Today we had the pleasure to have Lance King in school, a worldwide recognised writer and an expert in Approaches to Learning skills. Our grade 9-12 students had the opportunity to choose to attend one of two workshops: Future Proofing and Academic Success Skills.

In the first workshop, students learnt how to set their personal and academic goals, looking at the difference between making good and bad decisions and exploring career choices. Students were also reminded about the importance of creating an online identity focused on strengths, goals and exemplifying their virtues.

On the other hand, the second workshop was focused on learning about failing well, finding strategies to be successful academically and trying to find ways to deal with procrastination. Student also explored metacognition, looking at how their brain works in certain situations and investigating about ways of thinking and memory strategies.

It was a very interesting experience for our students and we are glad that we had the chance to have this special guest in school today.

We would like to congratulate Hyder (Grade 11) and Hasan Jinnah (Grade 7) who have won the second series of Qatar Sports Tech (QST) Hackathon competition held 26th-28th September in Doha.

Entrepreneurial minds of Doha had the opportunity to get together and put their ideas into practice finding solutions for the sports industry, especially now with the World Cup so close. Over the weekend (48 intense hours), participants went through all the stages of forming a company.

Hyder & Hasan’s team came up with the idea of an indoor navigation for stadiums, which can also be used for big malls. The app name is “NavBuddy”. This initiative was appreciated by the judging jury as it is a solution based on technology, which can be used in the future.

We are very proud of these two young innovators. Congratulations!

SEK International School Qatar has celebrated the graduation of the grade 10 and 12 students in the presence of SEK President, Ms. Nieves Segovia, the Ambassador of Spain to Qatar, H.E. Belén Alfaro, the Vice President of SEK Education Group, Mr. José Luis Delso, and the Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of Spain, Mr. Fernando de Castro.

As a learning organisation aimed at modelling values and practices for our students, we built on the belief that “education is a journey without end, only horizons”. Thus, for over one hundred and twenty-five years, SEK has unceasingly sought “a new, and better, educational horizon”, without ever settling for anything less. That is the keystone of our entire educational model, that our students learn to learn, but also to unlearn and relearn, to be able to tackle life’s only constant, that is: change.

SEK raises on four pillars that cement our identity and explain our pioneering spirit. A spirit that takes us often where no one’s ever been before, enabling us to dare to do things that have not yet been done and encouraging us to reach new heights.

The first of these four pillars is excellence, that is: the desire to excel, to demand rigour, effort and perfection of oneself.

Secondly, an international vocation, that is: being a citizen of our times. Our grade 10 and 12 students received an education at a distinguished International Baccalaureate school, heir to the SEK education legacy that pioneered the implementation of the International Baccalaureate programme over 40 years ago.

Independence and responsibility are other SEK hallmarks. Since 1892 we have passionately defended the uniqueness of our educational model and the dignity of each of our students and teachers. Our students have been educated to dare to question the status quo, to think differently, to travel to the unknown and to evince the indomitable spirit of the pioneers.

Finally, SEK’s fourth pillar is that of a tradition of innovation. We honour our past and learn from its valuable legacy, but we work for, and in, the future. This is our wish for all our students. That they learn from the traditions of your family, of your country and its culture, and that with those sound foundations they strive to build a diverse, but common world.

Congratulations to grade 10 and 12 students for achieving this high important milestone, as well as to parents and teachers for their invaluable support.

On the 12th of June, 2019, SEK-Qatar celebrated the Graduation for Preschool 5 and PYP Grade 5 in the presence of SEK President, Ms. Nieves Segovia, and Mr. José Luis Delso, Vice President of SEK Education Group.

Students, parents and the SEK community attended this vibrant ceremony. Several students presented their graduation speeches, Preschool 5 performed a poem and both groups surprised the audience with some videos to remember how amazing this year has been in the school.

Thank you to all who have helped everyone successfully graduate from their programs.

This is just the beginning of the journey. Congratulations and good luck to all of you!

SEK-Qatar celebrated Arts Night on Thursday 25th of April. The Arts Night provides our students, parents and teachers with a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the wonderful musical and artistic talents of our school community.

In recent months, our MYP students have been preparing their many performances and artworks inspired by the theme ‘Discovery and Exploration’. During this special evening, students explored a variaty of muscial styles across cultures, genres and time periods in order to discover new styles and possibilities in the main stage.

Grade 6 students were Storytellers for the evening having researched folk tales from around the world in English and written their own with accompanying music. Meanwhile Grade 7 students performed Atomic Clock and Danza Africana.

In addition, Grade 8 students displayed their yearlong work towards their community projects displaying service within the community and performed Radioactive.

Grade 9 and 10 performed Reflections in Moonlight, Thriller, Sway Tango Argentine, Calypso (Mexican Folk Song) and Perfect.

Students across all Grades developed Art Installations highlighting the learning taking place in their Visual Arts Class and were displayed within the main hall, gymnasium corridor, library corridor and more. Moreover, they played “Treasure Hunt” following the QR Clues around the school.

And, In the auditorium, we enjoyed a talent show with amazing performances from Maelada, Matthew, Nicole, Narod, Fares and Grade 7.

Thanks to our SEK community for joining us for a fantastic evening of music and visual arts and installations inspired by different periods in the history of art and music.

On Monday, 22^nd April we celebrated Earth Day by listening to experts who told us about the impact humans are having on the world and reminded us that it is our planet and we need to take better care of it.

We engaged in different activities such as taking a trip to the closest nature around the school and starting a “plant a seed project”. In addition, we went further to make specific promises of actions that we will take to save our mother nature.

Enjoy viewing our photos!

We are proud to say that the SEK Qatar PYP Exhibition that took place on the 26^th and 27^th of March was a huge success! This year’s exhibition informed about different topics that are relevant to our world: Disabilities and Illnesses, Pollution, Refugees and Asylum Seekers, World Peace, and Endangered Animals were the five selected themes to celebrate the culmination of the fifth graders’ learning journey, and was a wonderful finale to this year’s effort and process.

In order to summarize and present their newly acquired findings, students researched 3 lines of inquiry to suit their own interests and wrote 3 informative essays. They also came up with key questions on each of their lines of inquiry that helped them to start their research. To do this, students gathered information using different sources such as the internet, books and interviews. Technology was a huge part of the Exhibition process, as they worked daily using their own devices, and kept a record of all their work using Teams and OneNote, being responsible for putting everything they produced in there.

At the final Exhibition, students presented their visual projects around the hall, all of them filled with interesting and eye-opening facts -including a replica of a refugee tent! The highlight of the exhibition was during the music, dance, drama, and poetry performances, which were deeply though-provoking and got the public excited and laughing.

Tuesday’s performance and presentation welcomed students from other local IB schools as well as our own PYP classes, who wanted to share in this happy occasion. The visiting students asked questions and engaged in dialogue with SEK students who were well able to display excellent communication skills as they delivered their speeches and presented their inquiries.  It truly was a wonderful learning experience.

On Wednesday, we had parents evening. The excitement was palpable as students, parents, family, friends and members of the school community were supporting the Grade 5 in their final stage performance. Thanks to all SEK community for participating in such a special event!

Highlighting that SEK International School Qatar is a Microsoft Showcase institution, last December 1st, we joined forces with 365edu Events to organize a special event with world renowned and inspirational keynote speakers. The attendees had the opportunity to participate in fun and interactive workshops related to Minecraft, 3D Printing, Mixed Reality and Office, as well as network with other educators and schools in the region.

The participants made the most out of  Microsoft Office 365 package by powering up PowerPoints, extended  excel sheets and created world class word resources and that’s not all – they tried out Microsoft OneNote, Sway and Forms.  The possibilities are endless and all at our fingertips!

The attendees were also able step into a whole new world with mixed reality in the classroom! Try out the latest Acer Mixed Reality headsets and learn about how they can be used in the classroom to improve teaching and learning!

In this workshop, school owners and leaders have put into motion, attitudes and actions necessary to foster innovation and to take home to their schools breakthrough ideas. The workshop was designed to empower school leaders to inspire educators to believe in and support ideas for transforming learning and teaching at your schools.

All the participants had the opportunity to win prizes, courtesy of the sponsors Microsoft Education and Acer Education, as well as lots of freebies. In addition, al the teachers said they left the event with confidence in tools and strategies they will put into practice in their classroom.

We would like to announce that, after the continued effort of all SEK Qatar Staff during the past academic years embracing digital transformation in our school, we have renewed our Microsoft Showcase School recognition for second year in a row.

We are one of the 5 schools in Qatar to have achieved this prestigious recognition, meaning that we are a role model for other schools in the best practices implementing technology into the curriculum.

We are joining an exclusive community of more than 300 premier schools from around the world who are empowering the students of today to create the world of tomorrow. We truly believe that all these technology skills will make our students more competitive and productive, unlocking new ways and possibilities to develop their creativity and to express themselves. We look forward to sharing our experiences with other schools in our community and the world to continue finding innovative ways to equip our students with the tools needed for success inside and outside of the classroom.

As a Showcase School, SEK Qatar will work closely with Microsoft to lead innovation in education and communicate a vision for Education enabled by technology through the hosting and mentoring of other schools in the community on transformational educational practices. Microsoft Showcase Schools are the change makers in education.

Leaders and educators in Showcase Schools thoughtfully consider the role of technology as they explore new ways to redesign learning spaces, restructure curriculum, reinvent pedagogy and reimagine what 21st Century leading and learning looks like across diverse contexts.