Prep Curriculum - Innovation & Digital Learning

Our Early Years provision is built upon a single guiding principle: we start from the child.

We provide environments that stimulate curiosity, then observe closely and follow our pupils' lead, drawing upon whatever has captured their interest. Alongside a weekly overview, we plan in the moment, responding to what children are exploring rather than working solely to a fixed timetable.

Learning takes place across the seven areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage, through play, discovery and high-quality conversation. Daily phonics begins through Read Write Inc., alongside early mathematics, shared reading and writing.

Our teachers frame their questions with "I wonder": I wonder if, I wonder what, I wonder how. Framed this way, questions invite children to think aloud, and their answers reveal far more about how they are making sense of the world.

Our Pre-Prep curriculum is built upon the principles of the Early Years Foundation Stage and the English National Curriculum, providing a nurturing environment where children develop a lifelong love of learning through play, exploration and enquiry.

English is taught daily. Writing develops through Talk for Writing, in which pupils imitate a model text, innovate upon it and then create independently. Phonics is taught every day through Read Write Inc. in groups matched to the sounds each child is securing, and a joined cursive hand is taught from Year 2. Mathematics is taught daily, beginning always with materials the children can handle before progressing to pictorial representation and then to abstract methods.

Specialist teaching in Physical Education, Music, Arabic, Islamic Studies and Qatar History further enriches our pupils' learning and broadens their understanding of the world around them. Pupils are introduced to Spanish in Year 2 and to French in Year 3, building early language awareness and a love of languages from a young age.

From Year 2, our pupils bring their own device to school as part of our Bring Your Own Device provision.

Year 4 marks the beginning of our Prep phase, and learning becomes markedly more independent.

Enquiry work grows more ambitious, and technology becomes a genuine tool rather than a subject in its own right. Guided reading is taught four days each week, spelling and handwriting are explicitly taught, and mathematics progresses steadily from concrete materials towards abstract reasoning. Science is taught weekly and through enquiry, with pupils working scientifically: asking a question, making a prediction, carrying out an experiment, collecting data and drawing a conclusion.

Every enquiry culminates in a tangible outcome, whether a presentation, a performance, an exhibition, a model or a piece of published writing, and every challenge is celebrated and shared with the school and the wider community.

As our pupils move through the upper Prep years, learning becomes increasingly enquiry-based, encouraging them to think critically, solve problems and make meaningful connections across subjects.

Building upon the strong foundations established in Pre-Prep, our pupils experience greater subject specialism while continuing to benefit from outstanding pastoral care. Alongside academic excellence, emphasis is placed upon developing the lifelong skills that matter most: collaboration, communication, creativity and independent thinking.

The curriculum encourages our pupils to investigate, question and apply their knowledge, preparing them confidently for the transition into Senior School.

We teach the National Curriculum for England (2014) in full, from Pre-School through to Year 13, shaped thoughtfully to reflect the culture and heritage of Qatar. All pupils follow the Arabic, Islamic Studies and Qatar History curriculum set by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education. From Year 9, pupils begin their IGCSE programme, continuing to AS and A Level in our Sixth Form.

Our pupils continue into Senior School, beginning their IGCSE programme in Year 9. Starting a year earlier allows additional time to deepen understanding and achieve outstanding outcomes. They then progress to AS and A Level, supported by comprehensive university and careers guidance as they apply to universities in Qatar, the United Kingdom and around the world. A pupil who begins with us in Pre-School may complete their entire education here.

From the Early Years, at age three and above. Technology is introduced in age-appropriate ways that encourage curiosity, creativity and exploration, and it develops steadily throughout the school. By Upper Key Stage 2, our pupils are producing podcasts and documentaries, programming robots and building three-dimensional models.

Yes, from Year 2 onwards. We ask pupils to bring a laptop with a Windows operating system so that they may take part fully in classroom learning and develop their digital skills in presenting media, exploring the digital world safely and understanding computer science. A recommended specification is published for parents, and a device purchased in Year 6 may usually continue into Year 7, provided it still meets the required specification.

Rather than teaching subjects in isolation, we build learning around a question explored over several weeks. Each enquiry begins with an experience designed to spark curiosity, develops the knowledge and skills the question demands, and concludes with a challenge our pupils have been working towards throughout. Every challenge is celebrated.

Our approach to assessment is continuous rather than examination-driven. Teachers track progress against National Curriculum objectives throughout the year, with four summative grade points recorded annually. Full written reports are sent to parents twice each year, complemented by parents' evenings and by informal conversation whenever it is needed.

Homework is set on a Thursday and returned the following Tuesday, and it increases gradually as pupils move up the school. In Years 1 and 2 it amounts to approximately fifteen minutes per subject alongside daily reading; by Years 5 and 6, thirty to thirty-five minutes per subject. From Year 2, homework is set and recorded through Microsoft Teams Assignments so that parents may follow progress, and teachers aim to mark and return work within one week. There is also an ongoing project each term linked to the year group's enquiry question.