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The academic programme provides students with a stimulating and challenging experience that is differentiated to allow for differing learning styles. As students progress to the Middle School, they refine the core interdisciplinary skills initiated in the Primary School. They have more subject specialist teachers guiding them in fundamental subject-specific skills required for higher studies.
Students are exposed to a broad and balanced range of subjects, with the opportunity to develop in all relevant areas; from physical, technical, creative, numerate and deductive, rational and experiential, to empathic and evaluative. Our courses are created from best practice design principles which are research-based and provide an age-appropriate, varied and challenging experience for our students.
Grade 6 courses are designed to ensure a smooth transition from Primary to Middle School while at the same time challenging their developing levels of cognition and curiosity.
In Grade 7, courses are designed to allow students the opportunity to build on concepts learned in Grade 6 and to meet the needs of developing Middle School Students as they become more independent and responsible for their learning.
The Grade 8 programme is designed to give students the opportunity to take greater responsibility for their learning and develop a sense of metacognition in order to effectively reflect on the learning process. The courses are designed to meet the needs of Middle School students, while preparing them for High School.
Our team of experienced international school educators continue to define, develop, and implement College-wide K–12 standards for all subject areas. The goal is to ensure a cohesive concept-based curriculum that offers a linked progression between the curricula in the different schools. This ongoing work is to ensure that we continue to develop an academic curriculum that focuses on the process of learning, is challenging, and reflects our mission, vision, and values.
The 20 blocks of academic contact time in school are distributed as follows:
Our Middle School learners need time to find their passions, hone their talents, relax with friends, and connect with you, their families. With a firm lens on our Wellbeing Principles, we aim to keep home learning to a minimum to allow them the space to explore personal interests arising from their classes more deeply.
Our learners will need collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking skills in their future. We believe, therefore, that inclusive and purposeful home learning:
increases students’ love of learning (if they didn’t have to do it, would they want to do it anyway?) (purpose and practice)
significantly increases learning - can answers be easily found on Google? Can the authenticity of who completed the work be easily determined? (construct meaning, make connections)
stimulates their interest in your subject and want to make them delve deeper (construct new understandings)
is accessible without the need for additional help (self-directed, inclusive)
is differentiated for ability and/or interest (appropriately challenging)
is equitable to all students in terms of language, culture, neuro-diversity, learning styles, parents’ educational backgrounds, home-situation, etc. (secure and supported).
(Miller and Keeler, 2017)
A student’s home working environment can help develop good organisational practices and contribute to successful study. Please support them by trying to ensure that each child has somewhere quiet and comfortable to learn without distraction, with space to store books and files and help them with their self-management.
We have created the following agreement to support our learners with home-learning:
There are occasions where work might need to be assigned to support learning. In Grade 6, this should be no more than five hours over a week; in Grade 7 no more than six hours a week, and in Grade 8, no more than seven hours each week. Students are also expected to read regularly. Reading regularly has benefits across all subjects. We recommend that all students read for approximately 20–30 minutes each night.
Drama, Music, and Visual Arts students are exposed to a variety of experiences in the Arts while developing fundamental skills in each subject.
Students are given the opportunity to carry out design thinking in a variety of practical environments. Students experience the design process from conception to realisation to evaluation and learn the required skills to prototype their ideas through a range of new and traditional technologies.
This course combines the practical experience of developing a range of culinary skills, with knowledge and understanding relating to food production, health, nutrition and well-being relevant to the lives of young adolescents.
Humanities includes topical units in geography, history, and current affairs to help foster students’ critical thinking and analytical skills.
The SEED course links to our mission through its focus on sustainability. Students learn the concepts associated with systems thinking and the tools associated with solving complex systems problems. In later years students use these skills to help design solutions to real world problems, laying the foundations for Social Entrepreneurship.
English and Humanities are taught as an integrated course in Grade 6. English courses focus on developing students’ skills for reading, writing, speaking and listening.
All students study one of the above languages.
In Mathematics, students develop the quantitative, statistical and conceptual mathematical skills they will need for high school and beyond.
The Science programme includes units from the primary scientific disciplines of Biology, Chemistry, and Physics.
Life Skills is an integral component of the Personal and Social Education element of our learning programme. The purpose of this course is to help our students develop into healthy, independent, confident, aware and assertive young people.
The PE course fosters a positive disposition toward physical activities and supports the development of physical skills as well as physical and social development.
This course offers students extended support for their learning; students need to be recommended for the course by their teacher, Head of Grade, or Admissions.
Progress reports aim to provide parents with feedback on academic progress. This feedback will assist parents in supporting and motivating students’ learning.
The Conference is designed for teachers to have a learning conversation with the parent(s)/guardian(s) and students about progress in subject areas and to consider future learning goals.
Guidelines for Conference Selection:
We recommend selecting around five subjects for the learning conferences, ensuring a balanced and purposeful approach.
While it is natural to celebrate subjects where your child excels, we strongly encourage choosing subjects with growth opportunities - particularly in Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills and areas where achievement can be further developed, based on the preceding report. This will help set the stage for progress in the remainder of the academic year.
This event provides a fantastic opportunity for you to witness and celebrate your child's educational journey and accomplishments during the year. Entirely student-led, our students take the lead in demonstrating their progress, projects, and learning experiences.
Our dedicated teams prepare a range of engaging activities for you to enjoy. They have been carefully designed to highlight your child's diverse and enriching learning experiences throughout the year. Students prepare for the event by reflecting on the year and choosing the areas they wish to celebrate with you.