Whole School Development Plans

Whole School Development Plan 2025-2026

The Development Plan for 2025-2026 has now been completed, with working parties sitting in a number of areas to make recommendations for implementation from September of 2026 on a range of topics.

To “Unify the BHS Curriculum”. A working party, which I chaired, and on which Mr. Tamer Amin, the Chair of the Education Committee of the Governing Board, also sat, considered the three programmes run at Brummana High School: the Lebanese programme leading to the Brevet and the Baccalaureate, the International programme (Cambridge), leading to IGCSE’s and A levels, and the International Baccalaureate Diploma programme, which is taken by students from both the Lebanese and the International programmes in grades 11 and 12. We looked at many aspects of these curricula, how they are taught, the content of the programmes, and how we could best improve their image, prestige, and delivery through a range of methods, including training of teachers, provision of more demanding material for students, competitions, and close monitoring. In all, there were 28 recommendations, and in the whole school development plan for 2026-2027, we shall include the implementation of all recommendations for 2025-2026 as one of our targets to ensure that what has been recommended will happen in practice.

To “Prepare for EDT Reaccreditation”.  A working party led by the Vice Principal and Director of Studies, Mr. Georges Rizkallah, met throughout the year to help colleagues prepare paperwork and professional practice, with the help of an EDT consultant, for the forthcoming inspection, which will now take place in 2026-2027. The inspection will last for several days, and we hope be in person; we are likely to welcome four inspectors to school so that they can assess the quality and range of what is done at Brummana High School from KG to Grade 12. The focus in preparing for the inspection has been regular observation of teaching and learning in the classroom by colleagues as well as by the EDT consultant; emphasis being placed on school safety procedures and on school safeguarding practices, and on updating school statistics and information to complete the school’s self-review document.  

To “Explore the Appropriate and Effective Use of AI”. I have already written to parents about this item, which was aimed to provide suitable parameters for the use of AI and to protect both students and teaching staff from its misuse. We have now established a policy on the appropriate and effective use of AI, and this has been published on our website. Out of this will come a development plan item for 2026-2027 to examine and determine the use of AI tools and platforms to facilitate both teaching and learning from KG1 to Grade 12, to ensure that we are making the very best use of artificial intelligence in teaching and in learning without forfeiting independence of thought or independent action. The AI policy points out that AI should be used responsibly, emphasises academic integrity, ensures alignment with Cambridge International and International Baccalaureate regulations, and insists on student independent thought and performance, irrespective of the responsible uses of AI. The policy provides a template for the use of AI as a tool to assist teaching and learning and parameters for the extent of AI use in educational development.

To “Further Explore and Develop Recommendations and Programmes to Counter Excessive Time Spent Online”. We have been studying this item for two years now and, following surveys carried out of staff, parents and students, we were alarmed but not surprised to note the deleterious effects of excessive use of time spent online by students from KG to Grade 12, resulting not only in deteriorating sleep patterns, anxiety, depression, and poorer academic performance, but also in social isolation, with huge amounts of time being spent online, in excess of six hours per day per student outside school time by the age of 16, by over 40% of our students. A number of recommendations have already been implemented and in the year ahead, we shall attempt to attract parents to pastoral evenings more convincingly than we did last year so that parents are fully aware of the dangers of too much time spent on phones and other devices. In addition, we will have one digital detox day per month at school for all classes where all devices will be banned, including the use of technology in the classroom. The phone ban, which at the moment is from KG1 to Grade 9, will be extended to Grade 10 in the 2026-2027 academic year, and in the Infants’ Section, the decision for students to limit their daily device use to 20 to 30 minutes under parental supervision will continue to be reinforced during assemblies and by email to parents, whose support we shall need. In addition, in the year 2026-2027, we shall encourage that one of the proposed projects for the academic fair, particularly for the Lower School, might focus on the science behind how screen time can affect the brain. I have already written to parents in some detail about this item on the development plan and although we shall not continue for a third year as a working party, we shall retain a standing committee to meet periodically should it be felt necessary to take further decisions regarding the excessive use of screen time online by students.

Infants’ Section: Implementing Culinary Skills: The aim of this objective was to implement a programme of teaching culinary skills to young children from KG1 to KG3. The Head of Section led a working group which prepared a nicely decorated room with age-appropriate materials including an electric oven to be used by teachers, with plastic colourful plates, child-friendly cutlery, cutting boards and wall posters that highlighted the importance of healthy eating. Culinary activities now take place on a monthly basis and are one of the many highlights implemented in the Infants’ Section. In the first session, students prepared their own salad bar and in the second, they attended an informative session about apples provided by visiting professionals in which they learned about different kinds of apples and saw how fresh apple juice was made; in the third culinary activity, children made their own sandwiches at school using labneh, cucumbers and tomatoes. A fourth activity took place at Christmas time when the children made their own Christmas cookies and decorated them. Quite apart from the benefits of learning about nutritious food, the activities have also helped to develop independence in the students and introduced them to the idea of learning by doing and by experiencing.

Primary Section: Promoting Student Social and Emotional Learning: A working party met to discuss all aspects of this important topic for children’s development. The final report covers the understanding of social-emotional learning, internal practice over service performance, emotional regulation as the foundation for learning, authority, power, and emotional safety, repair as a core social-emotional skill, cultural and contextual awareness, and the process from inner practice to classroom impact. The aim of the working party was to promote social-emotional learning, not only amongst students but also amongst teachers, who are their role models. There is a section in the report on teacher conduct and behaviour, which is an excellent example of how teachers should conduct themselves and is linked to the code of conduct for teachers, which I set up earlier this year for teachers to follow. Training has since been provided during the course of this year for teachers on their adoption of social-emotional learning in their own practice, and the social-emotional learning curriculum will be integrated into the Lower School curriculum to take effect from September 2026, following further induction days and In-service training at the beginning of the 2026-2027 school year. For parents who are interested, the full report is available from Mrs. Shatha Abu Khalil or from Mrs. Rola Azar on request.

Upper School: Promoting the Connection Between Students and Teachers to Enhance the Quality of Student Life: This working party, which involved students, staff, and members of the administration, as well as some parents, looked at many aspects of school life in the Upper School, including academic stress and workload, mental health and emotional support, school climate and inclusivity, engagement and teaching practices, bullying and well-being, facilities and student life, and the no-phone day initiative. Students were given, as a result, a real voice in how school life functions. Some recommendations were made by students, which will be immediately implemented, including, for example, stopping homework during heavy testing periods, which is an obvious point of stress for students, but many of the topics remain inconclusively discussed, and this working party will therefore sit again in 2026-2027, and will report to me, as the leader of the Management and Senior Leadership Teams, by Christmas 2026 with recommendations to be implemented in January 2027.

Parents will be kept fully informed of the implementation of our development plan items for 2025-2026, and in the meantime, below is our whole school development plan for 2026-2027, which consists of 7 whole school items, as well as one item for the Infants’ Section, two for the Primary Sections, and two for the Upper School Section. There is much that has been done, and there is much yet to do, and the Principal is most grateful to colleagues and to students in the school for their participation and promised participation in the development plans for 2025-2026 and 2026-2027.

Whole School Development Plan 2026-2027

To prepare for the EDT inspection of Brummana High School, due to take place in 2026-2027.

To examine and determine the use of AI tools and platforms to facilitate both teaching and learning from KG1–G 12.

To explore more extensive use of technology in the classroom, particularly in terms of resources, in preparation for the introduction of digital examinations and to support teaching and learning.

To consider preparatory steps to be taken from an educational perspective in shaping a Masterplan for the future of Brummana High School.

To implement all aspects of the “Arabic Initiative” established in 2025-2026 in order to raise interest in Arabic and standards of performance in the learning of the subject.

To implement all recommendations from the working party of 2024-2026 on the “excessive use of time spent online” by students.

To implement all recommendations of the working party of 2025-2026 on “unifying the BHS curriculum”.

Infants’ Section:

To establish a sensory room to support students’ development, using their senses in a calm environment.

Primary Sections:

1. To Listen to Your Body – Building resilience and preparation for learning.
2. To review the content and delivery of assessments for admission to the Primary School.

Upper School:

1. To implement the recommendations of the inspection report of the International Baccalaureate Organisation 2025-2026.
2. To continue to consider student wellbeing in the Upper School.