THE SHEIKH ZAYED PRIVATE ACADEMY FOR BOYS HAS OBTAINED
CIS CANDIDACY!
The Process Over the past three years, SZPAB has been working towards its CIS Accreditation. We have recently become a CIS Candidate school, paving the way towards our full accreditation in May 2022. This international designation should be a source of great confidence to our community. The quality and rigour of CIS International Accreditation is recognised by ministries, departments of education, and universities around the world as demonstration of a school’s commitment to high quality international education. From their final report, we've pulled out some of the highlights: have a read about what they've said about SZPAB!
WHAT MAKES US UNIQUE (At SZPAB), the desire to link with the past and communicate intergenerational knowledge of the country’s heritage is an important link back to the richness of the traditions of forefathers of the country and its ancestry, as well as recognising the importance of the language. The desire to prepare students for the future and make them ready will help empower them but also create a conduit for them to return and help lead the country. The school has developed an authentic, clear, and focused (core) statement (Honoring the Past, Educating for the Future), which is appropriate for the school community and its unique heritage. This statement distinguishes the school from others and guides the decision-making and general ethos of the school. The school board, leadership, and curriculum team are commended for recognising the importance of developing the children’s Arabic mother tongue and instilling cultural values to strengthen their sense of identify and respect for the richness of their heritage. The school has developed a visionary leadership program to be used as a mechanism to empower student development and ethical and responsible national and global citizenship. SZPAB became a CIS Candidate School in December 2020.
SZPAB HAS OBTAINED CIS CANDIDACY!
OUR INCLUSIVE PROGRAM The curriculum team and teachers are commended for developing a multifaceted, rich and holistic program to fully develop students. Staff are very aware of student well-being and data is used regularly to determine planning for student progress. Through the ‘success criteria’ given at the beginning of each lesson, students can better articulate their learning goals. SZPAB is a feedback rich school and uses various ways to communicate learning to students as well as parents. The school has worked very hard with its parent community to reinforce the importance of formative feedback to facilitate student learning and development. There is evidence of differentiation shared by teachers: modifying the curriculum to meet individual needs and creating standards-based assessments that allow us to track individual student progress, suggesting that the school is highly focused and student-centered in its approach. Student progress and achievement are reviewed in various ways in order to improve student access to the curriculum. Using strategies such as guided reading, MAP testing, and student reflection SZPAB has demonstrated a clear understanding of student support. Students know how to succeed, and teachers were student-centered, focusing on ‘teaching where students are at’ in order to see progress throughout the year. The school shared strong evidence to support the wide range of differentiation strategies used for inclusive programs in each area of the school from EY to senior high. The learning support team has shown that they use a detailed screening process in admissions as well as regular assessments to monitor student progress.
WELL BEING SZPAB has a very positive and supportive environment concerning well-being and learning. During interviews, teachers gave examples of student agency, environmental stewardship and different clubs and groups students could join that support well-being and further develop their interests. The implementation of a student council and Red Crescent initiative was highly regarded by the group of students who were interviewed. Parents and staff discussed the external parentships with agencies to develop life skills, such as the military and police who come in to educate students on topics such as self-defense, driving safety and leadership skills. The supportive culture and respectful exchanges provided credible assurance of the school’s positive culture. Virtual interviews and drop in classroom visits online exemplified excellent practices with inclusive strategies. The school’s founders, leadership and faculty are to be commended for their genuine commitment to values, such as respect, responsibility, ethics, belonging, tolerance, and caring as a bedrock for further developing compatible national and global citizenship.
SZPAB became a CIS Candidate School in December 2020.
SZPAB HAS OBTAINED CIS CANDIDACY!
OUR STUDENTS It is evident that students feel highly supported and this is eloquently captured in the final line within the narrative ‘I think every teacher and management, from the people cleaning the school, to the security – everyone is working together to make our education better.’ This is powerful, because it evidences that students are aware of how there is a collective community effort to support their development. The school has also developed a leadership program, which provides collaboration and student responsibility to be leaders in their community. This includes a multifaceted pyramid of topics to support students in becoming the leaders of tomorrow.
OUR STAFF There is evidence of a strong culture of professional relationships and trust. There is a high degree of professional motivation amongst employees and the school has a high retention rate of staff in recent years, suggesting that there is a sense of respect, well-being and loyalty within the organization. The school has actively supported a wide array of staff professional development courses and topics ranging from Apple teacher certification, SIOP to leadership training, middle management training, transformational coaching, technology to first aid and lifeguard training, placing a greater emphasis on safeguarding and child protection in recent years. The leadership team and teachers are commended for addressing students’ needs by providing an inclusive model of support that was shown to have a positive impact on learning.
OUR LEADERSHIP The founders, governance and leadership team have a strong complementary partnership and have demonstrated their commitment to a long term, sustainable, continuous improvement model for the school. They are to be commended for their visionary, progressive and authentic philosophy that underpins the school mission and vision. The school’s founders, leadership and faculty are to be commended for their genuine commitment to values, such as respect, responsibility, ethics, belonging, tolerance, and caring as a bedrock for further developing compatible national and global citizenship.
The pandemic has put the governance and leadership team under significant duress and challenged them to maintain the momentum of learning and to ensure that its communications and services are of a very high quality. There is strong evidence that the school has risen to the challenge and can be proud of its achievements
OUR LEARNING SPACES SZPAB operates a single fit for purpose campus that is secure, comfortable, wellresourced and facilitates high quality learning for approximately 1370 students and has capacity for 1400. It is fully developed, offering high-quality, well equipped learning spaces, libraries, fitness and sports facilities such as courts, fields and swimming pools. The school is not complacent and is continuously reflecting on how it can make further developments. A recent example of this is how it has modified its dining spaces to create an engaging atmosphere. Further to this, the installation of phonics booths facilitates small group work, and the addition of the ICT laboratory enables it to deliver on some aspects of its mission. SZPAB became a CIS Candidate School in December 2020.