SEK International School Qatar has been recognized as a Microsoft Showcase School for the academic year 2022-2023!

Thanks to #MicrosoftEdu Solange Jarjour, Sonja Delafosse and Dina Ghobashy for their continued support.

We are really proud of being awarded this recognition for the 5th time in a row. Requirements for the award continue to remain very strict, hence only eight other schools in Qatar have been recognized as Microsoft Showcase Schools.

This has been only possible thanks to the great work of our staff and their constant efforts exploring new ways of innovating in their teaching in order to improve the learning experiences of our students. This year, we are proud of our 17 MIE Experts (Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert) among our staff.

We are part of an exclusive global network of schools and educators who support the culture of learning, innovation and continuous improvement. The community offers space to connect and share ideas as school life is moving towards a new era of digitalization.

As Microsoft likes to put it:

  • Microsoft Showcase School program represents a global community of K-12 schools that harness digital transformation to create immersive and inclusive experiences that inspire lifelong learning and empower students to achieve more.
  • “Showcase Schools create student-centered, immersive, and inclusive experiences that inspire lifelong learning, stimulating development of essential future-ready skills so students are empowered to achieve more.”

At SEK-Qatar, we live and breath this quote daily. We are committed to school-wide digital transformation to improve learning outcomes of our students and focus on future-ready skills.

From Grade 4, every student has their own laptop, as the device is being used in almost every single class. It is not only a single subject once or twice a week, It is the foundation for our every day teaching and learning. 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.

This year, we are becoming a 1:1 device school from Grade 1 to Grade 12. We are adding a dedicated device for each student in the classroom from grade 1 to grade 3. This will maximize the opportunities our students have to use the devices when needed because they will have a designated device for each of them with a personal profile. With the addition of digital ink (each device has a stylus) students will keep practicing their handwriting on their OneNotes (digital notebooks).

Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, we have become even more alert to inquire and learn about the digital potential in our school. Thanks to various Microsoft applications, remote learning has been made smooth, accessible and fun. This has increased our appreciation of the critical work educators and school leaders do to help every student achieve more.

As we start this academic year, we are excited to share our experiences with our community to finding innovative ways to equip our students with the tools needed for success inside and outside of the classroom.

PYP Visual Art – Artist Visitor

Artists, indeed, are the movers and shakers of the world. We were fortunate to invite Qatar-based Graffiti artist Hassan Bohou into our school to share his artistic journey. It was an excellent opportunity for our students to meet with a local artist and feel inspired by his creativity. Art in all its forms is the universal language. His art provoked our imagination and caused us to pause, think and reflect. This interaction provided students with more than one amazing opportunity to connect with art and artists in a meaningful way. We were able to engage with the artist and create graffiti on one of our school’s walls based on our learner profile “Be Caring”- it is essential to remember to care for everyone around us. If you would like to see more of his artwork, here is the link: https://bit.ly/3ChtMIF

Graduation Week 2022 @ SEK International School Qatar!

Congratulations to all of our students who graduated this year!

We are excited to share with you that for the first time in over two years SEK-Qatar was able to celebrate all graduation ceremonies in school premises, with family and friends joining in person to celebrate each student’s milestone.

Preschool 5

This was a very special day for all our Preschool 5 students as they attended their first school graduation. The IBPYP Programme, which runs from Preschool 3 to Grade 5 (aged 3-12), “nurtures and develops young students as caring, active participants in a lifelong journey of learning” (ibo.org, 2021). Our teachers and staff at SEK International School Qatar have thoroughly enjoyed teaching our brilliant Preschool 5 students this year. We are proud to send them off into a well-deserved, joyful summer holiday and we are looking forward to welcoming all our returning students back next academic year when they enter Grade 1 at SEK-Qatar.

Grade 5

Next up were our Grade 5 students ready and eager to start the MYP Programme in August! Congratulations to all of them for completing the PYP Programme. Throughout the past 8 years of school, they have worked very hard and learned how to tackle challenges and embrace opportunities in our fast changing world. SEK International School Qatar is proud to offer the PYP Programme as it is one of best educational practice globally.

Grade 10

MYP Grade 10 students – congratulations for finishing the IBMYP Programme at SEK-Qatar.

The IBMYP Programme runs from Garde 6 to Grade 10 and is essential for laying a solid foundation for the final DP stage. During the MYP years, students work on community and personal projects in order to learn and expand their horizon.

DP

Class of 2022!

Congratulations SEK International School Qatar Diploma Programme graduates.

Over the past two years they have studied incredibly hard to complete the ambitious International Baccalaureate® (IB) Diploma Programme.

Not only did they battle through Extended Essays, Theory of Knowledge, CAS and many exams, yet it is also worth mentioning they spent most of their diploma stage living and studying through a global pandemic. This alone was another added challenge that all of our students mastered very well.

It was a great pleasure to have taught and equip our Grade 12 students with the necessary knowledge and skills for their next stage in life. All of SEK-Qatar wishes our 36 graduates the very best for whatever thier future might hold.

Microsoft Showcase Schools Award Ceremony 2022

At the beginning of this moth, SEK International School Qatar was invited by Microsoft Qatar to an award ceremony. SEK-Qatar was honored alongside ten other schools in Qatar who have successfully achieved the Microsoft Showcase School status in the academic year 2021-2022.

“The scheme aims to raise the efficiency of the educational system and enhance students’ standard through an array of cutting-edge modern learning strategies that push forward digital transformation, development momentum and cultivate creativity and innovation, keeping abreast of the 21st Century Skills.

The Microsoft Showcase Schools is a yearly certification world-standard project that selects schools that best implement specific criteria in incorporating technology in education.” (Microsoft, 2022)

SEK-Qatar has achieved this status for the 4th time in a row and we are proud that staff and students use Microsoft Apps as a day to day tool to organize their work and learning.

Especially the ICT Department, led by Francisco Jesús Ruiz González, at SEK-Qatar has been working very hard over the past years to ensure everyone at our school receives the necessary support, schooling and platforms.

Francisco, Mr. Fran for most of our students and staff, was also representing our school during the Microsoft event, visualizing how we use Microsoft in our school as an example of best practice. Here at SEK-Qatar we believe in the following mantra: “Technology is not a subject, it is a tool to improve teaching and learning”.

We are very excited to see how much more we can use Microsoft tools to enhance our everyday school life and where we will be in a few years from now. All we know is, this is only the beginning of a life-long journey to an open-minded and international world of learning and teaching.

Science Lab 8

In the Science unit on Chemical Reactivity and Solutions, our Grade 8 students performed an experiment to study the activity of an enzyme called catalase found in the cells of many living tissues; such as the liver and potatoes (including humans). Students discovered the importance of how catalase speeds up a chemical reaction in which it breaks down hydrogen peroxide, a toxic substance that our cells produce as a byproduct of respiration, into two harmless substances; water and oxygen.

Science Lab 6

As a part of their Science unit on Matter, our Grade 6 students performed a skills-based experiment to discover the chemical composition of various unidentified materials by using several tools available in the lab; such as an electronic balance to find the mass of each sample and calculating the volume of the objects by using graduated cylinders. With the set of quantitative data they obtained, students were then able to calculate the density of each sample which then gave them the necessary clues in figuring out the identity of each object through research.

DP Art Exhibition

The final exhibition is the culmination of the students’ IB Art experience. They have made a selection of their best work produced during the 2 years course and these were presented in the form of a curated virtual show which articulated their purposes and intentions as artists.

The students had the opportunity to present the work in any medium and we can find Acrylic paintings, charcoal or different types of sculptures.

Once again, the pandemic has affected the way our students experiment with different techniques at school and as a result, we can see certain propensity to use digital techniques such as Photo Edition, Animation or Software developed painting.

Nonetheless, this has been a very successful exhibition where the students have experienced the concept of the space and its importance for the display of the work and its impact on the audience.

We would love to invite you to watch the results of the tough but enjoyable journey of our DP Art students.

Link to Virtual Art Exhibition: https://bit.ly/3z5h6oq

Grade 11 Group 4 Project

Last Wednesday and Thursday, our Grade 11 students were engaged in their Group 4 Projects. The group 4 project is a collaborative activity where students from different group 4 subjects work together on a scientific or technological topic, allowing for concepts and perceptions from across the disciplines to be shared in line with aim 10—that is, to “develop an understanding of the relationships between scientific disciplines and their influence on other areas of knowledge.” The group 4 project allows students to appreciate the environmental, social and ethical implications of science and technology. It may also allow them to understand the limitations of scientific study. The choice of scientific or technological topic is open but the project should clearly address aims 7, 8 and 10 of the group 4 subject guides. Ideally, the project should involve students collaborating with those from other group 4 subjects at all stages. To this end, it is not necessary for the topic chosen to have clearly identifiable separate subject components. The project must be based on science or its applications. The project may have a hands-on practical action phase or one involving purely theoretical aspects. The emphasis is on inter­disciplinary cooperation, and the processes involved in scientific investigation, rather than the products of such investigations.

University Fairs

Last week, our MYP and DP students were able to engage in various University fairs. Among others, Unifrog was hosting a virtual international university fair for our students with nearly 50 institutions represented. The list included prominent universities from Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK. The US Education Group (USEG) was represented on our SEK-Qatar campus with 15 American universities to discuss program options and pertinent issues for applicants.

Community Project 2022

The Community Project is a core part of the Middle Years Programme (MYP) and at SEK-Qatar our students are completing it in Grade 8 (MYP3). This enriching project is divided in four phases,  our year students started working on their projects in October in order to finish by May.

Phase one – Investigating: Students worked over the months of October and November researching about needs and issues in our community in order to set a goal for their project. They also had to evaluate their primary and secondary sources, to make sure they were reliable and up to date.

Phase two – Planning: Once they had finished their investigation, they started planning how they were going to achieve their goal and create a successful outcome or product. They were asked to use their organisation skills to set short- and long-term deadlines, as well as develop their collaboration skills within their groups.

Phase three – Taking action: In this phase students focused on giving a service and making an impact in our community. Some of them decided to organise in-school events, others were a bit more risk-takers and created connections with organisations outside of school.

Phase four – Reflecting: Finally students reflected on their learning experience and the development of their ATL skills. They evaluated the quality of the service provided and their impact in the community.

This academic year we are proud of our 13 projects and we are pleased to invite other students, parents and staff to see their presentations by visiting their virtual exhibition.

Through the link below, you will be able to access our very special and innovative virtual exhibition – https://bit.ly/3MEat0l

  • Each section shows three of our student’s group. After viewing them and giving feedback, please move along to see the rest. You can always go back to the previous sections you have already visited by following the markers on the floor.

Please continue reading below to help you navigate through the virtual space.

By clicking on the markers on the floor you will be able to move around in the virtual space. Each section is designed by three of our student groups. When viewing the section you are linked to the related Sway (a new tab will open). Please make sure to read the survey at the end of each Sway where you will have the chance to leave your feedback which is especially very valuable for our students. After that, you can close the tab and go back and look at the next project.

Do not miss the welcome video in the center of the virtual exhibition which will give you an overview of all their work.

Please be aware, loading time for the virtual space may take a while depending on your internet connection, please be patient.