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The School Development Plan (SDP)

The School Development Plan (SDP) enables the whole school community to understand how the school is delivering its Vision and Mission. The SDP is designed to give a sharp, clear focus to those aspects of our work which we believe are most in need of improvement, or will support us to deliver our five-star vision. We set priorities and goals for the year, actions to achieve these priorities, and timescales for their implementation.

At the end of each academic year in June, all departments in school review their area, noting strengths to be celebrated and the areas which need to be improved. The Senior Leadership Team then collates all the evaluations and creates the whole school development plan -our SDP-for the forthcoming year. These department reviews also help us plan and prioritise our budget and guide us to organise staff training. The draft SDP is then shared with Orbital for their comments and agreement. The SDP is monitored monthly by senior leaders and by Orbital to ensure we are on track to deliver the planned outcomes.

This year, we are focusing on two new accreditations, an Online Safety Award and a Parent Partnership Award. Additionally, we are undertaking re-accreditation by the internationally recognised body, CIS (Council of International Schools), and re-accreditation of our Wellbeing Award. We will also start preparations for a BSO (British Schools Overseas) accreditation in 2026–27.

In Primary, the main focus this year is to enhance our Science provision by ensuring all our students have more opportunities for scientific enquiry. We are also launching Enterprise projects for students in Year 3 and Year 5.

We will continue to prioritise Reading, Writing, and Maths to ensure solid foundations so that our students are able to thrive in Secondary school.

In Secondary, developing our Sixth Form provision with regard to subjects on offer, is a key priority. Additionally, we will be enhancing opportunities for our students by developing our work experience programme, having a KS3 musical, growing the Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) programme, and embedding our trips and residentials offer. I am delighted to share that twelve of our students will be attending the Model United Nations (MUN) Orbital Conference in Budapest this year. This trip is sponsored by Qatar Airways. We are currently planning a number of different residential trips which will be offered to all students from Y5–Y13.

As a school, we are focused on improving our communication with stakeholders and using their feedback to drive our school forward. We are also committed to developing our student leadership body to ensure their impact is clearly visible across the school. In addition to our existing leadership roles, this year we have new roles such as Curriculum Champions and Qatar Ambassadors. Parents will have noted from our calendar that we have a number of new events taking place and that we have increased the number of opportunities for parental involvement.

As it is a fairly lengthy document, the SDP has been summarised below to give our community an overview of our goals for 2025–2026.

Academic Results - Promoting our value of Excellence

As parents will be aware, excellence is one of our five school values. One of the ways our students demonstrate excellence is through their academic results. I am proud to be able to share with you the Academic results from 2024-25. As a British Curriculum School, we benchmark our results on UK National averages. Below you can see a comparison of our results compared to UK National averages for 2025.

At the end of EYFS, we assess our FS2 children to see if they have achieved a "Good Level of Development" (GLD). At Oryx International 87% achieved a GLD. ( UK 67%)

At the end of Year 1 students take the Phonics Test . At Oryx International 96% passed. (UK 81%)

At the end of Year 6, when Pupils leave Primary, they are working in line with or above UK Age Related Expectations (ARE) . In 2025, our students achieved:- Reading 92 % (UK 75%) Writing 73% ( UK 72%) Maths 85 % (UK 74%) This Y6 information is used to support the target setting process for our students when they move into Year 7.

All Y10 students, that took I/GCSE fast track Mathematics, achieved a grade 9 (A*). Over the last three years all students have achieved grades 9-7(A*-A) which is an excellent achievement.

Excellence isn't just about attainment and grades it's also about the progress that individual students make because of their learning behaviours of perseverance, resilience and growth mindset. Excellent attainment and progress is publicly celebrated in assemblies, and through our formal Prize Giving events during the year. Our teachers' commitment to the value of excellence is not only through their teaching but also the time and effort they dedicate to our students to ensure their wellbeing. This academic year, this has been reflected in the additional courses that are on offer to our Sixth Form students and the modular courses now available to iGCSE students.

What is Safeguarding?

Safeguarding is the umbrella term used for all areas that refer to the process of promoting children's safety, health and welfare both in and out of school. It encompasses areas such as attendance, behaviour, health & safety, building design, recruitment, risk assessments, online safety, staff conduct, curriculum and child protection.

Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility.

It includes:
Making sure students feel safe, supported, and listened to. Protecting children from abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Promoting the physical and emotional wellbeing of all students. Creating a secure environment where children can learn and grow. Teaching students how to keep themselves safe, including when they are online. Safeguarding is not about responding when something goes wrong, it's about taking a proactive approach and constantly reflecting on our practices to ensure our commitment is exemplary. This means teaching children how to recognise unsafe situations, encouraging them to speak up if they’re worried, ensuring all staff are trained to notice when something may be wrong and supporting parents with updates and workshops on related topics.

What does safeguarding look like at Oryx?

Curriculum. At our school we actively promote a positive culture of safeguarding through the activities students undertake. Our curriculum ensures there are regular activities where students learn about how to keep themselves safe and healthy. Some examples of activities undertaken so far this term, are Wellbeing week, the First Aid for Mental Health course, an Online safety workshop and, for secondary students, the creation of an emotional first aid kit. All students are encouraged to identify their most trusted adults and staff members, enabling them to seek help and emotional guidance when needed. At the start of each year, assemblies and presentations take place which explain our safeguarding procedures in a student-friendly way thus ensuring that students understand how to seek support if needed.

Online Safety. In schools across the globe, online safety is an increasing concern. This year, as part of our commitment to online safety, we are undertaking a 360 Online Safety Accreditation, led by Jonathon Hughes, Assistant Principal. As a school we believe in embracing technology and supporting our students to use online platforms safely. This is addressed through regular teaching sessions integrated into our PSHE program, assemblies and via parent workshops. These sessions raise awareness about the potential dangers of online platforms and their impact if used inappropriately or unsupervised. Our firewall in school protects students from accessing or viewing inappropriate materials and all students sign a safe usage agreement which reinforces their commitment to use devices appropriately. At Oryx, students in KS3 and KS4 are not permitted to access their mobile phones during the school day.

Staff Training. In accordance with our safeguarding policies, all employees, volunteers, subcontractors and external providers undergo relevant background checks before engaging with students. In addition, all staff receive annual face to face safeguarding training, regular refresher sessions throughout the year and complete a number of mandatory annual training courses. Senior Leaders and key members of staff are trained to the Level 3 standard. Our policies and procedures are based on UK statutory guidance and Qatar expectations. Concerns raised by staff, students or parents are dealt with on a need-to-know basis. All members of the school community are expected to remain vigilant and promptly raise any concerns to ensure our students remain safe and protected. We encourage parents to communicate any safeguarding concerns through official channels by emailing michaela.piare@oryxschool.qa.

Child Protection. All our staff are trained to recognise the 4 signs of abuse. All referrals and disclosures are treated confidentially and are managed by our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)

Attendance. It is widely known that every school expects a good level of attendance, with students attending 95% of the time. We are acutely aware that mitigating circumstances, beyond anyone's control, can impact on a student's attendance. We inform parents termly of their child's attendance and at mid-term intervals if we are at all concerned about attendance levels or lateness. We ask that parents contact us if they are concerned about their child's attendance at school.

Counselling. When students are stressed or emotionally upset, our pastoral and wellbeing team provides timely support when needed. Referrals to our school counsellors, Ms Bunmi and Ms Elaine can be made by students, parents or staff. Please let us know if you feel counselling support would benefit your child.

Health & Safety. The safety of our children is of paramount importance and with this in mind, we regularly practice evacuations, evaluate our risk assessments and conduct Health & Safety walks around the campus. Our security guards play a pivotal role in ensuring our site is secure and visitors adhere to our on site expectations. All staff are expected to promote a safe learning environment but unfortunately, accidents will inevitably happen. All incidents of significant concern are reported to our Health & Safety team and these incidents are raised at the termly Health and Safety Committee meeting which involves members of the Oryx community as well as Qatar Airways Health & Safety staff. We regularly review our practices to demonstrate our commitment to ensuring the safety of our students.

Future Workshops and More information Please see our annual events calendar for forthcoming safeguarding workshops. Additionally, we will tailor sessions to address specific themes relevant to our student body and parental requests. If you have any questions or concerns, or require additional information, please feel free to reach out.

Together, we can create a safe, supportive environment for all our students here at Oryx.