Secondary

Key Stage 3 covers the first three years of secondary education.

Curriculum

At the New English School we broadly follow the National Curriculum of England, however we also have the freedom to forge our own path, taking the best ideas in education from around the world. Our intention at the New English School is to strive towards shaping the global citizens of tomorrow and we do this by enabling our students to experience as many opportunities in learning as possible, and at Key Stage 3, to ensure a smooth transition to the IGCSE courses available to students in Year 10.

Throughout Year 9 students begin thinking about subject option choices and their future career paths. We recognise that there will be many careers that have not even been thought of yet, and that many of our students may go on to follow. Our aim to to encourage students to realise that there is a world of opportunity awaiting them.

The core curriculum in Years 7 - 9 includes: art and design, biology, chemistry, computer studies, drama, English, French, geography, history, mathematics, music, physical education and physics.

In addition, all students, regardless of nationality must study Arabic, and those students who are Muslim (including foreigners), must undertake Islamic Studies. Students in Years 7 and 8 undertake Middle East Social Studies as well. These are legal requirements from the Kuwait Ministry of Education.

Students who are not Muslim follow a programme of ‘project lessons’ which includes: first aid, Spanish culture, business foundation and entrepreneurship classes to name but a few.

Enrichment

PSHE is taught in Years 7 and 8 and alternates with Library lessons.

PSHE lessons at NES promote and encourage our students to be healthy; stay safe; enjoy and achieve; develop thinking skills; build character and resilience and become independent, critical learners and thinkers. It forms an integral and important part of the school's effort to respond to the needs of our students, to identify key concepts and skills that underpin the ethos and values of NES, to safeguard and empower our students and ultimately to enrich our community in supporting students spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development.

Students in Years 7 - 9 also have the opportunity to follow the LEAP Award. This is a voluntary programme that encourages and challenges students to ‘Lead’, ‘Engage’, ‘Achieve’ and ‘Progress’. It is part of the enrichment programme offered to students at NES and it encourages students to demonstrate independence and personal accomplishments whilst contributing productively to the school and wider community.

PSHE and LEAP Award lessons are delivered and guided by form tutors.

Placement and Setting

Students are initially placed in a form class based on the results of a placement test in English and Mathematics. These form classes are streamed and reviewed on a yearly basis.

Students are independently setted for Mathematics, English, French and Arabic; movement in these subjects may take place when the need arises and at the discretion of the department concerned.

Students who are new to the English Language or for whom the study of three languages may be too great a challenge may take Intensive English as an alternative to French.

Induction Day

Moving to a new school or even to the next Key Stage can be daunting. Our Induction Day is intended to help new students to NES, and all students beginning Year 7, to familiarise themselves with their new surroundings, meet their form tutors, become acquainted with the school environment and feel more comfortable on their first full day. The Induction Day takes place the day before the main student body arrives.

Students will also take a baseline assessment from the University of Durham. The baseline assessment enables us to understand students’ learning needs and helps us to monitor progress and potential.

Throughout the day students will: attend an assembly, be issued with a chromebook and a G Suite account, attend a ‘Fresher’s Fair’ and make new friends.

Students are not taught in their form classes. They follow courses over a 2-year period and take IGCSE examinations. English and Mathematics are compulsory and students also choose from a variety of other subjects.

At present students may take the following subjects:

Subject	Level	Examination Board
Arabic 1st Language	IGCSE	Edexcel
Arabic	General Secondary	Ministry of Education, Kuwait
Arabic 2nd Language	GCSE	Edexcel
Islamic Studies	General Secondary	Ministry of Education, Kuwait
English 1st Language	IGCSE	CIE
English 2nd Language	IGCSE	CIE
English Literature	IGCSE	CIE
French	IGCSE	CIE
Spanish	IGCSE	CIE
Mathematics	IGCSE	CIE
Physics	IGCSE	CIE
Chemistry	IGCSE	CIE
Biology	IGCSE	CIE
Economics	IGCSE	CIE
Business Studies	IGCSE	CIE
Accounting	IGCSE	CIE
Information Technology	IGCSE	CIE
Computer Studies	IGCSE	CIE
Art & Design	IGCSE	CIE
Drama	IGCSE	CIE
Music	IGCSE	CIE
History	IGCSE	CIE
Geography	IGCSE	CIE
Physical Education	IGCSE	CIE
Sociology	IGCSE	CIE

These subjects are selected from an option table. In all subjects the extended syllabus is followed.

Opportunity exists for acceleration in some subjects: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics and English 2nd Language.

• Some of these subjects require students to attend some after-school classes in addition to the normal lessons during curriculum time. Students sit their IGCSE examinations at the end of Year 10. The qualification they achieve is identical to the IGCSE taken at the end of Year 11.
• Students are expected to maintain a very high standard of work, consistent with acceleration.
• Acceleration is not a right but a privilege, awarded strictly on performance in Year 9 and maintained through the course.
• Acceleration is not suitable nor desirable for many students. Students and parents must consider the future implications of taking an accelerated course, especially with regard to the number of A levels taken in one sitting required by their choice of university.

Students who take accelerated IGCSE’s in Year 10 may need to take accelerated AS course in Year 11 in order to complete the minimum number of lessons on their timetable. Students are only permitted to undertake these courses if they have a good chance of achieving an A grade.

The New English School recognises that students differ in ability and that student development is personal to each individual student. Admittance to accelerated courses is strictly regulated in accordance with the rules and regulations of Edexcel and CIE.

The Sixth Form is a period when students are given a measure of independence and responsibility for organising some of their own time, setting the tone for what is a transitional period from School life to University. This is encouraged by the allocation of both private study periods and "social" periods: periods when they may elect to relax and interact in the modern surroundings of the Sixth Form Centre. The long and often challenging process of developing independent learning and thinking is sharpened in the Sixth Form supported by the delivery of our Thinking Skills course.

Responsibility - The Student Leadership Team

We are proud of the impact Sixth Form students make in and around the school community. Each year we appoint a Head Boy, Head Girl, Deputy Head Boy and girl, supported by a team of 25 prefects. We also have a peer-to peer learning coordinator, Chair of the Social Committee, a Secretary General of the MUN and an Editor of The Print (school magazine).

Maintaining close links with parents

Strong links with parents are encouraged so as to further enhance each student’s education. This takes place through the formal reporting system; specific one to one interviews with students and/or parents; feedback from or to subject teachers through the parent portal/email system; parental meetings arranged through the school appointment system and a scheduled parent day during the year.

Charity Work – Community –Social Responsibility

Sixth Form students are particularly encouraged to study independently, develop teamwork, acquire management skills and relate to academic staff in a more informal way. In an attempt to give everyone the opportunity to meet these aims, there are several duties delegated to members of the Sixth Form. A Social Committee is elected at the start of the year with the specific responsibility for organising and running certain charity and social events. Our sixth formers are an integral part of the NES community and have fostered links within and beyond the school community. Specifically, through paired reading in the primary, working with KACCH, Bayt Abdullah, KSPATH, Loyac, INJAZ and many other social enterprises.

Widening horizons through our enrichment programme

All Sixth Form tutor groups plan and deliver a tailored assembly. A series of topics are explored which are not only educational and informative, but which challenge attitudes and perceptions of the world in which our students are part. They are designed to stimulate and provoke an interest and awareness of the environment around them.

Academic

Students are encouraged to select and pursue an “A” Level program that will not only meet the requirements for university entry but will also stretch their learning and show diversity. Options are made at the end of Year Eleven after careful consultation with home and our careers advisor. Students select from a wide range of “AS” subjects which can be taken through to “A” Level. To ensure that students can cope with the academic rigors the entry requirements for the Sixth Form are a minimum of five subjects at IGCSE, preferably grade A’s in the subjects chosen.

AS/A2 Subjects
Arabic	French
Art	Further Mathematics
Biology	Geography
Business Studies	History
Chemistry	IT
Computer Studies	Mathematics
Theatre Studies (AS only)	Music
Economics	Physics
English Language	Sociology
English Literature	Spanish

Uniform & Discipline

Whilst we encourage a sense of self discipline students are expected to wear the appropriate NES uniform in the manner required. Like all students they sign a code of conduct and are required to adhere to this.

Essentially life in the Sixth Form prepares students with a foundation to enter a University and the wider world with a degree of confidence and maturity. If you visit the school in term time, it is likely that you will be shown around by members of our Sixth Form.

The school day in the secondary department is divided into a registration period, five teaching periods, two breaks, followed by Co-Curricular activities.

8.00-8.20am	Registration
8.20-9.30am	Period 1
9.30-10.35am	Period 2
10.35-10.55am	First Break
10.55-12.05pm	Period 3
12.05-1.10pm	Period 4
1.10-1.25pm	Second Break
1.25-2.30pm	Period 5
2.30-3.30pm	Co-curricular Activities

Students have access to a tuck shop at both break which sells salad, sandwiches, juice, water and snacks or they can bring a healthy lunch from home.

During Ramadan we work a shortened day in accordance with ministry requirements.

NES offers a wide range of co-curricular activities for students. Our intention is to attempt to provide each student with a chance to develop an area of interest, and to enhance their experience of school life overall.

All students are wholeheartedly encouraged to take this opportunity of beginning or pursuing an interest that lies outside the academic life of the school. Co-curricular activities provide students with the chance to expand their horizons, and good universities throughout the world are always seeking students who have a breadth of experience.

Most of the co-curricular activities on offer take place after school and last for one hour. Free transport to and from the school site is provided for all activities that are located away from the school premises, such as ice-skating and bowling (there may be a small charge for some activities offered by external agencies to cover costs), as well as for sporting fixtures away from school.

Parents are expected to collect their children from school as soon as their child's activity has finished, which is generally 3:30pm unless otherwise stated.

Co-curricular activities are mentioned on reports. This gives students an opportunity to have a permanent record of the activities in which they have participated.

Up to date information regarding the CCA programme is available for download in a PDF format on the parent portal. You will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed in order to view these files.

Timetables and regulations for all secondary department examinations are made available to download from the Letters & Documents page of the parent portal as and when they are published.

We are pleased to celebrate some truly excellent results from our students:

The International Award Scheme is a world renowned self development programme. At New English School it is designed to encourage young people to improve themselves and be the best they can be in four sections called Skill, Service, Physical recreation and adventurous journey.

The final section of the award, the adventurous journey, helps students to develop a sense of adventure, improve their level of self reliance and help them develop skills as both a leader and a team player.

Levels

There are three levels of Award: Bronze, Silver and Gold. At each level students need be able to show their commitment by completing a skill, service or physical recreation for one hour every week.

The Sections

The award scheme has four different Sections designed to provide a balanced programme of personal development:

• Service: Learn how to give useful service to others
• Skills: Encourages the development of personal interests, creativity or practical skills
• Physical Recreation: Encourages participation in physical recreation and improvement of performance
• Adventurous Journey: Encourages a spirit of adventure and discovery whilst undertaking a journey in a group

There is also an additional requirement at GOLD level: 5 day Residential Project - to broaden experience through involvement with others in a residential setting.

For more information about the programme, visit our own award programme website (https://sites.google.com/neskt.org/dofe-internationalaward), or the offical website here http://www.intaward.org.

All students who are planning to move into Tertiary Education will be given extensive advice regarding the choices they make. These key times are during Year 9, as students move to Year 10, and Year 11, as students enter the Sixth Form.

Students and parents are given a detailed Options booklet, taster lessons, an options meeting with the Head Teacher and have access to a full time careers adviser. Students will undertake lots of activities during form time in Year 9 to encourage them to think about and investigate their career choices.

Full details of the Secondary department uniform requirements

Approved school shoes

Please be aware that there are specific requirements for shoes that are acceptable at NES. Please check the uniform document for the styles that are allowed by the school before you purchase school shoes for your child.

The purpose is to protect students feet and provide support. They should have a moulded sole and heel and should look similar to the styles shown on the uniform document. The school reserves the right to ask students to change their footwear if a different style of shoe is worn.