November 23, 2014
Greenfield Community School is a rich community of children and families drawn from 80 countries. We pride ourselves on being not only a centre for academic excellence but a home away from home, a vibrant hub that brings families together. There are few schools that can lay claim to being so widely and truly international whilst also being fortunate enough to be supported and recognized by two strong educational organisations, Taaleem and the IBO. Taaleem is UAE based educational organization that manages ten schools and enjoys a sound reputation in the international and private educational community. Secondly, the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO), renowned for its rigorous academic programmes and diverse methods of teaching and learning. At the heart of an IBO education is international-mindedness and tolerance for cultural differences. Students are developed to become critical thinkers who are reflective and open-minded and prepared for the challenges of the world. Greenfield Community School has been a pioneer in education both in the UAE and internationally. We were one of the first schools to offer all four International Baccalaureate programmes: Primary Years Programme (Early Years to Grade 5), Middle Years Programme (Grades 6 – 10, Diploma Programme (Grades 11 and 12), Careers Programme (Grades 11 and 12). We offer strong English as an Additional Language Programme. Many of our students arrive in Dubai with little or no English. We support them both in the classroom and with additional language tuition. We understand the challenges of settling into a new country, all in a new language, and through our EAL programme, we help smoothen the process. We have a strong French and German curriculum which enables our graduates to go on to study at top UK and European universities. We also offer Art and Athletics Programmes that support the students in their co-curricular and extra-curricular interests. The rich drama and music programmes, the wide range of sports on offer, the art exhibits and the inter-school competitions are venues to celebrate talent, cultural expression and develop well-rounded, holistic students . Both my children wrote the IB Diploma and I have seen the benefits that it has had as they have gone on to university. As both an IB father and Principal I believe that it is, without doubt, the gold standard in international education. It is a demanding academic course, one that requires commitment, dedication and the willingness to ‘think outside the box’, ‘have a voice’ and to discuss globally relevant topics daily. There is sound research that IB Diploma students are more likely to be admitted to top universities, achieve first class passes and go on to better jobs than students who have followed other curricula.
For the school and myself, I have set three goals. Firstly, to ensure that we grow in stature as an International Baccalaureate centre of excellence. The programme is underpinned by the timeless international values and ethics that form a basis for the behaviour of students and teachers and an inquiry based approach to learning that produces both life-long learners and children who take ownership of their education. Secondly, to raise the pride that our students have in their work and their school, a pride founded upon respect for self, their work, classmates, teachers and our school as a whole. And thirdly, to focus on continually improving the already excellent quality of teaching and learning. We are a school with high standards. Students are expected to set goals for themselves and perform well in their academics. I want our children to respect themselves, one another, their learning and their teachers. This will be evident in the quality of their work, the high standards that they set for themselves and, in time, and a clear sense that second best is just not good enough. I look for a high standard of teaching in learning in the classrooms. Together with my management team, we conduct regular classrooms observations to monitor the quality of education. As teachers, our task is to inspire, direct, challenge and nurture them. Selfdiscipline and dedication are vital components to achieving in life, be it learning to play golf, the violin or attaining excellent academic results. As I look to the future I want to see that we will see a strengthening of school spirit and pride and with that, each student taking ownership of their progress and success. GCS is committed to steady improvement in all aspects of its academics and encouraging its students to make full use of all the extra-curricular opportunities in the school. Our students will be proud to have come from a school that was their home away from home. For sure, GCS is the place where they discovered and developed their talents, made lifelong friends and gave them the very best start they could have in life. Andrew Wood