GIS’s Vision
GIS’s vision is to be a school where children are enabled to develop their full potential and are provided with a firm foundation for life and an international perspective.
To download the school prospectus click on this link.
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History
GIS started in May 2003 with a class of six children. By 2004 the number of children had increased to 40 and by 2005, to 90. From 2005 to 2006 the number of children remained constant.
Recently, however, mostly as a result of the school not being able to get a license to operate as either a school or a kindergarten, the number of children has gone down to approximately 60.
The children are mostly Azerbaijani but there are also a small number of foreign children. One of the clear goals in setting up the school was to provide education for children of expatriate families living in Ganja. Prior to setting up GIS the absence of a suitable school had made it difficult for international organizations to place expatriate families in Ganja.
Instruction is in English and Azerbaijani. Children from age 3-8 are accepted, corresponding to UK Nursery, Reception Year and Years 1-4.
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Fees
Monthly tuition fees for the 2009/2010 academic year are as follows, in Azerbaijani New Manat (AZN). One US dollar is approximately equal to 0.80 Azerbaijani manat.
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Morning
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Afternoon
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9.00-12.20
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1.15-3.00
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1.15-4.00
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3.00-5.30
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4.00-5.30
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Nursery and reception
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57
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Not available
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Y1 - Y4
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57
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27
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20
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Y5 - Y7
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57
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40
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7
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Administration and Management
GIS legally operates as the business 'Yeni Bagcha' MMC, which means 'New Kindergarten' . The school is managed on a day-to-day basis by the Educational Director and the Business Director.
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Children with Special Education Needs
GIS believes that as far as possible SEN children should receive education alongside other children. This helps in socialisation of both the SEN and non-SEN children. However is places a greater burden on the teachers. In order to help the teachers GIS employs a SEN assistant and a consultant. Currently 4 SEN children are enrolled at GIS.
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School Ethos
GIS places a great deal of importance on high ethical standards. It believes that by doing so it is helping to provide a future generation with a complete education; not simply providing head knowledge but teaching standards of behaviour.
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Curriculum
GIS offers courses in the following subjects which are conducted as far as possible in accordance with the English curriculum. At Key Stage 1 the English curriculum includes 11 subjects, as follows:
(1) Art and Design
(2) Design and Technology
(3) Literacy (which is broader than simply English)
(4) Geography
(5) History
(6) ICT
(7) Numeracy (also broader than Mathematics)
(8) Music
(9) Physical Education
(10) Religious Education
(11) Science
GIS also has a small number of children at UK Year 7, which corresponds to Key Stage 3; for these children French is additionally provided.
The GIS curriculum differs from the UK curriculum in the following areas:
(1) Religious Education is not included
(2) Azerbaijani is included, and Russian from Year 3 onwards.
(3) History is covered, but subjects are more oriented towards Azerbaijan (for example, the Silk Road)
(4) In Literacy the focus is on learning English and it is not possible to follow the UK National Curriculum for Literacy closely.
GIS has 21 hours of teaching per week. Classes start at 9.0 a.m. and finish at 3.0 p.m.
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Azerbaijani and UK syllabi
The relative importance of Azeri and English syllabi is illustrated on the right.
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English and Azerbaijani language
GIS is not an ‘immersion’ type of school in which all classes are taught in English. It is a dual language school. An appropriate description is an English sector school with second language Azerbaijani. GIS’s aim is that classes should be approximately 60% in English and 40% in Azerbaijani. However in the younger classes a higher proportion of instruction is in Azerbaijani.
"Overall, the GIS English Language Program exceeds adequate standards of instruction in terms of both the teacher’s English proficiency and methodology for young learners of English and childhood education… Learners are not only learning English, but also using English to learn."” - Eddie McGee, American Embassy Representative previously living in Ganja.
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GIS’s object is to fulfil the requirements of the Azeri curriculum and the UK curriculum. This is possible, as shown below.
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Azerbaijani teaching hours*
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Mother Tongue
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Foreign Language
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Maths
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Natural History
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D & T
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PE
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Art
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Music
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Azerbaijani
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History
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Geography
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Computer
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Total
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*In an Azerbaijani school a standard teaching hour is 45 minutes. On this basis the amount of time allocated to each subject meets both Azerbaijani and English requirements.
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Testing
GIS conducts UK SATs at the end of Key Stage 1 and Stage 2.
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Whole School
The whole school assembles twice a week. This is an occasion when the children may sing the Azerbaijani National Anthem, notices and awards are given, classes may present songs they have prepared.
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Library and other resources
GIS has a library with about 1000 children’s books in English, a multimedia projector, a television and video and a large number of computers for children’s use, sand and water play areas for the nursery.
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Out of school activities
GIS organizes many outings. You will see some pictures in the photo gallery. There is also a chess club after school three times a week. |
