On Monday, 22nd 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 26th and 27th 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.
On the 11th of March, 7 SEK students traveled to Madrid, Spain to partake in the 13th annual SEK Model United Nations Conference. They participated in the 3 day conference where they represented the delegations of Mexico and Tunisia in the committees of United Nations Human Rights Council, the United Nation World Tourism Organization, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the United Nations Economic and Social Committee.
Students collaborated with others to discuss issues such as the promotion of peace and sustainable development in Africa, competitive and responsible global tourism, sustainable and reliable energy use in the modern world and combating the glorification of organizational practices that fuel discrimination and xenophobia. In addition, they conducted research and engaged in friendly negotiation that resulted in new perspectives regarding global issues. Following the conference, the students toured the city with the company of 7 SEK-El Castillo students to expand their cultural perspective as well.
Last Thursday, 17th January SEK-Qatar was welcomed to the Academic Bridge Program at Qatar Foundation for an All-Qatar University Fair.
Universities from around the world based in Doha were in attendance to inform students on their wealth of programs and details of the admissions process. Qatari businesses were also present to inform on scholarships and internships.
Twenty two of our sophomores and juniors represented us proudly!
On Tuesday 14th of January, Preschool 4 students experienced ice-skating at the Gondolania Ice Rink at Villaggio Mall as part of their unit provocation, Weather and Seasons. This experience aligned with this unit’s central idea, ‘Weather can influence the way people go about their daily lives’.
As a learning community dedicated to 21st century international mindedness, exposing our students to as many national and cross-cultural opportunities will contribute to our students’ development as global citizens. In addition, this provocation allowed students the opportunity to explore how ice-skating contributes to a healthy physical lifestyle while they had a very good time.
On Sunday, 16th December, we celebrated Qatar National Day at our school. This celebration gives the students, parents and teachers of SEK Qatar a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the many aspects of Qatari culture.
Every term, our students take time to study the Qatari culture, traditions and rich heritage and in this oportunity, we had a great variety of student artworks on display around the Main Hall. We also enjoyed face painting and henna and a chance to play traditional Qatari games.
Meanwhile on the stage there were a variety of performances from PYP and MYP students, including the henna night Dance from Grade 5 and 6 Girls, a poem and play written by Grade 8 students and the traditional sword dance performed by PYP boys. MYP music students were proud to give recital of the Qatar National Anthem.
In addition, we enjoyed traditional food and drinks and we would like to send a special thanks to all of the students, school staff and parents that helped us to make this joyous event happen!
We are glad to have shared with all the visitors this special day in honour of Qatar National Day 2018.
The UNESCO Doha Office provides an Environmental Awareness Pilot Program in the Mangroves in Al Thakira and it is a great opportunity to learn about the coastal/marine environment.
As a part of Science Class, 6 Grades students walked across the ecosystems in the Mangroves to experience the environmental conditions of each as well as the organisms that inhabit them. They were given binocular to observe the bird life, crabs and other organisms in the habitat. They also crossed the mangroves to measure temperature and salinity.
Over the weekend of 8th – 10th November, 2018, eight SEK Qatar students from Grade 10 and 11 (Mohamed Ibrahim, Abdur-Rahmaan Iqbal, Fatima Mammadova, Sarah Gil, Zaynab Berriche, Karim Abi Nahed, Najah Risheq and Mohamad Ladki) put their research and communication skills to use at the 11th annual Doha College Model United Nations Conferences.
The SEK students represented the country of Turkey in a number of General Assembly Committees, The Human Rights Council, the Economic and Social Council and the Environmental Commission.
Students worked hard and collaborated with their peers to negotiate and discuss issues such as the use of chemical weapons on Syria, the prevention of discrimination based on age and the mistreatment of migrate workers following globalization. They truly enjoyed having the opportunity to discuss such intense issues as well as working closely with others their age to make a change. It was an enlightening experience for all attendees.