Educational Plan
The kindergarten aims to guide and empower learners to develop a lifelong learning desire and critical thinking skills through inquisitive learning; focusing on universal and community values such as compassion, respect, integrity and honesty. The kindergarten will communicate its vision, mission through different means including the kindergarten website, newsletters, staff handbook and parental meetings, as well as disseminating its vision and mission in different corridors and in classrooms, in addition to kindergarten facilities. The stakeholders must understand how to contribute to achieving the kindergarten’s mission, vision, and objectives. The kindergarten will exert efforts to reinforce that the kindergarten’s vision and mission and learning results are integrated through its wide practices.
The kindergarten’s vision and mission will be consistent with the directives of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education of Qatar. The kindergarten will be committed to teaching Arabic, Religion, and Qatar History for all students as stipulated by the Ministry. Qatari culture will be promoted through flag salutation in the morning assembly and allocated time and places for prayer. The kindergarten will adhere with the MOE regulations to separate the non-Arab students in specific classes in teaching the subjects Qatar History and also to separate non-Arab Muslim students in Islamic Studies lessons from Arab Muslim students.
The kindergarten will develop clear plans to identify its priorities and objectives that are in line with its mission and requirements, and within its financial and human resources capacity. Also, we will develop a mechanism to follow up on plan implementation and measure its impact on students and teachers.
Surveys completed by teachers, students, and parents form one of the tools that enables the kindergarten to measure what has been and what has not been implemented of its vision and mission. We will make sure that surveys are comprehensive and detailed about different aspects in order to consider their opinions and satisfaction about various kindergarten academic and non-academic aspects. We will also take parents’ and teachers’ suggestions and complaints for the kindergarten’s overall improvement.
The kindergarten will offer a British style UK independent kindergarten education to the international community of Qatar.
The kindergarten will adopt the British National Curriculum, in addition to Arabic, Islamic Studies and Qatar history that will be taught according to the Qatar National Standards. The kindergarten will work comprehensively towards implementing the standards of the British curriculum effectively, which supports its mission, vision, objectives and enhances students’ knowledge and skills.
The kindergarten curriculum will be linked to the preparation and implementation of comprehensive educational and curricular plans based on most students’ needs and aligned with the kindergarten’s mission, vision, and objectives.
The kindergarten will prepare daily, weekly, termly and yearly educational plans according to the scheme of work for the British Curriculum. In addition, the Arabic department will follow the termly plan and use the daily MOE (Ministry Of Education and Higher Education) planning format. These lesson plans will have the basic elements such as: objectives, lesson sequence, assessment, differentiation, use of technology… And teachers will exert great efforts to ensure the effective implementation of these plans to advance the teaching and learning processes forward.
All teachers will implement varied teaching methods that support the curriculum and provide students with appropriate knowledge and skills.
Teachers will adopt diversified and consistent teaching strategies that address knowledge in depth, ensure key performance standards/age related standards are rightfully covered, and ensure students are able to maximize their learning and unlock their potential. The kindergarten will make sure that the its vision is tangibly integrated through teaching, learning, and students’ academic performance.
Teaching methods will promote students to take responsibility and to be independent learners. Student-centered lessons, differentiated activities that tackle various levels of students, brainstorming, building repertoire of varied vocabulary in contexts, effective implementation of technology, cooperative learning, hands on activity, and realia will be used impactfully in most lessons to support the kindergarten’s mission in shaping students’ development.
All teachers will be aware of the kindergarten’s vision and mission, and that activities implemented help the kindergarten in achieving its goals. Teachers will engage students effectively in activities that foster curiosity, teamwork, respect, endeavor, and enterprises which are profoundly aligned with the kindergarten’s mission.
The kindergarten facilities will also support the implementation of the curriculum; the library, the art room… These facilities will be provided with appropriate educational resources that support the effective application of the curriculum which positively impacted on facilitating teaching and learning processes.
All classrooms will be provided with appropriate furniture that provides comfortable seating and is suitable for students’ age groups. The seating plan in all classes will be considered to allow students participation in group activities and to help teachers monitor students’ works in order to facilitate teaching and learning processes. In addition, we will make sure that classrooms are clean in order to provide a healthy learning environment.
All classes will be provided with smart boards, computers, and resources that will be effectively used by the teachers to support the learning process. The building, facilities, services, technical supplies, and furniture will be points of strength for the kindergarten to meet the educational needs of students. Classrooms will be well lit, air-conditioned, and will have adequate furniture and educational resources which meet and support different students’ learning needs. Additionally, we will works continuously to ensure that any updates or changes needed to provide the best possible environment are done quickly and with the highest quality, which supports the kindergarten in achieving the vision, mission, and learning outcomes.
The kindergarten will implement an effective assessment policy to assess students’ learning. Students will be assessed on communication skills, focusing skills, fine motor skills, and knowledge of colors, shapes and numbers. This assessment aims to give an insight towards a child’s previous knowledge.
Teachers will use appropriate tools of formative assessment practices that include worksheets, questions, group work, and discussions to ensure that students’ performance is gauged and monitored variably.
Teachers will motivate critical thinking skills in students through implementing depth of knowledge questions in most subjects and most year groups.
The kindergarten will have a comprehensive admission policy and implements admission tests for new students in Arabic, English and Math when they join the kindergarten. Entrance exams are applied to identify the students’ prior knowledge. We will benefit from these results and utilize them in preparing impactful support plans and programs that take into consideration all students’ individual learning needs. The Entrance Exam is applied to identify the student’s ability, sharpness, and knowledge. Accordingly, results will be used in differentiation of instruction catered to all students.
Formative Assessments such as Quizzes, Class Works, Home Works, and Projects will be used in all subjects to identify students’ levels, knowledge, and skills. In addition to Summative Assessments that are conducted at the end of each term.
The kindergarten will track and compare students’ results over successive periods through the classroom monitor.
Students’ report cards will be issued by the kindergarten at the end of each term. They will include information on student academic performance and behavior. Also, the report cards will have a part called “work habits and social development” that includes points such as working independently and relationship with peers. Report cards will be an accurate reflection of students’ performance Additionally, meetings with parents will be held after each report to discuss the overall performance and behavior of their children.
The kindergarten will implement a detailed and comprehensive Behaviour Policy known to students, parents, and staff and applied to all students fairly and at all times.
The kindergarten will have an “E Praise Reward System” that the teachers regularly use in order to emphasize and reinforce the ethos of positive behaviour within the kindergarten through appreciating and rewarding students with good behaviour by granting varied rewards including House Points, Certificates, Prizes, and Scholarships.
Students who will be considered to be elite of the kindergarten will have their names displayed around the kindergarten corridors to encourage students towards achievements. Students will be categorized as Ambassadors, Captains, Monitors, and Stars of the Week. In addition, an age-related collection of students’ works will be displayed in classes and kindergarten yards to encourage students.
The kindergarten will develop varied activities and programs that enhance students’ commitment and consolidate positive behaviour throughout the kindergarten premises such as the assemblies that focus on spreading values like Respect, Tolerance, Honesty, and Compassion.
On the other hand, the kindergarten will have a system called “Conduct Manager” that allows teachers to address the negative behaviour. This system gives teachers the authority to conduct demerits from students in order to prevent such repeated infractions of behavior.
The kindergarten’s effective policy in addressing different categories of students, will be clearly reflected in designing and executing the Learning Support Program with effective implementation and follow up procedures to diversify support provided to Students with Educational Needs “SEN”. This program includes an Individual Education Plan “IEP” that is regularly reviewed in order to track the students’ progress. It also includes the intervention of the Occupational Therapist whose role is to help these students develop their motor skills.
The kindergarten will provide appropriate intervention procedures in designing referral programs targeting specific needs of students. There will be an effective academic support for Students with Educational Needs “SEN” and students who study English as an Additional Language “EAL” in a way that contributes to developing their performance. The kindergarten will provide personalized support for these students to support their achievement of curricular goals.
We will also support the gifted and talented students mainly through extracurricular activities and competitions. The kindergarten will have regular and various rewards for top students and students with different accomplishments to motivate them to maintain their excellence through various incentives including certificates, gifts, and during achievement assemblies. The kindergarten will implement and monitor varied plans and programs for gifted and talented students that include implementation procedures and follow-up to encourage them to further academic achievement opportunities, and to support the enhancement of their talents.
The kindergarten will organize an array of extra-curricular and co-curricular activities to support its vison and mission. Students will be able to choose activities that they are interested in. These activities cater for students’ physical, social and cognitive needs such as Swimming, Gymnastics, Lego, Reading, Science and Philosophy, Cooking, Singing, Chess and other activities.
This is in addition to the Enrichment Lessons such as Storytelling, Writing, Coding, Science, and Philosophy.
The kindergarten will have a clear recruitment policy, which will be implemented properly to assure human resources’ efficiency. The human resources department will check the staff the kindergarten needs at the beginning of each academic year, then they start the recruitment procedures. Locally, they submit job advertisements on social media and professional websites. Then they check the CVs. And later, they conduct interviews with the chosen ones. Overseas, they will deal with upgraded agencies whose role is to bring them professional employees.
The kindergarten will have the required number of teachers who will be recruited to commensurate with students. Staff will have work authorizations from the Ministry of Education and Higher Education along with the Ministry of Labor. Additionally, the kindergarten will entrust staff with responsibilities in line with their certifications, qualifications, ability, and experience. The kindergarten has clear criteria when choosing employees. These criteria depend mainly on education, qualification and experience.
The kindergarten will orient its new staff through two weeks of induction sessions, providing them with a teacher’s handbook that includes the kindergarten’s policies, promotions, incentive policy, contact and procedures, along with appraisal forms.
In relation to the organizational structure, the kindergarten has a clear organizational structure that identifies the level of leadership, responsibility, and departmental hierarchy. Members of staff are given job descriptions and are made aware of the hierarchy during the induction/orientation program. There are important and vacant functions in the organizational structure like Academic Controller to monitor and follow up the performance of academic departments.
The kindergarten will have a promotion and incentive policy. Employees will get rewarded through different ways such as, getting a raise in the salary, a certificate, a gift… The kindergarten will motivate the employees through increasing their salaries from 5 to 10 % yearly.
Staff absenteeism will be followed up accurately. The kindergarten will have a finger print system to monitor staff attendance and absence. The kindergarten will have an effective substitution system where the absent teacher must send the requested materials to the teacher who will cover.
The kindergarten will have in place a system to follow up and evaluate teachers’ performance. The system includes evaluation criteria and mechanisms, in which teachers are made familiar with these procedures for monitoring teachers’ performance. Formal evaluation of teachers’ performance is mainly done by the kindergarten academic controller and by the kindergarten’s principal through class room visits, evaluation forms, and feedback discussions. We will make sure that the impact of the follow will be reflected positively on the performance of the teachers observed.
The kindergarten will prepare a PD plan based, not only on the classroom observations and the learning walks, but also, on a survey filled by the teachers about what they would like to learn. The PD team will prepare a list of priorities for development on termly basis. After that, the PD team, along with the heads of departments, measure the impact of Professional Development through conducting other classroom observations and the learning walks in order to check what are the improved areas and what are the areas they still need to work on.
The kindergarten will allocate sufficient part of its budget towards academic training programs and professional development, which includes participation in internal and external training. Outside workshops will be organized, and professional trainers will be invited to present workshops. Trainees will evaluate the training workshops, and will give feedback to the heads to measure and improve training in the kindergarten. The kindergarten will identify teachers’ needs based on their feedback, observation of lessons, students’ results, and departmental meetings.
The kindergarten will hold a contract with a specialized maintenance-for-fire safety company that keeps the kindergarten’s fire system and extinguisher serviceable. The cleaning of classrooms and the entire kindergarten is carried out daily with the help of cleaners on standby during the day.
The kindergarten will have an evacuation plan, which will be announced and published throughout the kindergarten premises, and the kindergarten will train staff and students to conduct mock evacuation processes four to six times in an academic year. Additionally, the fire system and extinguishers will be distributed and maintained regularly, and records will be kept with the safety person in charge. All the electrical panels will be safely closed along with the fire assembly points located with signs on the ground. Civil defense visits the kindergarten and train the staff on fire extinguisher usage, procedures, fire safety precautions, and an ambulance team will demonstrate a workshop about first aid for staff and students.
The nurse will take care of any health matters. The healthcare unit will be equipped with necessary first aid medicines and medical equipment. The nurse will be aware of various cases of illness and follow up with parents. Records of cases of illness and incidents will be kept safely. The nurse will have valid license from the Ministry of Health. Moreover, the nurse will regularly check the food in the canteen.
The kindergarten has strategies in place to promote and plan for community involvement. Throughout the year, the kindergarten will participate in various local community events. The kindergarten will participate in various activities and events that reinforce effectively the involvement with the local community.
