Supportive, Welcoming Environment

At AWIS we strive to develop a welcoming environment, catering to the needs and valuing the opinions of the school community. Parent perception of AWIS can be evidenced on the school’s Facebook page where the following words reoccur: friendly, open, caring, lovely environment, great teachers.

Student welfare permeates all that we do. We strongly believe that children should feel cared for and care about each other. Students who feel happy, secure and respected learn more effectively. The IPC Personal Learning Goals help promote character traits such as morality, resilience and respect which enhance student well-being. A positive behaviour policy with a programme of rewards and clear steps for negative behaviour also supports all students.

We are firm believers in a genuine “open door” policy, where students and parents can approach teachers and management to discuss freely any issues or concerns.

Modern, International Curriculum

The role of any school is to prepare its student body for living and working in the 21st century, a time of rapid change. Populations are becoming increasingly mobile and technology is developing at an unprecedented rate.

We acknowledge that we need to ensure students are prepared for a competitive, international society that is subject to continuous dynamic developments. It is essential our students develop diverse and transferable skills.

We achieve this through a modern, international curriculum based upon the International Primary Curriculum (IPC). This is a thematic curriculum which suits the needs of our diverse student population. This cross-curricular approach uses inquiry based methods enabling students to become independent learners. There is a focus on internationalism, vital for our more global world. Additionally there is also the flexibility to acknowledge the importance of the host nation and celebrate Qatari traditions and culture.

As a school we, therefore, offer a curriculum which is child-centred and learning focussed. This inquiry based focus allows students to take ownership of their learning and moves away from a knowledge based curriculum. The emphasis is on the development of skills and understanding of concepts rather than the acquisition of facts.

Holistic, Child-centred Approach

Schools should support students to develop not just academically but physically, socially and emotionally. As part of our holistic, child-centred approach we acknowledge the importance of extra-curricular activities. These are integrated into the school timetable and are driven by our educational goals. Teaching staff plan and deliver a series of activities on a rotational programme. This ensures all students from Years 1-6 experience a cycle of 5 different kinds of activity over a yearly programme. These include fitness, arts, music and drama, problem solving and games activities.