Primary School Achievements

Primary Annual Concert – Once Upon a Fairy Tale!

Holistic Education – Achievement – International Mindedness – Excellence – Team Work

Over three consecutive nights, ABS Primary School students treated the school community to a magical journey of music and dance. ‘Once Upon a Fairy Tale’ was a spectacular concert that drew in family and friends from out of the cold and into the warmth of the school theatre that was transformed into a mesmerising Enchanted Garden. A captive audience was transported to the Land of Fairy Tales, on Aladdin’s magic carpet! Our charismatic students presented a kaleidoscope of artistic and musical talents through Broadway inspired costumes, characterful acting, joyful singing, spirited dancing and breathtaking show pieces that wowed the audience with an electric energy, commitment and sense of love tangible to all. HRH Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan’s presence on the opening night and the recognition of all participants, big and small, added a special touch to the wonderful event.

Primary School Distance Learning

Lifelong Learning – Team Work – Responsibility

The Primary School shared a comprehensive distance learning plan with the Primary School community on 14th March 2020, which incorporated the aims, purpose, guidelines, tutorials and roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders to ensure smooth and successful transition to distance learning.

Seesaw is the official platform adopted for Primary School distance learning for the following reasons:

• Seesaw is a comprehensive platform that allows educators to document the entire teaching and learning process from day one. • Primary School students are familiar with the platform and use it regularly to support and enhance their learning. • Seesaw has many interactive features allowing the students to engage with their teachers by uploading their work via audio/video tools and receive audio, video or anecdotal formative feedback. • Seesaw is a living digital portfolio for each and every student. The Primary School Leadership Team has been able to track students’ engagement with the platform from day one and monitor and evaluate learning, teaching and feedback provided to students at any given time. • Seesaw allows students and parents to access, at any given time, the School Activity Library where all videos and assignments are archived. • Seesaw provides weekly reports and updates of usage, overall uploaded assignments, lessons etc.

During the first week, our aim was to consolidate skills and concepts taught and ensure all families received the technical support needed to access the learning and teaching digital platform Seesaw.

Learners were exposed to various learning engagements using visible thinking routines, task sheets, links, educational videos and resources to reinforce their knowledge and understanding. Starting week two, specific concepts and skills were delivered in an explicit teaching method, starting with a teacher-created video. Teachers and Specialists worked collaboratively to create lessons, videos and upload as part of a balanced daily overview for each grade level, which included specific lesson objectives, detailed instructions and success criteria for core subjects, PE, Visual Art, French and Well-being.

A survey was sent to parents at the end of the first week to rate their experience on the effectiveness of the process and the Seesaw digital learning platform. Below are screen shots of the results, rating key (1 lowest & 5 highest):

Moving forward, an extra layer of video conferencing via Microsoft Teams was added to the distance learning plan. Lessons were delivered in a synchronous and asynchronous method. Digital citizenship and e-safely expectations were shared with parents via email, and with students during the online information literacy lesson.

A number of national and international events were marked and celebrated during the online lessons namely: Jordan Independence Day, Al Karamah Battle, World Book Day and World Earth Day.

A comprehensive online resource page, which included a variety of digital resources and platforms for summer holiday, was also shared with parents at the end of the year.

Continuous Professional Development

Primary School staff were provided with multiple PD training sessions and opportunities to develop their educational technology skills throughout the distance learning period and over the summer. A Primary School resource center was created on Microsoft sharePoint. The resource center includes a variety of digital resources, articles, as well as webinars.

Grade 5 Completion Ceremony

Achievement – Holistic Education

Over three consecutive nights, ABS Primary School students treated the school community to a magical journey of music and dance. ‘Once Upon a Fairy Tale’ was a spectacular concert that drew in family and friends from out of the cold and into the warmth of the school theatre that was transformed into a mesmerising Enchanted Garden. A captive audience was transported to the Land of Fairy Tales, on Aladdin’s magic carpet! Our charismatic students presented a kaleidoscope of artistic and musical talents through Broadway inspired costumes, characterful acting, joyful singing, spirited dancing and breathtaking show pieces that wowed the audience with an electric energy, commitment and sense of love tangible to all. HRH Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan’s presence on the opening night and the recognition of all participants, big and small, added a special touch to the wonderful event. Looking across the school theatre at the sea of socially distanced students smiling proudly through their masks while adhering to all our new health and safety protocols, we were filled with confidence that these special young men and women will continue to flourish and grow as they move into the next chapter of their ABS journey – Middle Years School.

Dima Azzam Qubain Head of Primary

2019-20 was an unprecedented academic year, full of changes and challenges, from the start. However, the MYS staff and students consistently rose to the occasion, showing great resilience, team spirit and collaboration in dealing with the difficulties and adapting to new realities.

We revamped the academic model and the school day, to enable the MYS to introduce a discrete Civics lesson, and to allow more time for Innovation and STEM-related enrichment activities.

The first semester contained a plethora of events and activities, such as the English Spelling Bee. The English Production this year was ‘A Midsummer Night’s Mid-Term’, an interesting take on, one of Shakespeare’s best loved plays. Even though it was updated, students were still required to learn the original words, not an easy feat.

The Student Council were active in organising a variety of events, such as a very popular Christmas lunch, raising a record breaking amount from the charity bake sale, and creating a fun-filled House Week. This culminated in a new look Sports Day, with some fantastic new events and games. It was an amazing example of organisation by the PHE Department, in cooperation with the Student Council.

Two departments were particularly active with regard to activities:

THE DESIGN DEPARTMENT: Amman Design Week

ABS students’ creative designs were exhibited as a creative space part of Amman Design Week. The Amman Baccalaureate School Exhibition took place at the Innovation and Design Center. It included digital and tangible prototypes of creations by students across Grades 2 – 12 under the theme of Possibilities.