The Elementary Section Grades 1 – 4
The mission of SAIS Elementary section is to inspire, empower, and engage students in the learning process while instilling the qualities of citizenship, communication, collaboration, creativity, critical-thinking and coding skills, which are paramount in developing 21st century learners. We foster and encourage academic excellence and promote positive social development within a differentiated instructional methodology in an inclusive and safe environment that challenges and nurtures. We strive to demonstrate compassion and civility within our interactions among staff, students, families, and our community. The Elementary section ranges from Grade 1 to Grade 4.
The curriculum in the ES aims to develop a range of learning skills where students are expected to take a more active role in their own learning to reach a greater understanding of various concepts. The program requires teaching of Arabic, English, Math, Science, Social Studies, Moral Education, UAE Social Studies, Islamic Studies, Physical Education, Art, and Information Technology. Our learners strive to become inquirers, risk-takers, and reflective thinkers. Students develop their natural curiosity and learn the necessary skills to conduct experiments in science. They explore new concepts, ideas, and issues about the world around them. They approach unfamiliar situations with courage and open-mindedness. Furthermore, they learn to show respect towards the needs and feelings of others. Ultimately, they learn to apply thinking skills creatively and critically.
Moreover, the ES implements a comprehensive value-based education program that assists students in thinking about and reflecting on different universal values. It aims to inspire students to make appropriate personal, social, and moral choices within a globally recognized value system. The five values emphasized are responsibility, respect, cleanliness, cooperation, and honesty. The implementation of this program involves carrying out a broad range of activities to encourage the development of both cognitive and affective skills.
Throughout this year we fully implemented a Blended Model to expose our students to new instructional material in more innovative ways through remote and face-to-face learning due to COVID-19. It remains an important goal for students to have an opportunity to remain engaged in the learning process during the period of uncertainty.
The teachers work diligently to forge and foster positive relationships with our students during online classes as well as in the physical classroom. Our students were able to gather for synchronous learning times via MS Teams, an online video conferencing platform. Collaboration remains important and there are many ways teachers can foster it through synchronous (all students at the same time) learning.
When students are learning from various locations, teachers can still connect them asynchronously (not all students at the same time). The teachers use familiar discussion forums/thread or tools like MS Teams general chat and Class Dojo to allow for student responses and dialogue during a set time period, knowing that students might not all be online at the same exact time. Our students also have access to the recorded live sessions.