Greengates School

Greengates, a British International School, is a multi-cultural community committed to inspiring all individuals to reach their full potential in every aspect of life.

We encourage our students to develop character, self-discipline, respect, and reflection in a challenging learning environment which honours individual differences. At Greengates we act with integrity and seek to motivate our students to become socially responsible citizens while achieving academic excellence.

• We provide the tools for our students to acquire knowledge
• We equip our students not only to earn their living but also to live creatively and happily in the world they must inherit
• We nurture our students in a caring, friendly, and enjoyable atmosphere within a safe environment
• We rigorously recruit teachers who contribute to our academic excellence
• We promote the active participation of the more than 50 nationalities represented in order to create a respectful and well-balanced world view
• We seek to achieve sustainability and increasingly become an eco-friendly environment school
• We place great value on athletic performance and artistic creativity as a means for our students to be able to express themselves

In Form I to Form III, the programme is predominantly based on the UK National Curriculum. Students study a wide variety of subjects to enable them to encounter a whole range of educational experiences. The main focus of the curriculum is the development of English, arithmetic, and Spanish. However, students will also study science, history, geography, French, art, information technology, physical education, music, drama and personal, social and health education (PSHE).

In these year groups, students who had been receiving English support but no longer require extra classes will either begin to study French or, if deemed more suitable by the English Support Department, information technology research and presentation skills.In Form II and Form III, students who are in the early stages of studying Spanish may opt to take additional Spanish classes instead of French.

In Forms IV and V, Greengates students follow a variety of balanced and demanding two-year courses leading to the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE). This system is based on the British General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) where students are examined in a broad range of subjects at the age of sixteen.

IGCSE examinations are tests of academic attainment and are taken in individual subjects. Currently, at Greengates there are around 20 subjects offered. Greengates requires that a student be successful in at least five IGCSEs to continue into the Sixth Form.

Students at the end of Form III select their IGCSE options and are helped to make their choices by their subject and form teachers, the Head of the Intermediate School and the IGCSE Coordinator. English Language, Spanish Language, Mathematics and Physical Education are compulsory subjects which all students take. Students then select five options from such areas of the curriculum as the Sciences, the Social Sciences and Creative Arts. The aim is that students take a broad range of subjects which will intellectually test and develop them as fully as possible.

Students then follow a two-year course of study in Forms IV and V based on the IGCSE syllabi which are determined by UCLES. At the end of the two year period students are entered for the relevant examinations. These examinations are prepared and marked by UCLES, who subsequently issue the grades. These, therefore, are external public examinations.

The International version of the GCSE originated with the University of Cambridge Examinations Syndicate (UCLES) and is ideal for such a culturally diverse school such as Greengates. UCLES has a reputation for academic excellence and has unrivaled experience in administering examinations in over 100 countries.
Some Greengates students do take some subjects early, and not at the end of Form V. At Greengates we have consistently enjoyed great success in Mathematics and Spanish as a Foreign Language achieving 100% pass-rates with students in Form IV and even Form III.

Senior Physical Education aims to teach the students the fundamentals of a wide range of sports and activities in the hope that they develop an interest and wish to continue taking part in that sport or activity outside P.E. classes. Activities including football (soccer), rugby, basketball, volleyball, health-related fitness, swimming, softball and hockey.

Pupils will also have to opportunity to take part in various house games, swimming gala and sports day throughout the school year. House captains will be selected at the beginning of the year and they will be responsible for helping P.E.teachers organise their teams.

The P.E. Department has an extensive afternoon activity programme that runs throughout the whole school year. We aim to give the children a large variety of activities and sports teams. The various sports and age groups will run on different terms throughout the year to allow all students the opportunity to take part. Sports include football (soccer), rugby, basketball, swimming, softball, tennis, cross country and volleyball.