The SABIS® Educational System™ is a comprehensive academic program that has been developed and refined over 130 years. With a balance of academics, self-development, and life preparation, the SABIS® Educational System™ prepares students for success in college, fosters a lifelong interest in learning, and develops responsible world-class citizens. It blends quality education with traditional values of hard work and responsibility for self and others.
The SABIS® Educational System™ consists of an international curriculum that is updated regularly so that it remains relevant to the age, the international community, and the global environment.
What Makes This System Different?
SABIS® believes that an intelligent approach produces better results. Excellent results are achieved by:
- Planning and preparing
- Teaching methodically and comprehensively, using SABIS® teaching methods
- Conducting frequent assessment
- Engaging in continual and appropriate follow-up and support
- Encouraging active student participation in the education process
Everything possible is done to ensure success. No one who studies in a school in the SABIS® Network is allowed to “fail in peace.”
Planning and Preparing
Thorough preparation precedes teaching. Each course is researched, structured, and described in terms of hundreds of clearly stated objectives called “points.”
A plan for each subject at each stage is prepared. Each plan is complete and includes all of the “points” to be taught and the skills to be developed. It is detailed with precise and measurable objectives. It is paced so that progress is charted against a time line. The plan for each stage dovetails with that of the following stage, ensuring that nothing essential to further learning is omitted, and thus enabling the transition from year to year to be smooth and successful.
Teaching Methods
Students in SABIS® Network schools benefit from a system that views a successful learning environment as one in which students can learn the most in the least amount of time. Time is seen as a limited resource and one that must be maximized. In delivering instruction to students at all grade levels from first grade through high school, teachers in SABIS® Network schools implement the SABIS Point System® of instruction. This proprietary method is based on the precise identification of measureable learning objectives, called “points,” for every lesson and actively engages students in a community of learners.
In the SABIS Point System®, teachers present one point at a time and then ask the class to demonstrate their understanding of the concept through the completion of a written exercise. Next, moving from teacher-led instruction, the class engages as a community of learners, checking each other’s work in small, manageable groups. One student in each group is selected to coordinate the group based on academic competence in the subject. This student oversees his/her own micro-community of learners, managing questions and offering further explanations (or looking to other group members to do so), when needed. The group leader also works in close coordination with the teacher, asking for support and keeping students on task until everyone in the group has shown mastery. Once the entire class has demonstrated mastery of the point, teacher-led instruction resumes and the learning cycle continues.
Testing and Monitoring
Continuous evaluation of each student is an integral part of the educational process used by every school in the SABIS® Network. Testing to evaluate student learning and to permit timely positive intervention is frequent and regular.
- Testing students in this way has a number of very important advantages:
- Students are prepared to perform well under the pressure of time constraints and develop the ability to organize available time well.
- Students develop the ability to focus and to sustain concentration for increasingly longer periods.
- The feedback from testing allows close monitoring and follow-up.
The proprietary SABIS® School Management System provides many programs that allow reliable and prompt assessment of student knowledge and effective follow-up. One such program, the SABIS Academic Monitoring System® (SABIS® AMS), is used to assess student knowledge of every concept taught. The SABIS® AMS allows “gaps” in student knowledge to be pinpointed as they form. Working as a community of learners, teachers and students then focus their efforts on “filling the gaps.” The SABIS® AMS allows the progress of each and every student to be continuously monitored and problem areas to be followed up through the use of student-targeted solutions.
When “gaps” in knowledge are identified and eliminated, a gap-free, cohesive structure is built in students’ minds allowing further, secure learning to take place.
Follow-Up and Support
The progress of each student is continually followed up on and all students receive the support needed. Every available means is used to help catch up students who may fall behind. Students are advised in study techniques, motivated by the academic staff, and encouraged by receiving help from peer-tutors or teachers. In the SABIS® Network, no one is allowed to fall through the cracks.
The SABIS Student Life Organization®
The schools in the SABIS® Network firmly believe that education has the power to change the world. The SABIS Student Life Organization® (SLO®), a distinctive and integral part of the SABIS® Educational System™, gives students the opportunity to develop “life” skills that empower them to make a difference.
The SLO® is the students' mini-society. Prefects who are selected — not elected — manage the SLO®. All students are encouraged to join the SLO® and take an active part in their education, both at the academic and non-academic levels. Working in cooperation with and complementing the efforts of the administrative and academic staff, SLO® prefects are valuable assets to their schools. They help to raise the general standard, promote high social and moral values, and encourage participation in a wide range of additional activities. Student Life Coordinators allocate “real-life” tasks to students, and advise and support them in all of their efforts.
The SABIS Student Life Organization® contributes to ensuring that SABIS® Network schools educate outstanding students who are academically strong, morally sound, mentally sharp, and socially aware.
