The British School of Tirana aims to help all children achieve by:
1. Increasing their Knowledge of subjects.
2. Developing their Skills of learning.
3. Helping them to understand Concepts and Ideas.
4. Building worthwhile Attitudes and Values.
We seek to provide children with a broad, balanced and rich curriculum that is underpinned by imaginative and dedicated teaching. We define the curriculum as everything that impacts on the learning of our pupils. The British style curriculum is designed to be delivered in the English language and is inclusive. Our aim is to provide suitable challenges for all children of all abilities, by responding to pupils’ diverse needs and overcoming barriers to learning for individuals.
We aim to give our children the skills, knowledge and values they need to prosper both at home and in a wider globalised society. These Core Skills and British Values are based on extensive research and are embedded within our curriculum. They relate, not only to the world our children live in now but also to the future world in which they will live.
These deep learning Core Skills include:
- ways of working: communication and collaboration
- ways of thinking: critical thinking, problem solving, creativity and innovation, learning to learn and metacognition
- (ICT) literacytools for working: information literacy, information and communication technology
- ways of living in the world: global citizenship and civic responsibility, including cultural awareness and competence
Values
The British School of Tirana promotes values that reflect the themes of British Values:
- Democracy;
- Rule of Law;
- Individual Liberty;
- Mutual respect;
- Tolerance of different faiths and beliefs.
The British School of Tirana is committed to serving its local community and is dedicated to preparing students for their adult life beyond the formal examined curriculum as global citizens in Albania. It promotes and reinforces British values to all its students. All students are asked to respect each other and our ethos is promoted by adults modelling behaviours and clear visual prompts. It recognises the multi- cultural, multi faith and ever-changing nature of the world and follows equal opportunities guidance which guarantees that there will be no discrimination against any individual or group, regardless of faith, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, political or financial status, or similar.
The curriculum at the school Years 0 -5 is the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). The curriculum for EYFS currently consists in seven areas of learning (communication and language, physical development, personal social and emotional development, literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and expressive arts and design).
The curriculum at the school Years 5-15 is based upon the new statutory National Curriculum 2014 for schools in the United Kingdom. The curriculum currently consists of four core subjects (English, Mathematics, Science and Albanian Language); eight foundation subjects (Art and Design, Computing, Design Technology, Modern Foreign Languages (MFL), Geography, History, Music, Physical Education (PE). Other subjects such as Global Perspectives, Travel and Tourism, Drama, History and Geography of Albania are also included in the curriculum.
Each subject will be under the leadership of a member of the teaching staff. For each curricular area there exists documentation regarding the school policy for that subject. These are regularly reviewed and updated in the light of changing practice, experience and legislation. The school seeks to develop an integrated approach to teaching that makes connections between different areas of learning through class topics.
Teachers plan the work of the school together in order to ensure consistency and progression across classes and year groups. Short, medium and long term curriculum planning takes place so that effective classroom teaching can be achieved. The assessment of the quality of teaching as well as the assessment of children’s learning and understanding is also given a great deal of organizational time and attention.
The children in each class are taught by a variety of methods including whole class teaching, group or individual work. Whatever the methods, we aim always to challenge each child’s level of understanding. Teachers create the time and opportunity for assessment and diagnosis of children’s learning. We keep detailed records of work and progress and these are shared with parents.