Head of Primary School

At NCBIS we offer a caring and high quality education in a secure environment on our unique campus for the international community of Cairo. We have high personal and academic expectations for our students and are proud of the varied and challenging learning opportunities that are provided to our pupils.

Our educational approaches arise out of the best of government and independent education systems, as well as the best practice in international education. We prepare our international students for UK GCSE and AS/A level examinations and the IBDP at age 16 and 18 respectively. We also use the UK Standard Assessment Tasks (CEM) in years 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12, and the GL suite throughout the Primary ages. Students in our Dutch Stream are offered a primary education closely aligned to the Dutch National Curriculum, which prepares them for the "Cito-Test" at 12. As a result, all of our students are provided with an education that prepares them to enter a schooling system anywhere, as well as universities in Egypt and elsewhere throughout the world.

As a school, from the Board of Directors down to our administration staff, we are committed to our vision for NCBIS - a vision focused specifically on improving the quality of learning and the levels of student achievement. This vision in turn informs and guides our decision making, both at the strategic and day-to-day level.

NCBIS has a Board of Directors made up entirely of the parental body and ensures a close connection to the school community.

The Board of Directors oversees the strategic direction and financial viability of the school, while taking a support role for the Senior Management Group.

Curriculum Information

In the Primary School we follow a bespoke curriculum which is based on the National Curriculum for England. We are recognised by the International Baccalaureate as an IB World School and use methodologies including project-based and inquiry-based learning to support our young learners. We have six topics every year which cover the curriculum in exciting contexts, and a themes framework that runs vertically through Primary to develop STEM and Global Citizenship characteristics and skills. Each topic, teachers plan together looking at the skills and outcomes required to be taught by the curriculum and what experiences can be included.

Early Years

The Early Years department provides a stimulating and high quality education, in a safe and caring environment, for children aged between 3 and 5 years. We aim to give children the very best possible start to their education and provide a firm foundation on which their future education can be built.

The Early Years curriculum is based on the UK Foundation Stage and is delivered through the inquiry topics each term, supported by the rigorous teaching of phonics.  Structured, well-planned play is an important feature of the curriculum and play-based learning is essential to our vision of developing learners with a positive and creative mindset that enables them to achieve success at school and in later life; achieved through a happy atmosphere and safe and stimulating physical environment that is conducive to academic learning as well as personal and social growth.

The curriculum encourages the individual development of each child through a mixture of whole class, group and individual teaching and is lively, exciting and challenging!

The Early Years department is housed in its own building with a secure outdoor learning environment that is accessed by all the classrooms directly. The outdoor learning environment includes a purpose built splash pool, a large sandpit (a great favourite of our younger learners!), a cushioned tiled area for developing gross motor skills and an artificially grassed area that houses learning centres such as construction, a reading corner, water play, phonics and number skills. The area is covered by purpose built shades, allowing access all year round.

Lower Phase

The Lower Phase encompasses Year 1, 2 and 3 children. We believe learning is achieved through a happy atmosphere and safe and stimulating physical environment that is conducive to academic learning as well as personal and social growth. As such we take great pride in ensuring that our classrooms reflect the learning process and inspire intellectual curiosity, critical thinking and enthusiasm for learning.

Purposeful learning (through projects and inquiries) is central to our pupil’s development and our vision that we need to prepare our pupils for a rapidly changing world where skills, values, attitudes and attributes are as important as knowledge. In inquiring into the world around them pupils are able to gain a deeper understanding of new concepts and to explore those concepts in real life situations.

The outcomes of the UK National Curriculum for England are therefore taught through a combination of discrete skill based lessons and application through our inquiry approach to learning. The firm foundations provided by our Early Years department are built upon in the Lower Phase, with the continuance of the Letters and Sounds Phonics programme. This provides the foundations for early reading and supports our writing programme.

Pupils in the Lower Phase are also supported by our team of specialist subject teachers; with specialist lessons provided in music, physical education and modern foreign languages. In addition to their academic studies, children are also encouraged to participate in our after school Extra Curricular Activities (ECAs) programme, where a range of sporting, artistic and musical activities are offered to enrich the children’s learning experiences and to develop each pupil’s unique talents to help them achieve their potential.

Upper Phase

The three years (Years 4-6) that form our Upper Phase continue to build upon and develop the skills, values, attitudes, attributes, knowledge and conceptual understanding that our students have gained in the Lower Phase.

Every class is led in their learning by a teacher and a teaching assistant, and it is through a wide range of challenges and experiences that our pupils develop lively, questioning and informed minds. Our units of inquiry continue to deepen pupil’s understanding of the world around them and this is again underpinned by the UK National Curriculum outcomes. Local educational visits and residential events in-country and overseas add breadth and interest to our programme of study, bringing to life the pupils’ learning and developing both their academic learning as well as their personal and social growth.

Choice and challenge, both within the curriculum and the extra-curricular programmes, is offered through our specialist lessons in music, physical education and modern foreign languages and involvement in school productions, sports competitions, musical events and our after school activity programme.

High academic and social standards are our expectation and as our pupils transition to Secondary School at the end of Year 6, we are confident that they leave us as caring international pupils committed to the traditional values of honesty, courtesy, respect, integrity and fair play.

The Dutch Stream

The NCBIS Dutch Stream is the only Dutch Primary School in Cairo.  It is one of the three sections of NCBIS  and it is based in the Primary building. The Dutch Stream teaches the Dutch curriculum. Our students also attend subjects like Topic lessons (Science, History, Geography, Art and Design Technology), PE, music and IT in English, together with their peers in the British section. We are recognised by the foundation ‘Stichting Nederlands Onderwijs in het Buitenland (Dutch Education Abroad) and inspected by the Dutch Ministry of Education.  Thanks to the unique cooperation with our British colleagues, we are able to prepare our students for a fluent transition to International or Dutch education. We are a small sized school, which enables us to adapt our teaching to the needs of the individual student.

Moreover, our Dutch speaking students in Secondary School can keep up their Dutch language skills in courses we teach after school hours in the Dutch Stream.

The Secondary Curriculum

The secondary curriculum aims to provide a framework for learners to meet the challenges of life in our fast-changing world. The aim is to provide a curriculum that builds on students’ experiences in the primary phase and that helps all students to become successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens.

The New Cairo British International School’s curriculum aims to promote learners’ intellectual, personal, social and physical development. As well as lessons and extracurricular activities, it includes approaches to teaching, learning and assessment, the quality of relationships within school, and the values embodied in the way the school operates. Our curriculum is based on the English National Curriculum in Key Stage 3 with modifications made to cater for the needs and diversity of the student population at NCBIS. At KS4 we offer IGCSE / GCSE and then the UK A Levels or IB Diploma in the Sixth form.

Key Stage 3: Year 7 to 9 (Age 11 to 14)

Key Stage 3 follows the English National Curriculum and all students will be expected to study the following subjects: Art, Drama, English, Geography, History, Computing, Mathematics, MFL (French, Arabic or Spanish), Music, Physical Education and Science.

At the end of Key Stage 3 (Year 9) students make their options for study at IGCSE / GCSE. At this point students reduce the number of subjects they wish to study.

Key Stage 4: Year 10 to 11 (Age 14 to 16)

The curriculum at Key Stage 4 leads to a two-year course of study leading to external International / General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE / GCSE) examinations. These courses are assessed and graded by coursework and external examination, set by Pearson Examinations (EDEXCEL) Board and Cambridge International Exam Board.

All students study the following compulsory courses: English language, English literature, at least two Science subjects, Mathematics, PE, and Life skills. It must be noted that PE and Life Skills do not lead to a formal qualification

In addition to the above, students make 6 option choices from the following subjects: Arabic (1st language speakers), Art, Biology, Business Studies, Computer Science, Chemistry, Drama, Geography, History, Mathematics, Arabic (MFL), French, Spanish, Music, Physical Education, Physics and Travel & Tourism. The combination of subjects studied as compulsory and those elected to be studied from the optional list, means that students study 9 subjects that lead to a formal qualification.

Key Stage 5: Year 12 to 13 (Age 16 to 18)

In our sixth form students have the option to choose two different pathways. The school currently offers the UK A Level or IBDP curriculum, in which students choose either pathway and then a set of subjects from the following:

English Literature, Maths, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Art/Visual Arts, Business, Economics, Geography, History, Psychology, Sports, Exercise and Health Science and Travel & Tourism. In addition to this all students undertake a CAS programme and either an EPQ (A Levels) or Extended Essay & Theory of Knowledge (IB).

Parents’ Evenings, Life Skills sessions and Careers Guidance help both students and families to make these important subject choices. Individual help can also be sought at the Careers office or with Heads of Key Stage.

Careers information involves face to face meetings as well as the use of interactive software and personality tests.