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Youngsters that have endured traumatic experiences and bullying at different schools across the kingdom have found a safe haven at the award-winning institute in Bahrain that recently picked up an international accolade and local honours.
Nadeen School Bahrain, known by parents, children and staff members as - ‘Small School – Big Family’ - received its prize for ‘outstanding pastoral care’ at a recent glitzy ceremony in London.
This year the primary school, situated close to the British Club in Umm Al Hassam, is celebrating its 40th anniversary having started in Ghufool with a mere 40 students has grown to offer spaces for 400. Shanee Puri, Nadeen’s director of administrative affairs and co-owner, who runs the school with her mum, former teacher Pauline, said: “Our school motto perfectly encapsulates who we are and our holistic and empathetic approach to the whole-child, in a non-selective setting, is entirely unique to the Middle East, in our opinion.
“While we do put a great emphasis on academic strength, we also aim to nurture every student’s inner spirit and allow them the freedom to express themselves. We do what we do at Nadeen because we want the students to feel happy, safe and confident.”
As a result, The British International Schools (BIS) magazine took notice of the school’s all-inclusive strategy and awarded them for their educational efforts and encouraging environment.
The BIS, along with ISC Research, staged an awards ceremony last month to honour top British Schools overseas in various sectors. Nominations included schools from 38 different countries of which little Nadeen won the Outstanding Pastoral Care initiative, the only school from the Middle East to bring back an award.
This prize goes to a school that supports pupil wellbeing, identifies and addresses specific student needs. It must also demonstrate a positive impact on student well-being, teaching and show that learning is designed to be sustainable and support the mission of the school.
According to the judging panel, Nadeen School won the accolade for its ‘holistic approach to engage disaffected students and accelerate learning’.
Some pupils arriving at the school had been disaffected by their experience at schools elsewhere, the judges noted.
The positive approach included creating gardens, caring for animals in a farm-like environment and an introduction to the arts. The inspiring initiative had also had such a positive impact on staff members that they had become ‘more empathetic, creative and intuitive’.
“We believe that every child has the right to an education,” Shanee explained. “We are the only non-selective outstanding school in Bahrain.
“Our admissions policy states that we will take a child regardless of level, background, or educational history on the proviso that we can meet their needs and that, by meeting their needs we do not adversely affect the other children in the class.
“Our pastoral care initiative is the driving force behind the academic and personal, social excellence our pupils achieve during their time with us. It covers the social, emotional and well-being of the children and is woven through everything that we do: from our mission statement and staffing to how we teach and support all of our pupils.”
The school’s pastoral initiative, which they call the ‘holistic hook’, is said to accelerate learning and raise a child’s self-esteem considerably.
“Like many schools, we have hooks that capture whole class interests or specific groups’ interests and we see their learning accelerate as they become empowered by particular topics or lessons,” added Shanee. “But, at Nadeen School, we like to take that a step further.
“We consider the whole child and take a holistic approach, particularly for those pupils that are struggling to access the curriculum - whether that is due to learning difficulties or social and emotional difficulties.”
Apparently, 25 to 30 per cent of the pupils there require significant support with their learning. Some pupils enter the school with a variety of learning needs such as little or no English, considerable gaps in their education, specific learning difficulties, some profound learning difficulties and others with social and emotional needs.
Shanee explained: “Because of these needs, these children often have very low self-esteem or poor learning habits.
“Our lessons are dynamic, our scheduling fluid and many of our lessons are pupil-led and initiated. Our dedicated approach to each child ensures that they are always treated as an individual with unique talents and gifts.
“For a whole term one of our incredibly creative pupils, who came into school as selectively mute due to very low self-esteem, dyslexic and with English as a second language, had many of her 1:1 support lessons whilst she painted murals around the school. This opportunity developed her self-confidence until she was able to confidently work in classroom settings.
“We have a large Learning Support Department to meet these students’ needs. On top of the regular support classes we actively seek out their strengths and interests and create tailor-made activities and programmes for them to increase their confidence and to give them a sense of pride, ownership of their learning, and responsibility. These end up benefiting the whole school, as well as children who do not have specific learning needs, and add to our learning experience and learning spaces.”
Their garden spaces, developed by groups of children, enable the school to host interactive and specific, targeted lessons in a distinctive, natural learning space. There is an active farm, called the Nature Reserve, with ducks, chickens, a rooster and sometimes goats, run by the Year 5 and Year 6 pupils.
There is also a sensory area that’s covered in smooth rocks and includes bean bags and art work for children to enjoy. Teachers and children can feel at peace in this space as they can either read books or meditate on bean bags or make up their own stories using the picture stones.
When things get too loud sensitive children can retreat to the ‘fairy garden’ for further tranquility.
Both the farm and the garden give pupils throughout the whole school a chance to continue their learning in a natural environment that best suits their learning needs.
Shanee explained: “The farm is run as a sustainable business by pupils and the students hold an organic egg sale weekly at the school gates.”
The entrepreneurial spirit holds no bounds, it appears, as the school has also introduced a second business model called, Sh!ne - a beauty body scrub business, as the farm business was so successful at building pupils’ self-esteem.
The businesses recognise pupils’ strengths away from normal academics and showcase other talents such as collaboration, creativity, organisational abilities, communication and interpersonal skills, whilst still developing their English, maths and science abilities.
The pupils are clearly on board. Head boy, Year 6 student Lawrence Gerritsen, the 11-year-old managing director of Sh!ne, says the experience has inspired him to start up his own small business from home, selling Poffertjes, his country’s traditional Dutch fluffy pancake desserts.
Lawrence, who lives with his family in Al Jasra, said: “The business, the teachers and the school encourages and inspires me.”
Year 6 head girl Emily Troger, 11, from Janusan, joined the school in kindergarten and said: “I used to be really shy when I started and could barely talk to people. The teachers helped me find my inner-confidence - they took the time to help me and encourage me to speak up in class.”
The school’s success has produced its own challenges with demand for places continues to grow. Although its quirky buildings and greenery add to the creative and happy buzz that surrounds the school, a move to a new location is inevitable.
The school is an accredited member of the British Schools of the Middle East (BSME) association and a registered British School Overseas (BSO).
The current campus comprises four converted residential villas with connecting gardens, walkways and playground, lawn, outdoor learning spaces and the farm. Art and motivational signs cover the walls of the building, with recycled tyres providing pots for flowers and plants.
Nadeen School Bahrain was also the first school in Bahrain to introduce Chromebooks and GoogleEducation in to the classroom, as reported in GulfWeekly, and is noted as one of the six outstanding schools in Bahrain as rated by the Bahrain Quality Assurance and the only non-selective one with learning support provision.
It was recently ranked as the highest scorers amongst Bahrain private schools in an international assessment of literacy and reading. Its score of 590 was well above the national private school average of 486 and above the international average of 511.
Shanee said: “While we like our current campus and the wonderful memories it holds, we also realise the need to develop to meet educational needs of the future.
“We have been seeking permission from the Ministry of Education to move campus for the last year and are actively seeking land and partnerships for a purpose-built campus.
“In the move, we realise the need to preserve what Nadeen School is famous for: being a family-centred school where every child is recognised as a unique and special individual. Our unique ‘village’ feel will be replicated in order to maintain our current atmosphere and energy.
“We don’t know now what many of the jobs of the future will be, but know that we have to prepare our pupils for a rapidly changing world. We look forward to helping create the learner and worker of the future and instilling in our students the skills of creative thinking, entrepreneurship, leadership, resilience, problem solving, emotional intelligence, and empathy as part of their educational journey.”
At the end of January Nadeen School was informed its pupils had achieved the highest score out of all private schools in Bahrain in an international study of literacy and reading – the PIRLS examinations (Progress in International Reading and Literacy Study.)
“Our score was 122 points higher than the private school average and well above the international average,” added Shanee. “This achievement was even more rewarding given that we are the only non-selective outstanding school in Bahrain. This, combined with our recent BISA award, validates our firm belief that every child has the right to an education and that every child can succeed. This means a great deal to us and we are so proud of our students.
“As a result we are now working closely with other Ministry of Education and government departments to help raise levels of reading and literacy in Bahrain, a partnership of which we are honoured to be a part.”
The school also had the highest scoring student in Bahrain … but that’s another story. Watch this space.
