CURRICULUM
SCHOLASTIC
The OASIS builds strong foundation with Community-Based Learning Engaging Students preparing them for a successful and a purposeful life.
The way forward is to provide conducive environment and the right conditions for students, teachers and parents to learn through intense curiosity which extend beyond the classroom walls.
Our children, through good education, must learn both, to make a living and how to live. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills we believe that making the connection between learning and the real world is imperative for student success. According to the Partnership, “the education system faces irrelevance unless we bridge the gap between how students live and how they learn.” The Partnership defines literacy to mean not just reading, writing, and computing skills, but “knowing how to use knowledge and skills in the context of modern life.”
Academically based community service, civic education, environmental education, place-based learning, service learning, and work-based learning are increasingly evident in classrooms and after school programs. School staff, administrators, parents, community members, and students themselves see the benefits of these strategies and want them to take root and grow.
We are aware that Learning occurs in places and focuses on issues that have meaning for students. According to the National Council of Educational Research and Training, schools successfully engage students when they “make the curriculum and instruction relevant to adolescents’ experience, cultures, and long term goals, so that students see some value in the high school curriculum.” Other research confirms that students at all grade levels are more likely to pay attention to material over a sustained period of time when the content and reason for learning is compelling. We also know that linking learning acquired in the classroom to community settings requires that students distil information and use abstract thinking skills. This kind of application of knowledge is similar to rehearsal in that it enables young people to consolidate information and appears to increase their ability to respond to novel situations—a hallmark of higher level learning.
At The OASIS Learning tasks are active and allow students voice and make a choice. Feelings of control, choice, competence, and belonging are linked to learning. Children’s judgments about their capacity to learn—their sense of self efficacy—is based on their perceived ability as well as the value they attach to what must be learned.
Not all learners are word and number savvy—the kind of intelligence most recognized and rewarded in academic settings. Traditional schools provide little opportunity for students to use other aspects of their natural intelligence, including spatial, interpersonal, and physical skills, among others. Therefore, Learning goals must connect personal achievement to a purpose.
Other research shows that children are motivated by challenging, community-based problem solving. Participation in the issues and success of their own communities helps children develop a greater “can-do” attitude, connects them to community norms and values, and contributes to community cohesion. More positive attitudes occur when they interact with others, develop skills, and perceive rewards as a result. When children realise that their actions can improve the lives of others, they gain confidence in managing their own lives, avoid high risk behaviours, and become more engaged in school.
At The OASIS Assessments provide ongoing feedback. Current assessment methods are far too narrow to capture the diverse ways in which students acquire and demonstrate learning and provide too little feedback to students when they need it. This is important because we know that students develop a sense of self-efficacy, a key element in motivation, based, in part, on a variety of feedback factors, including whether or not they think they will have the opportunity to improve their performance enough to meet expected standards.
Culminating events at the end of a particular unit of study (e.g., the half yearly or an even longer period) often serve as a capstone for learning. These events will include public performances that showcase students’ creative work, publications that distil student research and share important findings with the community, or presentations to local government or civic groups. All of these events require students to organise, distil and effectively package all that they have learned. They offer appropriate challenges that not only strengthen student work but celebrate individual and group accomplishments. The OASIS will give equal importance to all such learning initiatives.
Finally, young people need opportunities to develop their intellectual muscle needed to succeed in the world. Students must not only acquire knowledge, they must develop the ability to use knowledge, skills, and dispositions to evaluate and efficiently solve novel problems if they are to become what society needs—compassionate and independently critical thinking members of humane communities.
We at The OASIS base our work on the following key principles:
- Integrated Learning
- Physical Health
- Academic Excellence
- Emotional Maturity
- Social responsibility and Spiritual Richness.
School Counsellor
The OASIS is dedicated to the emotional well-being of every child. Whether it is to have a spontaneous conversation or to resolve a deeper issue, students can approach our qualified and full-time school counsellors. Parents are also welcome to contact the school counsellor with regard to their children through prior appointment.
