The BSN prides itself on being a school that provides diverse opportunities for students to grow into resilient, confident, and productive young people. A recent trip to Malta during the October school break saw several students and one staff member push themselves physically and mentally to reach new depths through a scuba diving expedition. Sixteen students chose to pursue a range of different diving certifications, with most achieving the Open Water or Advanced Diver classifications and two students gaining specialised certifications (Deep Diver and Nixtrox).
More Than Diving: Independence and Life Skills
Together with UK youth expedition providers, True Adventure, the trip was developed to encourage more than just diving. A priority of the trip was also for students to build resilience and self-sufficiency through the development and practice of key life skills.
For the duration of the trip, students were responsible for
- personal administration (course prep, gear, schedule, etc.)
- budgeting (for food and recreation)
- meal planning, food shopping, cooking, and cleaning
- navigating a new transit system
- personal first aid
One of the most enduring lessons students will learn from our expeditions is to look after themselves & each other.
~ True Adventure
Linking to Our Teaching and Learning
Here at the BSN, we believe in the power of a lifelong love of learning. Remaining curious about the world is an asset that serves people well beyond the classroom.
We understand what great learning and great teaching look like and are intentional in how we nurture both. The BSN’s new Teaching and Learning Framework helps to support coherence in learning across our classrooms, year groups, and campuses; however, it can also be used in BSN experiences beyond the classroom. The trip to Malta fostered student agency by creating an opportunity that empowered learners and promoted a culture of enquiry. The staff made learning explicit and accessible by modelling every step of the dive certification process.
During the Malta trip, one of our BSN staff members, Kate Doyle, not only modelled her dive learning, but she also exemplified many attributes from the BSN Character Profile for our students.
Kate demonstrated curiosity, perseverance, and courage while pursuing her first scuba diving certification alongside our students. The teacher became the student, and in the process showed the young people in her charge the rewards that can result from challenging yourself to seek new learning and new experiences.
Here, Kate gives us a glimpse inside her enriching experience through a daily diary.
Nine Days in Malta: Diving Deep and Discovering Valletta
There’s something special about watching students step out of their comfort zones—especially when that zone extends to the depths of the ocean. Our recent 9-day trip to Malta was more than just a getaway; it was a journey of discovery, resilience, and cultural immersion.
Day 1: Touchdown in Malta
We arrived in sunny Malta and travelled to our hotel in Mellieħa, a picturesque village in the north. After visiting the dive training centre, organising grocery lists, preparing our equipment and dinner, we were ready to dive into the week…literally.
Day 2: Initial Dive and Safety
After meeting the wonderful Dune Malta Team (i.e., our chosen dive training centre), we got down to the nitty-gritty of dive safety. After independently completing the diving theory online before the trip (and adding a few extra online videos!), we ‘confidently’ walked into our session about the importance of decompression safety, buoyancy, and underwater signals.
Leaving, feeling grateful for the knowledge of our qualified instructors, we emerged wide-eyed on the beach. The theory was behind us, the ocean ahead, and standing in our way… getting the gear on. We began our collective chorus of squishes, stretches, and huffs as we all worked together to put on the wetsuit, buoyancy vest, oxygen tank, regulators, and fins in the correct order. It wasn’t perfect, and the occasional laughter break was needed, but both students and teachers all got there in the end.
Now, the dive! In hindsight, we only cracked a depth of 3 metres on that first day. Even that felt like a whole new world!
The feeling of being weightless and heavy, free and tangled, became an exciting contradiction that we had never experienced before.
Day 3: Shark Lab Immersion
All grateful for the gentle start to the day, we arrived at our workshop at the Malta National Aquarium, where we met Shark Lab Malta, a marine conservation group dedicated to shark research and education. We learned about the ecological importance of sharks, the threats they face, and the lab’s efforts to rehabilitate and release native species. We inspected a real shark egg case and examined tagged specimens. The visit sparked curiosity and deepened our respect for ocean life. We even got to try using a dichotomous key, a type of scientific guide that helps match traits to species. It was like playing underwater detective.
I was especially intrigued by the stories of the representatives of SharkLab. It was an exceptional experience to be involved in their mission concerning the conservation of sharks and bull rays during our stay.
~ Advanced Diver, Y13
Dive 4 – 7: Dive, Dive, Dive
Over four days, we dived at the amazing sites of Palm Beach, Cirkewwa and Anchor Bay.
As a crew, we had 10 dive opportunities during the trip; each brought new challenges and triumphs. From mastering buoyancy to spotting wildlife (including a camouflaged scorpionfish, octopus, moray eels, cuttlefish, parrotfish, and clams), we all grew in confidence and skill with every descent.
Having mastered our dive signals – OK, ascend, look here, look there – we began to invent some of our own. “Special mentions” go to the creation of new hand signals for our team: the octopus, the big bubble, and wow! Every gesture felt like part of a secret language shared beneath the waves.
Our more advanced divers explored sites with dramatic underwater topography. Open-water divers explored swim-throughs and hovered over the famous P29 wreck, now home to schools of fish and vibrant coral.
After many hours of diving, we concluded our time with the Dune Malta Team at a farewell dinner. We were all happily awarded our accreditations!
The unique feeling of being deep underwater was the most surprising of all the new experiences I had on the trip.
~ Open Water Diver, Y10
Day 8: Valletta and Fort St Elmo
After earning our certifications, we turned our attention to Malta’s rich history. We spent a full day exploring the City of Valletta. The students were captivated by the stories of knights, sieges, empires, and wars that shaped the island. At Fort St Elmo, we walked through centuries of military history. The National War Museum housed artefacts from the Great Siege of 1565 to World War II. We concluded with a well-deserved dose of free time to explore the city, the food, and the markets.
Day 9: Homeward Bound
Weary-eyed and sluggish, we made it to the airport bright and early. Upon arriving back at the less-than-sunny Schiphol airport, you could feel the gratitude and happiness in everyone’s retellings to their families at the gate. The stories continued to be shared in the days and weeks following this wonderful adventure.
Why This Matters at the BSN
Trips like this exemplify the BSN approach: High Performance Learning, a Teaching and Learning Framework that travels beyond the classroom, and a commitment to character and community. Through authentic challenge, clear modelling, and deliberate reflection, pupils practise resilience, collaboration, and enquiry — and return ready to apply those habits in every aspect of school life.
Kate Doyle
Kate is a Learning Support Assistant (LSA) at Senior School Voorschoten (SSV) Campus, working with students from Year 7-13. She has been working at the BSN since the 2024 academic year after arriving in the Netherlands from Australia at the end of 2023.
Julianne Sullivan
Julianne is an Internal Communications Specialist working in the Central Services group at the BSN. She worked for the BSN between 2017 and 2019, after moving from Canada a few years prior. Julianne rejoined the Communications & Admissions team in 2023, with a focus on sharing the stories of our inspiring changemakers.
