1. PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION AT ABUJA PREPARATORY

The Founding Principles of the School

The principles of teaching and learning at the Abuja Preparatory School are to:

• Provide a high quality of education in a safe, healthy and encouraging learning environment, using modern constructivist learning methods and material, to assist children to reveal and develop the gifts and innate talents that they each possess.
• Provide a high standard of education in English to pupils so that they can have access to the wealth of information and variety of opportunities available today, so that they will develop the values, skills and knowledge to enable them to participate as citizens and leaders of their communities and in the affairs of the world.
• Provide an awareness of internationalism, diversity of culture, religion and traditions and to show respect for the beliefs of all peoples of the planet.
• Provide an education that inculcates critical thinking, reflection and independence in learning.

Official Language of the School

English is the official language of the school. All staff members are expected to speak English to each other and to the pupils. Other languages are only to be spoken while instructing in those languages, or in case one of the youngest children at preschool needs to be instructed on some issue.

2. SCHOOL ACADEMIC PROGRAMME

The Academic Programmes

Our school follows the Cambridge International Primary School Curriculum in English, Mathematics and Science and the National Curriculum of England (Revised 2014) in the Foundation and Exploratory Subjects adapted to our context. The Early Years and Foundation Stage follow an programme to meet the developmental needs of the pupils and which ultimately lead to the meeting of the Early Years goals as defined by the National Curriculum of England. Teachers carefully design their teaching programmes with the aim of giving children the skills, values and knowledge that they need. This should lead to: –

• Raising self-esteem and self-responsibility,
• Inspiring them to develop a lifetime enthusiasm for learning
• Developing their positive social skills
• Developing their critical thinking and decision making skills
• Training them to protect themselves from harmful influences
• Empowering them to take charge of themselves and our planet’s future

Teaching Methods

The prevalent teaching style of learning is based on the Constructivist theories of modern education practice. Teachers are expected to acquaint themselves with the social learning practices of education as well as the need to differentiate in the classroom. It is important that before preparing a programme of learning, teachers should understand the developmental and social needs of their pupils. The school does not value teacher-fronted passive learning. Teachers should facilitate learning rather than give information. Pupils should be active and independent in their learning. They should become knowledge-able as opposed to knowledgeable.

This method guides learning and creative thinking and provides the opportunity to develop lasting habits of learning. It involves asking questions about the world around us and what it entails, and finding the answers to those questions.

• This implies that the pupils are actively responsible for their own learning. The teacher’s role increasingly becomes that of facilitator. A passive model of pupil learning is not valued.
• It also implies that the pupils are able to develop and demonstrate their abilities in a variety of ways.  The inquiry-based teaching method requires the students to pursue the answers but the way in which the answer is sought is open. Pupils may apply a variety of methods and means.
• Assessment methods are not merely based on the right or wrong answer or a body of knowledge, but rather on the growing abilities of the pupils to formulate hypotheses, design, experiment and analyse the results.
• Teaching should be integrated across the curriculum. This implies the value not only of knowledge but equally importantly skills and values.
• The acquisition of skills, values, concepts and knowledge is a social learning process. No child learns in isolation but with his or her peers and from competent facilitators such as teachers, parents and other competent people. An additional benefit of this method is the development of good communication skills, facilitated by the frequent exchange of ideas, interactions with each other and the sharing of the findings and the answers. (The ideas of the Education philosophers Dewey, Vygotsky et al are important)