the well-rounded nature of our students and no doubt support their overall wellbeing at the school, which was reflected in an outstanding report from the CIS Team Evaluation Visit in these domains, with many major commendations and not a single major recommendation for student wellbeing at the school. In spite of this, however, we were not complacent and last year witnessed the engagement of the Leadership Team, and Wellbeing Teams (with input from the PTA) with a review and update of a range of wellbeing policies across the school, which were implemented at the start of the new academic year. In addition, we also, once again, carried out a full review of the school day, with the benefits of the later (and more staggered) start for MYS and IBC students being implemented for Primary School students from Grades 1-5. Whilst, this decision had clear educational benefits for our students, it did present the school with a number of logistical challenges, which I am pleased to report appear to have all been successfully overcome, not least through the amazing new pick-up arrangements at 3pm, which have been universally commended. “The school for ensuring a positive and proactive community that is highly committed to the well-being of the students.” #
“The ABS community for creating an outstanding “whole-school climate” and a highly positive learning community, which fully reflects the Guiding Statements.” #
“The ABS community for actively ensuring a high level of trust and well-being that is translated in the teaching and learning of the students.” #
“The Leadership Team for offering various service and charity programmes promoting internationalism and global citizenship.” #
“The school for developing a comprehensive Safeguarding Policy that has been translated into Arabic to serve the whole school community.” #
All these wonderful opportunities contribute to
I am also delighted that we are continuing to
ANNUAL REPORT 2017 - 2018
make substantial progress with both our Five Year Strategic Plan (see whole school goals in this report) and our Facilities Master Plan for the redevelopment of the campus. The coming academic year 2018 – 2019 will mark the culmination of our existing Strategic Plan, which was fully updated in line with the revised CIS domains and our ABS Experience Model, representing a model of good practice, confirmed by its inclusion as an exemplar of best practice in a recent edition of the International Schools Magazine. As ever a sincere thank you to HRH Princess Sarvath El Hassan, Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees, and all the distinguished Board members for their leadership and guidance over the past year, to all the staff for their commitment and dedication, and to the parents for their involvement and commitment to a positive home-school relationship. As a school, we are particularly fortunate to be blessed by an exceptionally low-turnover of staff and students by international standards, which ensures that ABS remains a consistent community of learners, aspiring to the absolute highest standards of educational provision. There is no question that in 2017-2018 we achieved this and we look forward to the 2018-2019 academic year with renewed energy and opportunism for yet another highly successful year. “The Board of Trustees and Leadership Team for developing a benefits package which, when combined with a robust performance management system, has contributed to recruiting and retaining a high quality, stable staff, with consequent benefits for students’ learning.” #
اﻟ ّﺘﻌﺎون- اﻻﻟﺘـــﺰام- اﻟ ّﺘﻌــﺎﻃــﻒ- اﻟﻤﺼــﺪاﻗﻴــّﺔ- اﻟ ّﺘﺴــﺎﻣﺢ- اﻻﺣﺘــﺮام:اﻻﺗـّﻔﺎﻗـﻴـﺎت ا ﺳــﺎﺳﻴــّﺔ ﻟﺒــﺮﻧــﺎﻣﺞ رﻋــﺎﻳﺔ اﻟﻄــﻠﺒــﺔ
beyond what is normally possible, with our first WAoS Scholarship student graduating this year, but staying with ABS to complete his IB Diploma as per the WAoS and IB pilot programme, which allows for such flexibility for elite athletes due to their intensive training and competition schedules for international and Olympic competitions. The school also hosted the first-ever FC Barcelona Camp in September 2017, which was a great success. Indeed, as I write this report, negotiations are ongoing, for a fully-fledged “Barca Football Academy” to be established at the school from September 2019. Moreover our Round Square, Creativity, Activity and Service and Model United Nations programmes remain of the highest order, reflecting international best practice in these domains.
Stuart Bryan MA (St Andrews), PGCE (Oxon), ACE (Leicester)
# = Major Commendations from ABS Council of International Schools (CIS) International Re-Accreditation Report from Team Evaluation Visit September 2017
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