LEADERS IN LEARNING
CAMBRIDGE-STRATEGIES.ORG OXFORDPANAMA.COM
PANAMA CITY, PANAMA
“THE BEST TEACHING DELIVERS NOT JUST CONTENT, BUT ALSO OFFERS THE BEST WAYS TO ACCESS INFORMATION AND LEARNING”
THE OXFORD SCHOOL
“GLOBALISATION HAS TOTALLY changed education,” says Malcolm Griggs, Head Teacher and co-founder of The Oxford School, a British-style school in Panama. “The best teaching delivers not just content, but also offers the best ways to access information and learning.” Throughout the school’s 30-year history it has consistently adapted to change, from its humble beginnings as an English-language school to its current status as a K-12 school with more than 2,200 pupils across its pre-school, primary and secondary campuses in Panama City and Santiago de Veraguas. Although The Oxford School has evolved, the global nature of
education has always been at the forefront of its teaching. The school follows the English national curriculum and around 60 per cent of the teaching staff is international. “We chose the English national curriculum as it’s a familiar system and
people come to Panama from all over the world,” says Griggs. Supported by Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) programmes at secondary-school level, the curriculum and British-style system provide a flexible education.
AN INTERNATIONAL PREPARATION “Fifty per cent of our students are considering going abroad for their further education,” says Griggs, “and this programme prepares them well for education in the UK, the US, Taiwan, China or Australia, for example.” Until Grade 5 (Year 6), students study under the national curriculum in English, taking Key Stage 1 and 2 tests, and optional interim tests from Years 2 to 6. All students are required by the Panamanian government to take Spanish and social studies lessons in Spanish, but otherwise they are taught in English from kindergarten onwards. Students work towards the CIE IGSCE, and those in Grades 11 and 12
take the Advanced International Certificate of Education—equivalent to A levels and the International Baccalaureate. “It’s a demanding qualification,
which exceeds the expectations of the local secondary school programme,” says Griggs. “We find that it teaches our students things that they may not encounter until their first year of college and university.” To deliver this ever-changing education, the school encourages the
teaching staff to adopt new practises to help students change the way they learn. “We want students to reflect on their learning, and be able to evaluate their own and each other’s progress,” says Jennifer Goward, Curriculum and Assessment Coordinator. Such assessment strategies enable students to recognise their successes, as well as the areas they need to develop next. “Our other aim is to develop the students’ thinking and independent
learning skills, whereby the teacher guides and facilitates class discussions and projects,” says Goward. “Both are so important in our increasingly global workplace.”
MAINTAINING STANDARDS Close assessment of the students and cooperative teaching methods help maintain standards. In the secondary school, pupils choose from three different programmes for their IGSCE—sciences, arts and sciences, or business. Each “arm” of study is shaped for a certain career, be it medicine, engineering, law, computing, design, marketing, human resources, accounting, psychology or international business. The Oxford School is developing its latest innovation: Panama’s
first sixth-form college. “The sixth form will prepare them for that more independent aspect of study, as well as offering university-style tutoring sessions,” says Griggs. “Again, this is because more students are planning to study abroad.” The Oxford School is rising to the challenge of meeting the changing
needs of a Panamanian and global student body, delivering fresh approaches to education with a modern, international outlook.
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