LEADERS IN LEARNING


CAMBRIDGE-STRATEGIES.ORG THAMERINTERNATIONALSCHOOL.COM JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA


“OUR STUDENTS EXCEL WHEN THEY GO ON TO UNIVERSITY AND WE HAVE A 100 PER CENT ACCEPTANCE RATE. NONE OF OUR STUDENTS IS LEFT BEHIND”


THAMER INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL


THE MOTTO OF Saudi Arabia’s Thamer International School (TIS) is “Students First”, and it reflects a value that is embedded in every aspect of the school’s day-to-day operations. Located in the port city of Jeddah, on the country’s Red Sea coast, the school’s campus is home to around 3,900 students from pre-school to Grade 12, with separate facilities for boys and girls. Secondary school students are prepared to take the UK’s IGCSEs and A levels, or SATs for the American Diploma. TIS is in the preliminary stages of developing an International


Baccalaureate offering to complement its British and American examinations, which will be introduced in the next three to four years. The school will begin training its staff for the new programme from 2016. “We are a pioneer in international education in Jeddah,” says Academic Director Rana Abdel Baqi, “and we will be one of the first schools in the city to offer the International Baccalaureate.” The school has a multicultural, multiracial and multilingual student body.


While most students are from an Arabic-speaking background, they come from across the entire Middle East, as well as from the UK, the US, Canada and countries throughout Europe and Asia. “This cultural diversity is celebrated each year on International Day,” says Abdel Baqi. “It is an opportunity for students to learn more about their classmates’ cultural backgrounds.”


PREPARING FOR CHANGE Preparing students for the rapid pace of technological change that they will experience throughout their lifetime is critical. For this purpose, students have individual access to an e-library portal through which assignments, homework, as well as reading and writing tasks, are shared. Teachers can provide feedback directly via email and give online comments. Moreover, students can access videos and e-books for every subject at home. “Students not only use this


facility to extend their learning, both in and out of the classroom, but also to help make the use of technology second nature for them,” says Abdel Baqi. Language skills are an important indicator of the school’s priorities and its pedagogical achievements. “Our students have excellent spoken English, often indistinguishable from native speakers,” says Abdel Baqi. While English is the school’s language of instruction, students also benefit from compulsory studies in Arabic and French. Each of the four key stages has its own library, each of which is well equipped with age-appropriate reading material, and reading critically acclaimed works in English is particularly encouraged. “The more students read,” adds Abdel Baqi, “the better writers they will be.” To promote reading as early as possible, TIS makes use of the Oxford Reading Tree Programme for students of pre-school age to Year 7.


AN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL Abdel Baqi is justifiably proud of the school’s achievements in international education, and TIS is known for its outstanding results in both the Cambridge and the SAT examinations. “Our students excel when they go on to university and we have a 100 per cent acceptance rate,” she says. “None of our students is left behind.” The majority of students go on to English-language universities in Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan, but many now go to universities further afield—to the UK, the US and Canada, as well as Germany, Australia and Malaysia. The TIS anthem proclaims: “Today we are learners, tomorrow we


are leaders”, and this sense of aspiration is reflected throughout the school community. “We are renowned at all of our students’ destination universities,” says Abdel Baqi. “When I meet with educators from other institutes, they always have a word of appreciation for our students, who leave an impactful and strong first impression.”

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