Saud International School Review
The story so far...
Saud International School (SIS), which was established in 1998 in the central Sulaimaniah district of Riyadh, offers a combination of an 'adapted' US curriculum in its KG and Elementary sections (from pre-KG to Grade 5) and an 'adapted' English National Curriculum in its Secondary/Middle and High school sections leading to IGCSE and International A Level examinations. SIS accepts children from 3 to 18 years of age with separate sections for girls and boys from Grade 4 onwards.
The school says “it places high value on the individual, an ethos underpinned by our belief that our school provides an ideal atmosphere for nurturing the talents and needs of young students.”
The mission of Saud International School is “to provide a challenging educational environment that meets the needs of the diverse community by offering a worldwide known curriculum implemented with state of the art technology along with extra-curricular activities.”
The vision of Saud International School is “to create a supportive environment enabling us to equip our students with skills and abilities which will allow them to develop intellectually, physically, socially, emotionally and morally as they become successful and productive lifelong learners in the 21st Century.”
SIS is organised into Pre-School, Elementary, Middle and High School, each with its own Principal, leadership team and character, but very much part of one school offering a seamless and creative journey from entrance to graduation. Unfortunately, SIS provides no information in terms of student numbers, nationalities or academic achievement.
Teaching staff are said to come from around the world including the USA, South Africa, Asia and Saudi Arabia. They are required to have a Bachelors’ Degree from an accredited university and must be fluent in English, reading, speaking and writing. The school does not specify the requirement for a prior teaching qualification.
What about the curriculum?
SIS says that its programme is essentially based on the British curriculum (which makes the reasoning behind the US curriculum in the Early Years and Elementary school section a little hard to understand), with a philosophy of national and international education that begins from the early years and moves forward up to high school. The school aims to provide a challenging educational environment that meets the needs of the diverse community, by offering an internationally known curriculum implemented with state of the art technology along with a (limited) range of extra-curricular activities.
SIS says that their programme supports learners in developing international-mindedness through the learning process and prepares students for the future demands of the curriculum, the core focus of which is on languages, Islamic studies, art, ICT, maths, sciences, and personal, social and physical education.
The Pre School programme begins with KG students, aged 3 and above including KG, Reception 1 and Reception 2. The curriculum includes full language immersion in English and Arabic. In the Elementary section, students are taught by female teachers and managed by the Girls’ school administration. The curriculum places a strong emphasis on English, Math and Science. At the end of Grade 5, students can opt to take the Cambridge Checkpoint exam.
The focus of the Middle School (Grade 6 – 9) is on challenging students to make practical connections between their studies, critical thinking and the real world. At the end of grade 8, students can opt to take Cambridge Checkpoint exam. As students enter High School (Grade 10 – 12), each student has access to a designated Student Counselor to determine their high school plan with IGCSE examinations at the end of Grade 10, culminating in International A levels at the end of Grade 12.
English as a Second Language is provided to assist those students having difficulty with English with the curriculum, using interactive books in a variety of educational styles. The aim of the ESL programme is to enable students to reach a standard where they are able to return to their regular English class. Similarly, additional Arabic language classes are offered by the school.
Students also participate in Physical education - with multi-purpose courts that allow participation in basketball, volleyball and other ball games.
SIS provides a limited number of extra-curricular activities focused around sport including Football competitions, Karate, Volleyball and table tennis, and a number of clubs including Art, Coding, Music, Games, Debate and Math Olympiad.
What about the facilities?
According to the school, its buildings were built to international specifications and are equipped with air-conditioning, security cameras, a fire alarm system and intercoms. However, having been constructed in the late 1990's, it is not possible to determine how modern its facilities are today. Teaching facilities include Laboratories, Specialist Rooms, an Art Room, a Library, a Student Lounge and Cafeteria.
The Buzz
As one of the longer established international curriculum schools in Riyadh, SIS seems to have found its niche. It is also very much an affordable school in terms of fees. How this impacts the curriculum provision and resources and the quality of staffing and teaching is unknown. It also does not provide information about subject options and IGCSE or International A Level, nor information about academic achievement. It does, however, appear to be a school that features on the limited list of schools that attract expatriates.
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What about the fees?
Saud International School falls among the more affordable options with fees starting at 20,000 SAR for students joining in KG and Reception 1 and 2 (pre-KG, KG1 and KG2). From Grades 1 to 7, fees are 29,500 SAR, and from Grades 8 to 10, 31,000 SAR. The final two grades, 11 and 12, are 32,000 SAR. These fees do not include VAT.
Information about registration fees is not provided on the school website. Students from Grade 2 are required to take an Entrance examination. The school indicates that there may be waiting lists for specific grades.
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