Secondary School - 7th October 2019

Lifelong learning in practice

Dear Parents,

Many of you have taken the opportunity of our Open Days and Meet the Tutor afternoon to come and visit our new Secondary School building. Those of you who are yet to come to school, you will have seen the pictures on our Facebook page, previous e-Newsletter articles or even in our email signature. I mentioned in my first e-Newsletter article of this academic year the impact improved facilities can have on the engagement and learning of our students, but that such amazing facilities are not the most significant factor in a child’s chances of success. Indeed, a child’s best chances at success lie in one’s hard work, resilience and high personal aims. Other essential factors to support a child’s chances to find success are the quality of the teaching they receive and the use of the facilities available on the premises. Those three key factors work in conjunction to enhance students’ success and I will look to refer back to those factors in future e-Newsletters.

Last week, most of our Science teachers attended a course in Doha about their Science specialism. The course was delivered by Pearson Edexcel, one of the British examination boards NAISAK is accredited with, and focused on AS Levels. The objectives of the courses were to ensure our teachers have up-to-date knowledge of the current syllabus in their area of specialism, have an acute understanding of the examination objective and mark scheme, and build a network of support in-country. Subject knowledge is one aspect of being a teacher, pedagogy practice is another aspect, and assessment information a third aspect. This training will support our teachers identify gaps in our students’ knowledge and the next steps to take as our oldest students make their way through Year 12 towards the final objective of the academic year, their AS Level examinations in May and June.

In order to support our colleagues working with your children in our world-class Science labs, we also organised for CLEAPSS (Consortium of Local Education Authorities for the Provision of Science Services) to come all the way from England and visit our school on Wednesday 25 September, inspect and write a comprehensive report on how best to manage our scientific equipment. The following day, our whole Science team travelled to the International School of London Qatar to spend six hours refreshing and sharpening their knowledge of health and safety in the labs.

Learning is a passion for all who decide to make education their profession. Lifelong learning is an essential skill to gain, one that we intend to instil in our students and one that we certainly aim to role model ourselves.

I am looking forward to seeing you on Wednesday 16 October for our Parent-Teacher Meetings for students in Years 7, 10, 11 and 12. Those meetings will take place in the Secondary School building, and will be a constructive opportunity for you to discuss progress to date and next steps with your child/ren’s teachers. Please help us remind your child/ren to approach their teachers to book appointments. Many thanks in advance.

Lydie Gonzalès
Head of Secondary