem-solving ability. The school recognises that these are the areas the students at BSS need to become masters of, so they can meet the demands of a fast-changing and challenging world.
“We hope that our exciting journey has now started and during this journey we will support our children in their path forward as we build the future together,” concluded Mrs. Nenova.
