Health & Wellness

Date of School Visit: November 25th, 2015

Grade level (s) visited: 10 & 11

Subject(s) observed: Religious Studies

 

School

The very small school it is called The Nassau School located Crawford St. and Davis St. The school isn’t noticeable; you must look for the school or know where you are going to find the school. The school is noticeable is because there isn’t a sign at the main building. The second building resides on Davis St. which holds the 1st grade students and has a sign in front of it. There weren’t any evidence of rules or discipline code visible around the school but the student we encountered was respectful. There are approximately 64 students attending the school from grade 1 through grade 12.

 

Administration

The role of the administrators that the school is ran properly. The administration was dressed professionally and respectful. To my knowledge the school has a principal and a vice principal and sometimes the administrator is in the classroom teaching. The attitudes towards the teachers were respectable, towards the students the administrators were helpful and noticeable they want the students to reach their full potential. As potential teachers the administration was very welcoming as the group and I were given words of encouragement while pursuing our degree.

 

Staff

The staff was dressed respectably and was there to ensure extra paperwork were complete. The attitude towards the administration, teachers and were respectful and not out of line. From my visit, the only staff member I saw was the receptionist who was helpful with the group to get settled at the school.

 

 Classroom

Although the main school situates in a two story building the second level is occupied while the lower level is being renovated for the upcoming school year. The classroom is fairly small that is able to accommodate 13 students, 2 teachers and the observers. There weren’t enough teaching/learning resources in the classroom that were eye catching. There was a whiteboard in the classroom and two poster boards on the wall discussing Science and Religious Studies. It is good learning environment because it felt student centered but on the other hand it was hard for students to maneuver due to the class’s size.

 

Teachers

The teachers are ensuring the class goes through the syllabus of the required subject correctly for students to gain knowledge. There aren’t enough teachers at the school as the principal had to fill in for the Religion class. The teacher was clear and spoke loud for everyone in the room heard. The teachers were dressed presentably and were comfortable to move around the room. The teacher has a good relationship with her students as she would call them by their name to answer a question. Her teaching skills are very inspiring as she motivates her students to answer question more than until one would get it right. Some motivational quotes that were expressed were “You won’t get it right unless you try”. The topic for the Religion class was ‘Who Really is King?’ and the teacher was passionate in her lesson. She linked specific books of the bible, Middle Eastern countries, songs and scriptures to the topic were used. The teacher was very creative in her teaching skills as the student would role-play certain scenes of scriptures giving students a better understanding of the lesson.

 

Students in the classroom

The students were very attentive and were determined to complete the syllabus in order to be ready for exams, BJC’s and BGCSE’s. There were 13 students who were in the 10th and 11th grade along with a 12th grader. The uniform is a khaki skort or khaki pants, white polo shirt with the school’s logo as the crest. Everyone was prepared for the religion class he or she either ha a bible or laptop open with the bible verse. Everyone was attentive also when during the teacher asked any open-ended questions as the students answered in confidence.

 

Overall Impression of the School

The Nassau School is a good small school that is considereate of the child's learning pace. I learned that the students are able to learn at the pace of other students but aren't comfortable being in a large school. There is one student at the school who is autistic so the school isn't really considered a special needs school. It is just like a regular school and I liked the principal's vision where at the school the cirriculum won't drive them but go at the pace of the students.