British Curriculum

We are now nearly 2 terms into our first year in a British school.  I have to say that we love it!  Below is a rundown of what classes my kids take and how these classes differ from our experience in Oklahoma.  Remember that my experience is not vast.  I am comparing one British school to one American school.  I'm comparing one private school to one public school.  In fact, since British School Muscat (BSM) has won 2 international school awards this year, it's a bit unfair.  It's definitely an apples and oranges situation.

An obvious change you will note is the definition of grades.  My boys are currently in their 3rd and 5th years.  These would correlate to 2nd and 4th grade.  After 6th year, the children are in senior school with various year definitions that I don't fully understand yet.  There are terms such as GCSE level, A level, and 6th form thrown around.  I don't know.

We are also in a standards based grading system, but that is actually not different from what we're used to.  The boys were in an elementary school that was pioneering the program for our district.  They received "grades" of 1-4 rather than A, B, C.  Here, I believe the grades go up to 5 for primary school.  I could be wrong about that.  The idea of standards based is that rather than the grade being an average of all your work (including that bad test from way back when you didn't understand the subject), the grade is a reflection of how well you know the subject at the current point in the year.  The goal is to be at a 3 by the end of the year.  A 3 means that you fully understand the subject.  It's not unusual to have 1s or 2s early in the year when the subject is not fully understood as long as you are working toward a 3.  4s should be hard to receive, and indeed they are in the British system.  A 4 reflects understanding the subject matter above and beyond what is taught.  A student who receives a 4 can teach other students the subject matter.


In an international British school, my children are learning 2 additional languages.  Back in the day when I would longingly dream about being an expat so my children could be educated internationally, the big draw for me was so that my children would learn other languages.  Now, that dream is a reality.  My kids would say that they are learning British.  That is somewhat true.  When they practice spelling words, I point out which words we would spell differently in America.  And since we are in an Arab country, the boys take Arabic lessons once a week.  Their class focuses on conversational Arabic.  They have learned some useful phrases, numbers, letters, and days of the week.  They have also learned how to write some letters and numbers.  I think it's fun that E knows how to write his name in Arabic.  They also take French lessons weekly.  This starts for children in the third year.  I've long wondered why French, but it seems to be a popular third language choice over here.  E had some catch up to do since he is in his fifth year, but he absolutely loves it!  He even asked his French teacher to translate a poem he recently wrote into French so he could recite it in English and French at their poetry slam.  J hasn't had to play catch up in French, but I'm impressed with his pronunciation abilities.

Here's a silly one:  math is called Maths.  In British curriculum, multiplication table start in 1st year (kindergarten).  They introduce 2 or 3 tables each year.  J hadn't had any multiplication lessons, so we were catching up on our 2, 5, and 10 times tables when they began introducing the 3, 4, and 8 times tables.  I'm sure there are other differences about when they learn different math skills, but multiplication was the big one that affected us.

English class is probably fairly similar to back home with the exception of some funny British spellings.  Interestingly, I feel like I have a better sense of what my children are doing thanks to their homework assignments.  I miss the "no homework" policy we had back home, but at least this homework is not very burdensome.  A cool thing I've noticed is that both boys are currently working on persuasive writing.  And a friend from our "other Sunday school class" back home posted a photo of their son's persuasive writing assignment.  So that is something that spans continents and age levels.  Each of these assignments is teaching similar skills but at the required level.  Cool!

Instead of having a STEM or STEAM class, BSM has Discovery Learning.  Discovery Learning is a way of weaving the learning of various subjects together.  All at one time, the students may be learning about art, science, history, and geography.  The teachers even link in English and Maths where applicable to help to really solidify their learning.  Among other things, J has learned all about Egypt and rocks while E has learned about space, rocks, and planets as major subjects of Discovery Learning.  What I find impressive is just how much Discovery Learning time the kids get.  Sunday is J's favorite day of the week because they have a 2 hour block of Discovery Learning in the afternoon.  And that is just on that one day.  It is incorporated into the rest of the week in smaller blocks.  Back home, the children went to a STEM class just once a week.

In addition to Discovery Learning, the children attend a computer class once a week.  Back home, their computer class had been replaced with their STEM class.  Somehow, they get all this in each week of school.  I'm amazed at time management.  I don't hear much about computer class, but some of the nuggets I have heard the boys discuss has included learning about spreadsheets, coding, and debugging code.

Music class is much more involved at BSM.  There are 3 music teachers that my boys interact with at their age compared to 1 at our previous school.  J goes to a music class once a week where he has learned how to read music, learned about instruments, and did world studies based around music of different countries.  Going once a week is not that different for him.  He will be starting to learn the recorder next term, and that will continue into his 4th year.  He is very excited.  E attends the once weekly music class plus band twice a week.  One band practice is as a whole band, and the other is in a small group setting.  The band addition starts in 5th year.

The children singing at Christmas time.  Mrs. Cole had picked songs with parts and harmonies to really push the children.  They did a wonderful job!  My J is the one wearing a Texas Rangers cap.

E playing his clarinet at the Christmas program.  His grade also sang.

J practicing his recorder.  He hasn't learned any notes yet, but he's pretty good with a beat.

The British appear to focus on handwriting much more than American schools.  This has been both a challenge and a blessing, especially for J.  E had learned cursive writing in school back home (yes, as opposed to what some believe, teachers in the US still teach cursive writing).  He reverted back to block letters at first then transitioned back to cursive with a slight British twist during the first term.  It is more a connecting of letters rather than true cursive writing as I know it.  J had developed the habit of writing letters in non-traditional patterns, let's say.  His "a" was a circle with a line next to it.  His "b" and "d" were also both circles with lines, and those lines were often written from bottom to top.  His handwriting was atrocious and slow.  The slowness of his writing was causing problems in school.  He couldn't get through his assignments in school without some modifications.  He was given special pencils, and he now attends a handwriting class once a week.  Oh how he has improved!  He no longer dreads writing.  It used to make his hand hurt almost right away.  He can now make it through his homework (most of the time) before his hand is tired.  His letters are of more uniform size.  He can fit them on lined sheets.  He can get his work done in class.  He can get his thoughts out more fluidly in written form.  His teacher can now read his imaginative stories thanks to his fluid thoughts and writing.  So while it was a stress for me that his handwriting was an issue, having the resources to correct it has been a blessing.

The children still go to library once a week.  I was pleased with the school library back home as well as the public library.  Without a public library here, I'm grateful for a good library at school.  I have had the opportunity to get a walk through of the library by the librarian at a coffee morning.  I learned that she does check ins and outs every other week during library time.  The other weeks she utilizes the time teaching the children about the library.  They have learned about authors and the Dewey Decimal System.  E has learned about organizing the library, fixing books, and checking books in and out; but those extra skills are courtesy of the Young Librarians club he participates in once a week after school.

The boys have PE twice a week.  Back home, they went once or twice a week depending upon the year.  A far cry from the daily I feel like I did as a child.  But I could be remembering things incorrectly.  What is really interesting at BSM is how the PE classes are structured.  They are in blocks for each half term.  During a block, the children will be learning the skill of one sport or group of activity such as dance, rugby, gymnastics, bench ball, net ball, kick around, or cricket.  They also have more basic blocks focusing on sportsmanship, throwing & catching, basic athletics, or playground games.  For example, J may do dance during his Sunday PE time and throwing and catching during his Monday PE time.  After half term break, the activities would change to say gymnastics and sportsmanship.  But each Sunday he knows what he's doing.  And each Monday he knows what he's doing.  It's very structured.  The coaches put on sports days (pictures below) that reminded me some of my old field days, but it was really very different.

J throwing a javelin.  Definitely not something I was ever taught.

E playing rugby, because this is a British school.  I don't understand rugby (yet?).

The boys have a swimming class once a week.  Maybe this could be offered at private schools back in the states, but public elementary schools certainly don't have swimming pools to be able to offer a swimming course.  The boys are learning proper strokes (something I have still never learned), how to dive off a diving block, and proper swim etiquette.  They even have a yearly swim gala for each grade to show off for parents and compete in races.  The swim instructors do their best to create even heats and provide opportunities for the students at their various levels.  BSM, I should note, has a very competitive and skilled club team, the BSM Marlins.

BSM can offer all this because they have so many coaches.  Not just one for an elementary school.  There must be at least 8-10.  The coaches are top notch.  The coaches pay attention.  They even offer after school activities specially tailored to help grow skills.  For example, my non-athletic children will participate in a physical development program this next term.  They also have swim sessions for lap swimming for the children who show promise for making the swim team some day.  Just two examples to demonstrate how they work to help out children on both ends of the athletic spectrum.

There are some extras that are either an aspect of where we live, going to an international school, or  other factors that I do appreciate about BSM.  The school has open air work spaces for the children.  They have the freedom to move outside, get some fresh air, get some wiggles out, and see something new.  I love the outdoor spaces.  They also offer extra curricular activities after school every term.  These activities change almost every term (E is in one that runs all year).  I love this because it keeps me from running around to activities all afternoon.  Plus, I don't have to work to find other activities for my boys.  They can do sports (a recreational program labeled MPSL, swimming, or other pay-for activities), they can learn new skills (iPad photography, coding, touch typing, chess, library), or they can do things they love (drama, Harry Potter club, art & design technology).

E participating in a play.  This was a rather involved after school activity, but he loved it!

What does BSM not have?  A gifted and talented (G/T) program for one.  E loved going to Education Station with Ms. Stacy in Duncan.  But even without the program, the boys are both pushed and challenged in school.  There is also (as referenced above) no "no homework" policy.  The school has recognized in a meeting that there is little to no evidence that homework at the young grades does any good in improving learning.  But, I do see that as my boys get older, they need to practice the discipline of working alone and completing homework assignments.  I'm grateful that the homework tasks are not onerous.  The only weekend time we spend on homework is Thursday afternoon after school.

The boys also miss their friends from home and the teachers they were blessed with before.  I say blessed with because we really had wonderful teachers in a wonderful school under wonderful guidance from our principal.  I'm grateful for the schooling they received up until this point, and I'm grateful for the schooling they are receiving now.