Education: Update on teaching in the Middle East

As you may know, I am a primary school teacher who is currently teaching in Oman. I have taught previously in Kuwait and have now taught abroad for 3 and half years. I can't believe the time has flown but it has been a very interesting, enjoyable and challenging experience.

Today, I wanted to write about how I felt as a British teacher working in the Middle East, specifically Oman.

I have taught at my current school for 2 and half years and I must say in my first year I throughly enjoyed it. My class reminded me so much of my NQT class and it was really and truly lovely. The next year was good but it came with challenges.

In the Middle East, depending on the school and the package it offers, attracts a different range of people. Top schools like BSM and TAISM, must have an excellent package but also strict guidelines with who they employ. I think there is an issue with recruiting good quality teachers. From my experience, lots of teachers who may have been great in their home country have fallen into bad habits.

Another reason is more recently, UK universities have been delivering a distance learning course called the iPGCE which is basically an international PGCE. However, I have come to know that it is actually only accepted in the Middle East and in some schools not all. The point of why I am bringing this up, is that many people are enrolling on this course with good intention but schools are not providing sufficient support. Personally, if as a school you cannot offer the right level of support you should not employ teachers with this qualification. This is because teaching must be of a high quality to have maximum impact on teaching and learning and the progression of the child.

Due to my own personal experience in my school, I am not a fan of this course. In comparison to a reputable career, you wouldn't have a potential doctor taking an online course and being allowed to just perform a surgery on a patient. It is all about the experience, process and reflection on your practice which I feel some educators lack in the Middle East.

However, in terms of the positive aspects I have really been able to focus on developing my CPD as a teacher and member of SLT. I have been lucky to attend the Senior Leadership Course delivered by Karen Ardley and where I got to meet many people who attended the Middle Leaders Course a few years back. I also took the initiative to complete online courses related to the the growth mindset, science, child protection, harmony programme to keep up to date with the changes in education but also to further and better my teaching practice.

I have also been lucky to secure two positions as ClassDojo Ambassador and GoNoodle Ambassador in Oman which is amazing. I have played a key part in rolling out ClassDojo in my school and promoting the use of GoNoodle to encourage movement and mindfulness in class.

I am enjoying my experience teaching as I've had amazing classes of children and tremendous support from the parents. However it comes with its many challenges too, which have helped me to define myself as a person and as a teacher. I'm proud of the effort I put in to ensure I deliver well planned, stimulating and exciting learning experiences for my children.

I have posted a selection of photos from my classroom and of the children's learning too.

Love, Sara x

Travel: Home for the Summer

After I had completed Summer Camp which was fun but totally dragged on, I headed back to the U.K. I spent about a week or so in London and then headed back to Solihull where I spent the rest of the holidays. I then headed back to London a few days before my flight to pack all the things I had ordered plus teaching resources for Year 1.

Whilst I was back home, I spent time with my family, helped my mum with displays in her school, met up with friends, walked a lot, shopped essentials for Oman, visited Umberslade Farm - childhood memories, relaxed and looked after my mum who had a minor foot operation.

I have put together a collection of photos that show variety of fun I had this summer!

Love Sara x

Education: Harmony Programme for Teachers at the Princes' School of Traditional Arts.

Before I headed back to the U.K for my summer holidays, I was searching for an online CPD course that would be relevant to my educational practice. I am not sure how but I stumbled across the PSTA website and was drawn in to this programme they were offering.

The course was titled 'The Harmony Programme' and it was directed at educators who had an interest in nature, geometry and art. I was intrigued as it seemed quite interesting, so I delved further and read the course content and thought it would be a great addition to my professional development. I didn't hesitate to book my place and it was even better as I was eligible for the teacher bursary too. The course was over 4 days, across 2 weekends.

So, the course was designed as a result of the Prince of Wales's book titled 'Harmony' was written to embrace nature but also inspire UK schools to plan, deliver and create inspirational art. I never knew about the book and have had a glance through. It addresses some interesting information, views and ideas not just for educators but for everyone.

The was delivered by Lisa DeLong, Will and Leila. They were friendly, thorough with their delivery and extremely knowledgable about the topics covered. In total, there were about 7 of us of which only 2 including me were teachers. The others came from engineering, dance and administrative backgrounds. It was really great that different minds came together as we got on really well and learned from another too.

The first weekend, I looked at Autumn and Winter. We all got given books with all the literature, ideas and content to deliver sessions to children and young people. I found them quite useful to jot my notes next to the activity we were carrying out. It was handy that inside the book, they had noted the areas of the British curriculum and how they related to each season.

The second weekend, the group explored Spring and Summer where we focused on plants and flowers. Our learning and activities were centered around the construction of flowers and how they are related to the fibonacci theory. We made kites, looked at 3D shapes, nets as well as sound and vibrations too.

During the course we carried out a variety of activities which included mixing colours, investigating binders, constructing geometric patterns, making snowflakes, looking at natural dyes and marbling amongst others.

Dyeing fabrics with tumeric and red cabbage.

Dyeing cotton with indigo

Marbling on to paper

3D shapes made from cocktail sticks and chick peas.

Kite making

Overall, I found the course to be informative, fulfilling in terms of the content and ideas. I wish that they had perhaps scheduled a visit to Kew Gardens and maybe followed up with an activity or planning session. But saying that, I did enjoy the course, especially as I got to be all artistic again!

If you're interested in taking an traditional arts course at the PSTA, visit the website: https://www.psta.org.uk/.

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post.

Love, Sara xx

Travel Diaries #7: Greece (Work Trip)

I'm on blog roll at the moment! I will end this evening with this blog and then write up more for next week.

So about a month ago, I visited Greece to attend a conference for teachers who are on the Senior Leadership Team in their school or who are new to the role. It was held at St Catherine's British School just outside Athens and led by Karen Ardley Associates. I had been there before when I taught in my previous school and it was a great experience. I was there for 4 days due to travelling, etc. Whilst I was there I met lots of familiar faces which was lovely. We all had a catch up and it was really good learning from one another, as some had more experience and some like me were new to their roles. 

We looked at what makes a leader and how a leader is different to a manager, as well as how to deal with difficult people and implement the school's vision along with your team. Overall, I learnt quite a lot and felt that it was a great refresher course too, as some parts were repetitive from last time. Oh yes! We had a competition to make a design/ideas sheet based on the learning during the course - so I went to town! I didn't think I would win to be honest as many entries around me were so creative and imaginative but I did and it was the book I wanted to read too! I haven't started it yet as I was mid way through another book, my sister recommended me to read which was pretty good too!

It's so important to participate in relevant CPD, I can't stress it enough especially abroad. It helps you to develop as a teacher as you learn from one another and also new and improved ways of ensuring your teaching is up to scratch. I've been lucky this year, as I've made sure I have attended ones which will develop me in my role. However, I am hoping to devise a CPD programmed for the teachers in my school at the start of the next academic year.

                                      

Whilst I was there, I fit in time to meet with my brother as he works outside Athens. So we met up in the evenings for dinner and shisha. It was great and we had a lovely catch up too! I was lucky enough to have most of the day free on Monday as my flight was due to leave in the evening. So I used that to go around the city and view some sights!

My brother Sulley and I in Monastraki

                                                      
   

A breathtaking view of the Acropolis

                                            

Work News: I'm officially a ClassDojo Ambassador for Oman!!

For those of you, who may read my blog regularly you will know that I am a primary school teacher. I have been teaching for almost 5 years now and I am thoroughly enjoying it! In a few of the schools I have taught at, we've used an app called ClassDojo (www.classdojo.com) . I believe this was created in the USA and it has been a huge success in schools all around the world.

I actually remember in my first year of teaching, another NQT on a course told me about it. All I remember was ' my kids love the dojos!'. It was until my second year of teaching when I used it as I had an extremely challenging class of children. Once I had trialled it out, I found that they enjoyed the cute monster avatars and for some it really impacted positively on their behavioural choices.

Afterwards, I used it whilst teaching abroad in the Middle East and I am guessing because I used it quite actively, I was made a ClassDojo Mentor which was fantastic! I made sure that those colleagues who were using it were confident and updated them with any news that would benefit them and their classes.

Fast forward a year in the Middle East and due to the positive feedback from my parents and to a few teachers using ClassDojo in my school, the Director thought it a good idea to maintain consistency and roll it out across the whole school. Over the summer, I inputted all the students and their year groups so it would be easier for class teachers to add them once they returned. It was pretty easy for them to set up, print off the invited and ensure most parents were signed up. I delivered training along with a colleague to the rest of the school. Now, our primary aim was to use 'School Story' to celebrate the children's learning in the school. We also aimed to use 'Class Story' which enables teachers and children to celebrate their learning and strengthen communication between the parents too. 

The results: Since then I've held numerous mini workshops to groups of teachers who needed a refresher and they've been most grateful.  ClassDojo has been effective in our learning environment as the majority of parents I believe are signed up. The parents prefer to communicate via the app due to its accessibility and ease of use of the app on iOS and Android phones.

Thank you so much ClassDojo - you've made our lives much easier and fun too!

So how did I become a ClassDojo Ambassador?

Well late one evening I was scrolling down the ClassDojo page on Facebook and I saw a message about applying for the role of ClassDojo. So I thought why not? I was SO shocked when I received an email stating that I had been chosen. I was ectastic! I'm really passionate about ClassDojo and always spread the word whenever I am about so to be an ambassador for them is just AMAZING! They were so sweet and sent me some treats too which I will be donning at the training day this week. Along with the various other ClassDojo ambassadors, we do have responsibilities in terms of spreading the word, taking part in conferences, leading dojo chats and messageboards. So far, so good and I am sure it's about to get even better!

If you teach in the Middle East and use ClassDojo or are curious or would like some help, please feel free to message me on here.

Lots of love,

Sara xx