Welcome

I am Saskia de Wit, the Head of ABQ Explorer and it gives me immense pleasure to be able to welcome you to the Kindergarten section of ABQ Sohar.

We have an amazing team of teachers who find it a privilege to teach and guide our youngest students during the first years of their school careers. All the teachers are qualified and have been working at this school for many years.

The first few years are very precious for any child. It is a time of incredible emotional, mental and physical growth. We do all we can to build a strong foundation for a successful future for each of our Explorers.

We believe that a good education depends on the relationship and partnership between the parents and teachers. We wish for you to take our hands and help us fulfil our students’ dreams. Together, we can prepare the way for your child to enjoy an exciting and successful school career.

Curriculum

The ABQ Explorers are focusing on the IEYC curriculum and incorporating the British Cambridge Super Safari books.

IEYC is a child-centred and researched-informed curriculum for 2 to 5-year-olds. IEYC recognises the developmental needs of early-year education and encourages teachers and students to investigate, question, communicate, and collaborate as one unique unit. It supports key areas of learning through holistic enquiry and play-based approaches that cover all curriculum areas, including personal, physical, social, and emotional development.

Combined with the unique range of Cambridge Super Safari books, students receive the best of both worlds. Super Safari allows students to develop their phonetic and mathematical skills, writing and academic understanding of content learnt within their IEYC experiences and consolidate their newly gained knowledge.

The main objectives of the IEYC curriculum for our ABQ Explorers are the development of knowledge, skills, and increased understanding. It also aims to guide students into becoming mathematical thinkers and problem solvers. Our curriculum is designed to support the development of each child through enjoyable and playful personal, international, and academic learning experiences that prepare them for future opportunities and challenges to ensure that they are ready for the rest of their educational and academic journey.

Pastoral Care

Our ABQ Explorer students are nurtured and supported by two key members of staff – their Homeroom teacher and the teaching assistant in their classroom. Each Homeroom teacher is responsible for a small group of students and provides that essential link between home and school.

Parents and caregivers are encouraged to come into school in the morning and afternoon at pick-up and drop-off times to meet their child’s teacher and to get an update on how their child was during the day. This close link between teacher and parent/caregiver ensures that our youngest students are fully supported and ensures continuity in their care.

We encourage open and frequent communication between home and school and have dedicated Parent-Teacher meetings every term. In addition, every ABQ family is supported by their own dedicated Parent Care Officer (PCO) who is available to answer any questions they may have and to support them through their child’s school journey at ABQ.
Our on-site school nurse is available all day to provide any medical attention our students or staff may require.

Unique Programmes

IEYC: The International Early Years Curriculum is a child-centred and research-informed curriculum for 2 to 5-year-olds.

SUPER SAFARI: Super Safari British English is a three-level pre-primary course that welcomes very young children to English through stories, songs, rhymes and plenty of play time while supporting their cognitive, motor-sensory and social development.

OXFORD READING TREE READING PROGRAMME: Our reading programme is graded across 20 levels to support children from first starting to read in kindergarten to being fluent readers in later school years.

SONG OF SOUNDS: Song of Sounds is a fun-filled creative phonics scheme that is packed with exciting ways to familiarize young children with a DFE-accredited systematic, synthetic Phonics programme.

PENPALS: Penpals is a complete handwriting scheme starting from 3-year-olds that through 5 developmental stages ensure clear progression. It secures correct letter formation and joining of letters to form words practising speed and fluency. Penpals support all UK curricula and Cambridge International Curriculum.

A PHYSICAL EDUCATION: The Pre-schoolers and Kindergartners programme incorporate appropriate movement activities designed to help preschoolers develop habits and explore all kinds of movements to feel good and confident about participating in physicalactivities.

SWIMMING: It is important to start swimming lessons when children are young so their confidence can grow as they build core skills such as breath control, submersion, propulsion and learning to swim freestyle and underwater. All are specifically designed to provide water safety, including survival techniques.

ART: To make art accessible and enrich children’s artistic lives, our 3 to 5-year-olds get the opportunity to do art activities with a variety og materials to learn about self-expression through art.

ARABIC:

AL QAIDA NORANIAH For Arabic-speaking students
KALEMON: A basic Arabic programme for non-Arabic speaking students

Age-appropriate Chromebook supported programmes:

Seesaw: Students receive small tasks to submit on Seesaw and we use it as a communication tool and digital portfolio too.
Mathseeds: Mathseeds is an online maths programme for ABO Explorers to use and progress at their own pace.
Mathseeds teaches kids the core math and problem-solving skills needed to be successful at school with fun, highly interactive and rewarding lessons covering key Mathematics concepts.
Reading Eggs: Reading Eggs makes recognising phonetic sounds and learning to read interesting and engaging for kids with great online reading games and activities.
The students love the games, songs, golden eggs and other rewards which, along with feeling proud of their reading, really motivate children to keep exploring and learning
I Read Arabic: I Read Arabic is the leading Arabic learning app for children and is used in ABQ Explorer to Grade 6.
Fast phonics: Fast Phonics is an online programme helping children to familiarise themselves with phonetic sounds and learn the alphabet.

What makes your section special?

The moment you walk into the ABQ explorers you will sense the magic. Our warm and friendly environment welcomes each one that steps through the door and our educators capture the curiosity of our little students from the very beginning. The beautiful and safe surroundings encourage parents to trust us with their little ones, putting their minds at ease about their children’s care and safety. Here our students can be confident and curious explorers. To them, ABQ feels like a second home. They are loved and cared for by qualified, passionate, and caring educators.

We offer individual attention to every one of our students who is considered unique and special. We favour personalised attention, with excellent coordination between staff, heads, and parents.

We pride ourselves on academic excellence, our objective is to provide a learning environment that is positive, balanced, child-centred and fun so that our students can achieve their best.

Facilities

The ABQ Explorer section of our school is the foundation to a lifelong love for learning. Providing a safe environment for students to grow and learn where they feel their voice is heard has a large impact on their learning and overall well-being. Our classrooms and play areas are well-equipped as welcoming and creative learning spaces to promote and stimulate collaborative learning.

We create a balance between fun and educational learn-through-play activities where the children work with their hands and use their senses to get fully immersed in all aspects of learning. Our students are encouraged to express their creative side through arts and crafts, music and movement, as well as rhythmic fine and gross motor activities. Our ABQ Explorer teachers work closely with the Grade 1 teachers to ensure that each student is equipped with the necessary skills to flourish in Primary. Our International Early Years Educators team is dedicated to ensuring that your child has the best start to life.

we care.

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