UNLIKE other international schools in Manila that brag about their towering school buildings, huge lecture halls and amphitheaters, British School Manila (BSM) says being small is its best asset.

Standing on a 3.5-hectare lot at the University Park in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City, BSM has deliberately designed its rooms for smaller classes. Tables and chairs are arranged in a U shape, ideal for encouraging participation in discussions of students that number no more than 20 in a class.

In most classrooms, there are photographs of the students in cut-and-paste collages plastered on the walls. Handmade projects in vibrant colors hang from the ceilings.

?We prefer to be quite small. Parents usually comment that we are a family-filled and family-friendly school mainly because we have small classes,? says Chris Mantz, BSM head of school.

He adds that being small has the advantage of making it easier for the school to establish strong professional and interpersonal relationships between teachers and students.

Glenn Hardy, head of BSM?s primary school, says every one knows one another in the school.

?We realized that when you grow past a certain number, you lose the interpersonal touch that you?ve got,? Hardy says.

BSM, which consists of primary and senior schools, has a total of 720 students; it has set its population ceiling at around 800.

?We are not profit-oriented so we don?t need to keep growing in number even if the demand is there,? Hardy says. ?Maybe that is the core reason for people wanting to put their children here.?

Each classroom at BSM is equipped with chalk-less and ink-less smartboard, an interactive electronic whiteboard.

The school has a 25-meter swimming pool, a sports field, covered playground, and music and ballet rooms.

For theater productions, the school uses a drama room that has no elevated stage and can seat around 20 students.

?The school prefers plays and other performances to be intimate between the actors and the audience,? explains Donna Caballo, admissions and marketing manager.

Each of the school?s two libraries?one for primary and another for senior school?is the size of two to three classrooms. Hardy says both have a wide-ranging selection of books, magazines and audio-visual materials.

Mantz notes that, although the school keeps abreast of state-of-the-art technologies, its success relies more on the quality of its teachers rather than tangibles like buildings and facilities.

Mantz says, because the school?s interviews and other recruitment processes are painstaking, BSM always gets the best teachers.

?We are fortunate that the school enjoys a good international reputation. We find teachers in other schools interested to join us,? he says.

Church hall

BSM was founded in 1976 by British expatriates in the Philippines who wanted their children to study in a school with standards and curriculum similar to those in the United Kingdom.

?They did want to send them to boarding school in UK. So they set up a junior school for young children,? Mantz says.

The school started with two classrooms and 36 students in, according to Mantz, an expatriate?s house. Later, it was moved to a hall of the Union Church.

Once the pioneers realized there was a demand, Mantz says, the school leased land in Merville, Parañaque City.

In 2001, the school built its present facilities in Fort Bonifacio Global City (the American-run International School Manila moved across the street a year later).

Mantz says where most students used to be British, now more students are of other nationalities.

At present, British students account for only 31 percent of BSM?s population; the rest are Filipinos, 23 percent; Americans, 10 percent; and others from India, Australia and France.

The 60-member teaching staff is composed of 12 different nationalities.

UK curriculum

BSM follows the British national curriculum, even as it maintains international standards.

?The British curriculum is more subject-based and less integrated than the American curriculum. For example, in the British program, a student will study geography and history separately. In the United States, the subjects are merged in social studies,? Mantz says.

BSM students do not take the American Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). Instead, they are given the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examinations in Year 11.

Before students leave the school, they take a two-year International Baccalaureate (IB) program that follows an internationally prescribed curriculum. The rigorous program requires students to take six subjects, including language, second language, individual and societies, mathematics, science, and arts and electives

?In addition, they must do creativity action and service (CAS) for a total of 150 hours for over two years,? Mantz says. CAS helps students develop a sense of social responsibility and learn new skills outside the school environment.

Mantz says, through the IB program, every student becomes ?intellectually capable? and ready for any international university. Last year, BSM graduates made it to nine top-rated universities in nine different countries, including the UK.

He says BSM carries the badge of quality and international standards that assure parents their kids are getting the best education.

In 2007, BSM was the first in the Philippines to be accredited by the Council of International Schools, an organization of 700 international schools.

Mantz says, for the accreditation, the school was graded according to curriculum, management, student performance, resources and surrounding community.

BSM is also a member of the Federation of British International Schools in Southeast Asia.

The British School Manila is located at 36th Street, University Park, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig (tel 8604800, fax 8604900). E-mail admissions@ britishschoolmanila.org. Visit www.britishschoolmanila.org.