OVER ALREADY? NO WAY! (YAY WAY!)

Summer has sneaked up behind the corner before we could even say - FINALLY!

There have been so many events in the past few weeks of school (and we are not even talking about the scary tests, but fun stuff) that time flew by and whoooosh - summer break! We can relax! Yay! (Well, except for those entering secondary school - there's still a bit of stress there, but they can take it, right? By the way, we do wish them all the best and we're looking forward to seeing who joins our very own Bright High!)

Therefore, let's at least try to sum up some of the events these past few weeks! In no particular order, here it goes:

SUMMER SHOWS

Everybody knows the end of the year is also a chance for the whole school community to gather and check out what we can prepare with our teachers in the midst of all the commotion of tests, competitions and the utter beehive chaos called End-of-the-school-year!

This year, as always, our summer shows for parents, carers, siblings and friends took place in two evenings: the first evening the performers were from these classes: upper primary (years 5 and 6) and lower secondary (years 7 and 8), and the second evening was reserved for lower primary (years 1-4). Ms Tišma, the school principal, opened both shows with a greeting for everyone in the community.

The first evening was hosted with a ton of charm by our very own Mina and Julide who led the entire show with grace, wit and ease. Everyone enjoyed in watching Mr Krznar's video colebrating the sports achievements of our pupils. Year 5 performed songs from Aladdin and Mulan (led by Ms McCowell), Year 6A gave us a performance of the oldie&goldie Just the Two of Us (led by Ms Rodriguez) , followed by Year 6B's I'm Still Standing (led by Ms Lisica)! Then Year 7 took the stage (led by Ms Thomas) with their renditions of Mamma Mia and Waterloo, split up by a short and witty skit/quiz for the guests (with Napoleon and Duke Wellington debating over a song, mediated by a host).

The evening was brought to a close by the very professional and moving speech by the valedictorian speakers from our Year 8 pupils (which they wrote together with their English teacher Ms Kovačević). They thanked their families and the school staff (especially their form teachers Ms Maričić and Mr Repustić), remembering some details from their first moments at Bright Horizons till their final class trip (maturalac), as well as leaving us a legacy message for future generations. This is what they said:

To our fellow graduates, congratulations! We did it! We have worked hard, laughed hard and sailed through challenges together. To the younger generations of Bright Horizons, trust the process, cherish your friends and be grateful for any help you are given!

Thank you, everyone, for being here today to celebrate this milestone with us. Here’s to the Class of 2025—may we continue to learn, grow, and change the world for the better. One step at a time!

The show was closed with a joint song - this time it was a Croatian song from the acclaimed musical Jalta, Jalta - about peace and the wonderful things people can achieve when they work together! Neka cijeli ovaj svijet.. or 'may this whole wide world'... Our music teacher Ms Ščepanović gave us quite the challenge, but we pulled through victoriously and had everyone humming along!

The second evening was cooly hosted by the charismatic duo Ruža and David who took the stage with eloquence, smiles and professionalism, winning our hearts and assuring everyone that everything would go smoothly. Because, believe it or not, behind the stage, albeit perfectly timed and guided by our teachers, it was all a buzz with electricity. We may sometimes act like we don't care, but... well, you know - we do actually.

Before the classes performed, our Bright Horizons extra-curricular Dance Club (led by Ms Gonzalez), dazzled everyone with their routine to “Be The One”. Then we had our Croatian choir, led by Ms. Hraste and Ms.Plejić, perform 'Dobar dan' - pupils from year 1 to 4 singing together. This was followed by German song: “Die Jahresuhr,” which means “The Clock of the Year”, under Frau Janković’s careful guidance. We all unjoyed the video, edited by coach Puh Majer, about our amazing cheerleaders, as well as Mr Krznar's video about sports achievements of the members of our community.

After this, Year 1 welcomed us with Sunibonani. a Zulu song which means 'How do you do?' then played the Glockenspiel and recited a poem which their form teacher, Ms Hollo, wrote especially for them. Then came Year 2 (led by Ms Grgić) with a Michael Rosen poem and the nevergreen song Stand By Me. Year 3, prepared by Ms Šarina, then surprised everyone with their recital of If Kids Ruled the World and sang “Bring Us Together” . Finally, Year 4 told us a wonderful story “A Little Spot of Flexible Thinking” and treated us to the song Viva la Vida (led by Ms Postružin). We finished the show with our lower years choir (thank you for the guidance, Ms Ščepanović) - performing I Am the Earth by Glen Roven and then Count on Me by Bruno Mars.

You think summer shows are easy? Try putting one on by yourself! It's team work to the core.

SPORTS DAY AND HOUSE PRIZES DAY

Well, this is always a hard one to report on because you simply have to be there! Mr Krznar sets up funny and exciting games for our pupils to compete in for their school houses, finalising the yearly school house competition. All the teachers joined in as coaches, judges, referees, supporters, even participants (the traditional dodgeball).

All year long each of our school houses - Jupiter, Mercury, Neptune and Saturn, collect points for their behaviour, teamwork, academics, competitions, kindness, etc. and those are added up weekly. It has been a tight race this year, but Sports Day is the tipping point - everything can be overturned on this very day! So the stakes are high and it gets to be nitty-gritty, sweaty and exhausting, and emotions flare up! Why? Well there's rep, of course, because there is a certain reputation involved for the winning house, but there are also house prizes which we enjoy on a special out-of-school day. This year, after all the running, screaming, dancing, acrobatics, tossing objects around (various sports equipment, naturally), slightly mean looks followed by hugs... came the adding of the points! Saturn won this year - congrats to them! The prize day was cool - we'd gather at school and then went out for ice-cream, pizza, to the cinema and the Ha-ha museum... Fun all around! Check out some photos!

THE ROYAL TEA PARTY

What could be better than a birthday party? We finished our school year with a Royal Tea Party to celebrate the King's birthday but also to welcome yet again our grateful school patron Mr Simon Thomas, the British Ambassador to Croatia, who graced us with his final visit and enjoyed some sweet pastry with us all, despite the very hot day. But hey, who could not enjoy chocolate any day of the week, right?

WATER DAY

Complete madness - that's what this is! And we love it! What better to do on a hot day than splash the school year away with some games, sunbathing, water guns and laughing our hearts out? So, no pics here - just a gool old splash for you all wishing you a phenomenal summer on behalf or our very own newsletter team for 2024-2025! We did it!

YEAR 8 - FAREWELL DINNER

Dear Year 8s, this is a message for you from Year 7: You will be dearly missed and your shoes will not be easy to fill for us! May we reprise some of your great moments and add our very own, unique ones! We definitely will add those! Thank you for being an inspiration and good luck on your high school quest!

Year 8 - farewell dinner 2025

THANK YOU, BRIGHT ZONE TEAM!

We would not dream of closing this school year without thanking the people who made the Bright Zone stories happen for you this year. Massive thank you to our school community for their collaboration, our school lead team and teachers for their support, our English teacher Ms Kovačević for her guidance, and most of all - to our editorial team for 2024-2025! Congrats, everyone!