At School of the Nations, student engagement is about the degree of attention, curiosity, interest, optimism, passion, and motivation our students show when they are learning. We believe that successful student engagements are predicated on the fact that learning improves when varying approaches to instructions provide our students with opportunities to be inquisitive, interested, and inspired. Equally, the challenges of teaching diverse learners in varying learning contexts puts into perspective the importance of student engagement to the learning experience. We believe that engagement is demonstrated when students are meaningfully engaged in the learning process, participate with confidence, and have agency over their own learning. Therefore, as we reflect on student engagement as one of our key strategic priorities, we are committed to:
- Providing our teachers with Professional Development that will help them to incorporate new and meaningful teaching and learning strategies in the classroom.
- Teaching students how to be self-directed learners with growth mindsets and providing opportunities for them to develop life-long skills, including creativity, curiosity, risk taking, collaboration and design thinking.
- Fostering learning and growth in our students to prepare them to become lifelong learners, and to lead productive meaningful lives. This means engaging students with content that connects learning to the real world.
- Providing opportunities for our students to collaborate on interdisciplinary inquiry-based projects and problem solving.
- Creating and fostering classroom environments where students feel safe to take risks, be open minded, and are encouraged to participate and share their point of view.
- Providing opportunities for students to use technology in a variety of ways to enhance their learning.
When we reflect on the professional development of our faculty, we see significate value in Professional Learning Communities where teachers embrace effective collegiality and collaboration in support of learners. We believe that the essence of Professional Learning Communities is a focused and collaborative commitment to student improvement. This is achieved through the promotion of a culture that supports collaboration, shared beliefs and behaviors, and a macro view of the school’s efforts at supporting student outcomes. Professional Learning Communities allow our teachers to work together across grade levels, to reflect on their instructional practice and student outcomes and find innovative ways to improve student learning and achievement. In this regard, we are committed to:
- Providing the resources teachers need to support the work the do in Professional Learning Communities.
- Providing Professional development for all members of faculty to be actively involved in Professional Learning Communities.
- Promoting collective responsibility, and accountability for students learning and achievements.
- Giving teachers across departments the time necessary to engage in reflective inquiry into students’ development in areas of academic, social-emotional, and physical development.
- Encouraging teachers to work collaboratively across subjects, grade levels, and departments to develop their teaching skills using innovative teaching techniques to improve the delivery of their lessons.
At school of the Nations, we know that improvements to our educational capacity work hand-in-hand with the improvements in physical and operational infrastructure. Over the past few years we have transitioned a great deal of operational assets to cloud based management systems and have recruited heavily to develop a well staffed maintenance and operations capacity. Moving into the coming years we intend to invest heavily in the physical infrastructure as we continue to grow.
School of the Nations is constantly in the process of upgrading the infrastructure. The current infrastructure growth falls into the following categories:
- Cloud based management systems
- Internet supply and networking
- Computer hardware (computer labs and administrator/teacher computers)
- Back up generation capacity
- Air conditioning and the cost of electricity
- Maintenance systems and staffing
- Building condition and space available
At school of the Nations, we believe that the goal of teacher recruitment must focus on improving educational opportunities and learning for our students. Therefore, recruiting and retaining effective teachers is pivotal to this achieving this goal. We believe that effective teachers have a positive impact on their students and use their expertise to improve learning. They share the Nations family ethos, which focuses on the promotion of moral and spiritual education, in addition to the arts, sciences, and professions. The emphasis is on education as a means for social and national improvement. We are therefore committed to:
- Identifying, developing, and retaining, qualified and experienced teacher who contribute to the institution’s couture and priorities.
- Providing renumeration, and other benefits that are commensurate with teachers’ qualifications, and experiences.
- Creating conditions that that regularly offer formal and informal leadership opportunities, and support teachers individually, and collectively to improve their leadership skills.
- Providing Professional Development opportunities, and support for teachers, individually and collectively.
- Promoting promote action research by teachers to improve their practice and advance learning.
We are aware of the benefits of improved school infrastructure, including evidence that points to the direct relationship between school infrastructure and educational performance. Therefore, we are committed to improving the existing infrastructure with the commitments to improvements in the following areas:
- Cloud based management systems.
- Internet supply and networking
- Computer hardware (computer labs and administrator/teacher computers)
- Back up generation capacity
- Air conditioning and the cost of electricity
- Maintenance systems and staffing
- Building condition and space available
At School of the Nations, we are committed to building a school climate where students and staff thrives and are supported to achieve their full potential. We know that student wellbeing is at the heart of positive learning outcomes and the development of a responsible and engaged students. We also recognize that teachers and other members of staff regularly must juggle many competing demands, and they can easily put other people’s mental health and wellbeing needs ahead of their own. As a result, we are committed to supporting our students and staff mental health wellbeing in the following ways:
- Developing clear students and staff mental health policies and putting them into practice.
- Provision of mental health support counseling services on campus.
- Providing students with updated information about how to cope with stressful situations and school, and outside of the school environment.
- Provide a mental health training program for staff as part of the annual Professional Development agenda.
