Where Character Meets Curriculum: Inside Cheltenham Muscat’s Holistic Approach

Edarabia had the opportunity to interview Mr. Richard Snape, the Principal of Cheltenham Muscat, a leading international school in Oman. In an insightful conversation, Mr. Snape shared his vision for the school’s future, the challenges and opportunities in education, and his approach to creating an inclusive and supportive learning environment for students.

1. What are your plans for 2025?

At Cheltenham Muscat, we are always striving for Continuous Excellence, and 2025 will be a year of further innovation, growth, and refinement. Our primary focus will be on enhancing the pupil experience, ensuring that every pupil continues to thrive academically, socially, and personally.

Alongside this, we will continue to expand our community engagement, deepening our partnerships with parents through regular, structured communication with local organizations and our sister school, Cheltenham College UK, to create even more opportunities for collaboration, mentorship, and global learning. We will ensure that Character remains central to everything we do, fostering resilience, empathy, and leadership in our pupils.

Ultimately, 2025 will be a year when we refine excellence and create an even more inspiring and forward-thinking learning environment for every pupil at Cheltenham Muscat.

2. How do you decide what to focus on academically each year, and which new ideas are you pursuing?

Towards the end of each academic year, we collectively review the successes we have achieved and identify a range of areas we believe could be improved with our staff and parents. This process helps us to identify a range of possible focus areas from which we can choose those we, as a leadership team, believe can have the most significant impact on our students’ learning and all-around experience in school.

3. What challenges do you anticipate in the field of education over the next 5 years?

The continued digitalisation of learning provides significant challenges and opportunities for educators and students. Ensuring a balance between supporting students in developing the technical skills and understanding that will prove of great value in their future careers without relying excessively on technology to support learning is a challenge for schools around the world. Educational research shows that students continue to learn most effectively when working with pen and paper than if their work is shifted to devices, and it is our challenge as educators to assess which platforms and programs we can use to enhance core learning in a way that can only be achieved through digital means.

4. How do you keep students interested in learning, especially those who struggle or seem unmotivated?

Passionate teachers who show genuine care for young people will always engage the students in their care. Forming that strong bond between student and teacher, a role model figure who is determined to help everyone succeed is essential to provide additional purpose to learning. We recruit teachers who embody these characteristics and continually provide an environment in which they can thrive. Our world-class teaching facilities, along with a clear vision and a caring atmosphere, ensure that our teachers have everything they need to be role models for our students.

5. How does the school ensure all students feel welcome and have the same chances to succeed?

At Cheltenham Muscat, we are committed to creating an inclusive environment where every student feels valued, respected, and supported. We achieve this by fostering a culture of empathy, diversity, and open communication. Community is one of our core values as a school, and ensuring that students understand what it means to be a positive member of our community is central to our daily life skills programme and weekly assemblies. Our staff members care deeply about each child and are highly capable of recognising and addressing the unique needs of each student, ensuring no one is left behind.

6. How proactive is the school in matters of student stress and bullying?

As a school, we are highly proactive in addressing student stress and bullying. What makes our approach particularly effective is the prominent role that students play in driving this agenda. All students have been consulted on how we should promote character and community spirit in all areas of our school. The outcomes of these discussions have formed the basis of our student agreement and our rewards system, aimed at identifying and praising students who actively demonstrate the values we collectively promote.

7. How do you help students build the skills they need for life after graduation?

We have a strong link with our partner school, Cheltenham College in the UK, which enables our students to access their knowledge and expertise. Students, staff and parents can engage with the team from Cheltenham College who visit Oman to deliver training and information workshops, as well as supporting individual students through online mentoring. This allows students not only access to professional support from their staff but also to their peers in the UK, from whom they can gain a great deal of understanding about moving on to higher education.

8. How involved are parents and the community in making the school better?

We regularly seek parent feedback through parent consultation workshops, surveys, and individual meetings. However, it is the informal conversations taking place every morning and afternoon between parents and our school leaders that often provide the most accurate picture of parent perceptions and how they feel we could improve their children’s learning experience. By building warm, positive relationships with parents across the school, we can respond to feedback that can influence our actions and vision. As with the students, it is crucial that parents fully understand the important role they play in building an open and supportive school community.

9. How do you develop a school culture that attracts and keeps great teachers?

My aim as the Principal of Cheltenham Muscat is to ensure that all staff have a voice and are involved in driving the development of the school. New policies and procedures are created by and in collaboration with our middle leaders in response to the needs of their teams. Every member of staff can influence the way our school is run, can feel a level of ownership over changes that are made, and therefore are responsible for school development. This sense of togetherness and purpose plays a major role in attracting and retaining high-quality, ambitious teachers.

10. Do teachers at your school have growth opportunities for leadership roles?

Our existing Senior Leadership Team provides an excellent example of the focus I place on promoting from within. Two of our six senior leaders have been promoted to join the team from positions within the school, having been identified as closely aligned with our vision and values, demonstrating the determination, adaptability, resilience, and drive I value highly in my teams. Wherever possible, we look to build capacity in our existing and future leadership teams and will be launching our own leadership development programme to drive this during this academic year.

11. Which after-school activity would you say has the biggest positive impact on a student’s future?

At Cheltenham Muscat, we provide a broad range of activities aimed at supporting every individual in finding and developing their own passions. With a wide variety of musical, sporting, artistic, and academic activities, as well as our own environmental mission, Project Earthlings, our students can develop the breadth of skills needed to succeed in future education and the modern workplace. The activity that has the most significant impact is the one that takes a student out of their comfort zone, leads them to try something new, and provides a different level or style of challenge.

12. As a Principal, what is your definition of success?

Whilst it may appear simplistic, happy students are an excellent indicator of success for a school and its leadership. Students will only exude positivity and contentment at school if they feel safe, supported, and successful. In this environment, they succeed.

13. If you had the opportunity to inspire the world in one sentence, what would that sentence be?

‘If you can smile in the face of adversity, you can achieve anything.’