Co-Curricular Program
The Co-curricular program provides opportunities for students to develop socially, emotionally and physically within a caring and supportive framework, discover and nurture individual interests, passions and talents and share intercultural perspectives while fostering new social networks and friendships.
The program also provides experiences for growth in both developmental skills.
- Arts & Creativity
- Sports / Athletics
- Academics
- After School Activities
- Global Awareness
- Action for Impact
- Service as Action
- Field Trips,
- Week Without Walls
- Overseas Travel
The After School Activities program operates across the Primary and Secondary Schools. Activities in the primary school operate across three sessions and in the secondary school students elect activities each semester. Information is provided to parents and students via the co-curricular Expos hosted at the beginning of each session.
Support Services
At Qatar Academy Sidra, we follow the International Model for social and emotional support. The counseling department in general addresses transitions, academic success, personal and social development, and future planning for students.
The counselors work closely with different departments within the school such as Admissions, the Student Support Team, and the Medical Health unit as well as maintaining close communication with Administration and Faculty to ensure the delivery of effective and supportive services to all our families.
Social / Emotional Curriculum
Our social and emotional learning program focuses on activities and lessons that are consistent with identified student needs and cover four broad domains of development to promote and enhance the learning process. The domains are broad developmental areas including standards and competencies and promote behaviors that enhance learning for all students. Standards for each domain provide guidance and direction for international schools developing effective school counseling programs. Student competencies define the specific knowledge, attitudes and skills students should obtain, and indicators demonstrate skill acquisition.
In the primary school, we focus on empathy, respect, and responsibility. In secondary, we implement social and emotional lessons through the advisory program, which supports academic, personal/social and career developmental skill-building.
Student Health
The main scope of our health services at QA Sidra is to provide students first-aid care in case of illnesses or injuries during the school hours. We have two full time registered nurses (one on each campus) to provide services to our students.
QA Sidra also provides educational programs and activities to the students so that they can lead a healthy lifestyle. Our Nurses engage teachers and students in discussions, on topics such as; the importance of proper physical exercises, consuming nutrients in a balanced diet, proper oral hygiene, good hand hygiene, and the benefits of a good night sleep.
In cooperation with the Qatar Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) and the World Health Organization (WHO), QA Sidra participates in annual screenings of vision, height and weight. These screenings occur for students from the ages of 5 – 19 years of age Height and weight screening occurs for all students from 5 years and above whilst vision screening occurs at selected grades.
Counselling
The vision of the Qatar Academy Sidra counselling program is to provide a comprehensive, developmental counselling program that supports the academic, social/emotional and career needs of all students. Through advocacy, leadership, and collaboration, school counselors are professional student advocates who provide support to maximize student potential and academic achievement.
The mission of our school counselors is to support our students, parents, teachers and community. We aim to foster a caring, learning environment in which to develop our students cognitive, social-emotional and career development. Qatar Academy Sidra draws on both the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) model and International Model For School Counselors.
Orientation
It is our goal to ensure that each new student has a smooth transition to QA Sidra. The foundation that we build upon to make certain that each student succeeds socially and academically includes: welcoming new students and their parents, providing an orientation to our campuses, supporting each student’s adjustment to his/her new environment and tracking their transition over time.
Social And Emotional Skill Development
Our social and emotional learning program focuses on activities and lessons that are consistent with identified student needs. In the primary school, we focus on empathy, respect and responsibility. In secondary, we implement social and emotional lessons through the advisory program, which supports academic, personal/social and career developmental skill building.
Small Group Counselling
A variety of small group counselling activities occur throughout the year which focus on issues that include academic, friendship and social skill development.
Individual counselling
The counselors provides an environment that is conducive to students communicating freely and openly. Within this environment, we strive to know each student as an individual, providing them with the tools to overcome challenges, maintain a positive self-image, and utilize problem solving strategies.
Teacher and Parent Consultation
Collaborating with teachers and parents in a unified approach to find the most effective methods to help each child reach his/her academic potential is the cornerstone of our program. Always operating with the best interest of the student in mind, we work together to help each child achieve academic, emotional and social success.
Parent Presentations and Workshops
Parent presentations and workshops are given on a wide array of educational issues designed to help parents become familiar with special topics of interest, all with the aim of better serving each child and strengthening the bond between home and school. In addition, we offer an Active Parenting program.
Learning Hub / Library Policies
To ensure we all know and understand the expectations for the use of the Learning Hub / Library resources, important information from our QA Sidra policies can be found below:
Borrowing Books
Throughout the year, students are encouraged to borrow books from the Learning Hub/Library. In Primary, students can borrow Arabic and English books for a 2-week period and return them when they visit the Learning Hub with their classes, or before/after school. In Secondary, students can borrow up to five resources for a two week period as well. Resources can be renewed one time for another two week period. In cases where another person has placed a HOLD on the resource, the renewal may be declined.
Overdue, Lost and Damaged Books
At the end of the academic year, all QA Sidra library books are collected and returned to the Learning Hub/Library in preparation for the inventory of all Arabic and English resources. After the inventory is completed, parents will receive an individual email reminding them about their son/daughter’s overdue books. If overdue books aren’t returned or outstanding fines haven’t been paid, students will have their end of year school report cards held back by QA Sidra until the books are returned or the fine has been paid.
At the end of each semester, overdue notices will be sent to parents. If any library resources are lost or damaged the following procedure applies:
The student is given a printout from the Librarian stating the book(s) that they must pay a fine for. The fine is 150 QR per book.
The student/parent will pay the money directly to the QA Sidra cashier (office is located upstairs in the Administration area of the Secondary campus). The cashier will send an e-receipt to the Librarians. Upon receiving the payment/e-receipt, the students may resume borrowing books.
If at a later date the student finds the lost (and undamaged) resource, the fine can be refunded. The student must return the book to the Learning Hub/Library and the Librarian will email the QA Sidra cashier to ask for a refund. The fine will be refunded via a bank e-transfer. Parents will need to inform the cashier of their bank transfer details. This will be possible only for the books lost /damaged and paid for during the current academic year.
- It is not possible for students to purchase a copy of a lost/damaged resource from another source and bring it to the Learning Hub/Library in lieu of paying a fine.
- Students should not attempt to fix damaged books at home, but rather inform the Librarians when the book is returned.
