Teaching & Learning

Our Goals for
Teaching & Learning

Everyone in the school, regardless of background or starting point, achieving the highest academic standards.

Equipping students with the values, attitudes and attributes that will serve them well in university, the workplace and their life.

Delivering this outcome consistently, year on year, regardless of changes to context or circumstances.

Our
Curriculum

We follow the National Curriculum for England. This stipulates targets in each area of the curriculum for which children should know, understand and be able to do.

The development of learning skills, independent thought, creativity and a love of learning are wider aims of the curriculum and are embedded in all that we do. All pupils are expected to work hard to achieve their academic potential. Ultimately, academic success at GCSEs level is an aim of the curriculum and an aspiration of students, staff and parents. We believe that such success is best achieved through a broad curriculum with a wide variety of opportunities for pupils to develop and practise their own academic interests.

OUR LEARNING ETHOS

Hard Working and Secure Individuals

  • Practice
    Train and prepare through repetition of the same processes.
  • Responsible
    Choose right from wrong.
    Be honest about mistakes.
    Come ready and prepared for school.
  • Persevere and be Resilient
    Persist in effort, face obstacles but never give up.
    Work diligently and systematically.
    Not be satisfied until high quality, precision and the desired outcome are achieved.
    Change what I need to.
    Not be put off by mistakes.

Agile and Resourceful Learners

  • Motivated
    Work hard because it matters.
    Plan independently.
    Think and do things for myself.
  • Curious and Enquiring
    Ask questions about what I have learnt.
    Explore new ideas in my learning.
    Question what I see, hear and read.
  • Reflective
    Think and talk about what I have learnt.
    Improve what I have learnt.
    Use what I have learnt to make choices.
  • Creative and Enterprising
    Be willing to innovate and invent multiple solutions.
    Adapt my approach according to need.
    Show originality in work.
    Use initiative to find solutions.
  • Risk Takers
    Think, then have a go.
    Find new ways to solve a problem.
    Do things differently to do them better.
  • Open Minded
    Change my ideas because of what I’ve seen, heard or read.
    Think about things from another’s point of view.
    Accept others have different ideas.

Empathetic and Respectful Contributors

  • Confident
    Talk about ideas clearly.
    Enjoy new challenges.
    Be confident in saying and doing.
  • Collaborative
    Find out what other people think.
    Find answers with other people.
    Include other people.
  • Community-minded
    Help others.
    Make a difference at BSS and in the community.
    Take care of the world around me.

HIGH PERFORMANCE
LEARNING (HPL)

High Performance Learning

British School Salalah strives to be a High Performance Learning (HPL) World Class School.

High Performance Learning (HPL) World Class Schools have teaching and learning at their heart and are committed to moving from some students learning at high levels to all students learning at high levels.

You can read more about High Performance Learning on their website

HPL at British School Salalah

HPL develops the essential skills, values, attitudes and attributes needed to reach success, both in school and beyond. Students learn how to succeed through the use of a consistent educational language that is shared between students and teachers; it enables students to think flexibly and creatively while developing the capability to self regulate when things don’t go to plan.

This provides students with lifelong skills to be high performing learners.
The consistent educational language that is used can be seen below in our BSS Learning Ethos and our BSS Thinking Skills.

BSS & BSM Thinking Skills

Find out more about our  Thinking Skills 

HPL ADVICE
FOR PARENTS

Parents can play a huge role in helping their kids to fulfil their academic potential, and advanced learning expert Professor Deborah Eyre and education journalist Wendy Berliner, believe they know just what parents need to do. Here are Berliner and Eyre's tips to help your child to fulfil their academic potential.

The latest neurological and psychological research shows most children are capable of reaching the high levels of performance previously associated only with the gifted and talented. IQ and potential isn't fixed - evidence shows it can be grown, and the key is developing the right learning attitudes and attributes.

The vast majority of children could do really well at school, but unless parents play their part and help them learn the habits of high performance, they're far less likely to get there. Here are 6 practical things that parents can do:

1. Encourage resilience

Children who do well at school aren’t put off by failing – they keep trying until they get better. Your job when a child says they’re rubbish or can’t do something is to make them believe in themselves and keep going.

  • Don’t say: Let me do it for you.
  • Do say: I know it’s hard now, but you can do this if you keep trying.

2. Encourage planning and monitoring

Knowing how they’re doing – that they’re on track with their homework, for example – and knowing they need to put more effort into improving certain things, is very important to high performers.

  • Don’t say: Just start somewhere and muddle along.
  • Do say: How are you going to tackle this? Do you know you’re on track? How can you tell you’re doing it right?

3. Encourage open-mindedness

Being open to new ideas is the hallmark of an advanced learner. Start with being open-minded yourself, and model what it’s like to be receptive to ideas that differ from your own.

  • Don’t say: What a stupid idea.
  • Do say: Isn’t that interesting? I never thought of that, but that’s such a good approach.

4. Encourage practice

It’s the only way to get better. Make sure it’s regular, deliberate and planned practice, working towards achievable incremental goals, and that your child practises what he/she can’t do until they can do it well.

  • Don’t say: You’ve been practising long enough now, do something else.
  • Do say: You’re really good at that now, what’s the next step up?

5. Encourage curiosity

Curiosity is at the heart of all learning and the link with high performance is compelling, so encourage questions and model curiosity yourself. Your job is to answer your children’s questions initially and then later encourage them to find out the answers themselves.

  • Don’t say: Stop asking so many questions.
  • Do say: I wonder why …?

6. Encourage critical or logical thinking

The characteristic most associated with academic success is the ability to deduct, hypothesise, reason and seek evidence – Sherlock Holmes is your model for this.

  • Don’t say: Why are you interested in that? Who cares?
  • Do say: Why do you think that happened? How could you work it out?