The second session of Coffee Morning with Dr. Fatma was a success, as Secondary school parents, came to school to learn about what ARIS stands for, how far ARIS has come so far and the way forward.
Dr. Fatma started the morning by going through the Mission and Vision of ARIS. Who and what is ARIS, what does ARIS do, lies on what the mission and the vision can convey. One of the changes to bring forth is a change in the Mission statement of ARIS as per the students’ views and what they think ARIS stands for and should be in the future. The emphasis is on the collaborative efforts of the student community of ARIS.
We have clear sets of identities and goals for what we want ARIS to be and become, but how is it that we get there? For that, Dr. Fatma brought the ARIS Model of Education. The center of the model is the Learner – the student. ARIS offers high quality, student centered education, through ‘Personalized Learning’ practices. As learning and education evolves through time, ARIS recognizes each student as unique in their own way, thus, targets are set as per each student’s learning abilities for them to reach their best potential. Likewise, even educators today must change and adapt their approaches to teaching, as per the groups and students that they teach.
With a history of education being only about Theory and Knowledge, education today, especially in the IB framework, is more inquiry based, with strategic learning and application. Developing cognitive abilities in the child is key. We guide the students to learn how to learn.
With the IB Learner Profiles, our students become full individuals with commitment to the community around them, as leaders, innovators and creative thinkers.
Collaboration is vital. ARIS is a multicultural school, and even our staff comes from 16 different nationalities. We collaborate, work together, learn together (as teachers, as guides) and run along with our students for the best possible learning experience. With ICT integration to learning in schools, internet is an endless source, and as facilitators, we have the responsibility of guiding these students to correct sources of information.
With Secondary School students, the Head of Secondary School, Madam Alpana, presented on what we have at ARIS in the 2017-18 Academic Year and what is to come in 2018-19. Upon becoming a candidate school for the IBMYP in August 2017, ARIS is currently working on the Authorization processes within a year. Nevertheless, each and every MYP and DP Teacher is trained by the IBO through workshops. Moreover, there are in house workshops on collaborations, reflections and applications as IB Educators at ARIS to really accomplish what our aims are. Our Visual Arts and French Departments have also undergone major improvements as private consultants have come and worked specifically with said departments.
As of now, the Secondary School has MYP being offered in Year 7 and 8, Cambridge Checkpoint in Year 9, IGCSE in Year 10 and 11 and IBDP in 12 and 13. Soon, in the coming academic year of 2018-19, we aim to have IBMYP in Years 7, 8 and 9, IGCSE in Years 10 and 11, IBDP and also IBCP (which is a combination of practical and theoretical learning that helps student tap into their professional goals in more specificity) (more info to come later). Furthermore, ARIS has started working on Council of International School Accreditation Processes and a WIDA (World Class International Academic Design) Membership. We have also started implementing ASDAN (Award Scheme Development Accreditation Network) to make learning more relevant and transferrable to a diverse group of learners.
So far, with our 2nd Graduating Class of 2018 this year, each of our Eagles have also been accepted to at least 2 to 3 well known universities. The school also has built partnerships with big universities outside and within Ghana like SCAD, Webster, Lancaster, Ashesi, with more to follow.
As a forward thinking school, in the coming 5 years, we aim to be a Center of Excellence and Innovation with a continued focus on Student experience and performance, staff appraisal, financial stability and a new campus with facilities that promote learning. As the only inclusive education school of its kind in Ghana, focus is also on the Specialized Educational Needs Department. We aim to be a Teacher Training and an Education Research Center, driving our own innovation, policy change and community growth.
Next year being our 15th Anniversary, our theme will be ‘ARIS Cares’ to really put Service as our core value as we continue to reflect, act, and give back to our community. With this, we look forward to continuing our work together and helping students build a bright future as we develop ourselves and learn alongside them.