In seven short years, Qatar Academy Msheireb has established a unique identity with high expectations and core values that provide a compass for learning and teaching: “Qatar Academy Msheireb CARES. We are Creative, Achieving, Responsible, Empathetic, Solution Seekers.”
Learning and teaching at Qatar Academy Msheireb – a Qatar Foundation School – is informed by the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme framework. Exploring how issues of global significance are connected to their own lives, and the local community, makes learning meaningful and empowers students to act. In addition, the core values influence thinking, motivate student agency, and inspire student voice.
The power of student voice was evident when Grade 4 student Essa Al-Maadeed successfully advocated that children 12 years and younger should be allowed to visit the International Book Fair to nurture a love of books and reading, resulting in a change in policy by the Fair organizers.
Qatar Academy Msheireb aims to be recognized as an Eco School with an emphasis on action-based learning. This plan embodies the school’s core values – ‘creative, achieving, responsible, empathetic, solution seekers’ members of the school community have opportunities to advocate for environmental sustainability. The seeds are sown in the Early Years, with discoveries about the importance of animals and plants.
Water conservation is a focus in Kindergarten, while G1 students promote waste reduction to address growing concerns about pollution. G2 explore the impact of habitat loss, G3 identify the importance of biodiversity in ecosystems, G4 inquire into renewable sources of energy, and in G5 principled choices and ethical production practices are made, which are central to the inquiry about market forces. Students take action by making changes to their own lives, and using their voice to influence others.
Students develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that are foundational for active global citizenship. They possess a sense of moral agency and understand the interconnectedness of humanity and the environment to inspire action. They are committed to the collective responsibility of building a better, more peaceful world for all. At Qatar Academy Msheireb, the culture of caring is part of the school’s DNA.
