Aspen Heights British School

We are excited to announce the bestselling author, Greg Bottrill, will be joining us in the UAE at Aspen Heights British School, Abu Dhabi! Click the link below and register your attendance today! https://shorturl.at/6mPLN

Our secondary team engaged in a productive Twilight training session today, focused on peer mentoring and sharing best practices. This session was an excellent opportunity for staff to collaborate and prepare for the upcoming BSO inspection. By working together, we continue to strengthen our approach and ensure we're fully equipped for success. #PeerMentoring #BestPractice #AspireatAspen

Aligned with our Relationship Policy, at Aspen Heights British School we want our staff to be skilled at building strong connections with students, to be calm and self-aware, and manage behaviour in a positive and safe way. We are delighted to be hosting Team Teach training next month to enable other colleagues in the region to benefit from this empowering training. Team Teach Ltd Paul Dix Abu Dhabi School Counsellors Network BSME - British Schools in the Middle East George Peterkin Priya Mitchell Philip Thompson Matthew Savage Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority Redah Khan Rory Galvin Reach British School Neal Oates Emily Hollis MBE MUniv FCCT Wayne Howsen Jay B. Teston, Ed.D. Dan Chesterman Link for booking: https://lnkd.in/dt6cQc-V Email for information: international@teamteach.com

This will be another great addition to our peer mental health and wellbeing support at Aspen! Thank you Redah Khan and Rasha Shawki for guiding our students in developing empathy and understanding, and strategies they will use throughout their lives to better support their peers and themselves.

Strong relationships are the foundation of learning at Aspen Heights British School

Always learning, growing and developing at Aspen Heights British School!

https://lnkd.in/dE4iy6sd What a wonderful explanation on how to use expression and characterisation to bring a story to life. At Aspen Heights British School our new Talk Through Stories scheme introduces pupils to reading with expression, learning new vocabulary and bringing reading to life. Charlotte Clark Kate Wild @ReadWriteInc

I've spent the past two days in Dubai attending the 'I Support My Friends' Training of Trainers (ToT) sessions, and what an incredible experience it has been! Miss Rasha Shawki and I had the privilege of learning from the amazing Joy Abi Habib and Lea Zeinoun Developed by UNICEF Gulf, Save the Children International, and World Health Organization, and sponsored by The Supreme Council of Motherhood and Childhood, this program focuses on building up peer support as a key protective factor for children and young people—a concept I’ve seen play out firsthand in my self-referral counselling data, where a striking 81% of students who seek help had not spoken to any other adult about the problem before indicating a significant dependence on peers for support. What made the sessions even more memorable was the enthusiasm with which we practiced facilitating child sessions with our peers from various schools from Al Ain to Dubai to Abu Dhabi. Their Oscar-worthy performances led to plenty of laughs, but even more learning! It was such a hands-on way to build our confidence and skills in this area. Now, I’m excited to bring this knowledge back to my school community, where I’ll be able to train students aged 9 to 17 in Psychological First Aid principles (LOOK, LISTEN, LINK), and allow them to choose to support peers (if they feel ready), under the guidance of trusted adults known as Focal Points i.e. Miss Rasha and myself. This course empowers students to see themselves as active contributors to their community instead of passive recipients of support, teaching them to recognize signs of distress in their peers, prioritize their own safety, set healthy boundaries, and—most importantly—know when and how to seek adult intervention! I can't wait to roll out this initiative at Aspen Heights British School and further strengthen the peer-support networks at our school! Hoping also to be able to bring this amazing training opportunity to our Abu Dhabi School Counsellors Network members! **Pictured below - Miss Rasha with aims of the training, Joy and Lea explaining the theoretical framework followed by Miss Rasha and I taking turns facilitating a fun activitiy on Confidentiality - how to discern what constitutes gossip, secrets we should keep and secrets we should report in order to 'Link' peers and/or ourselves with support! #MentalHealth #PeerSupport #YouthEmpowerment #PsychologicalFirstAid #CommunityAssets #trainthetrainer #isupportmyfriends #UNICEF #abudhabischoolcounsellors #schoolcounsellor #mentalhealthinshools #wellbeingatAspen #WellbeingatInternationalschools #wellbeinginitiatives #empoweringyoungpeople #childrensrights #studentwellbeing

This weekend  I had the absolute pleasure of delivering a workshop at the Women in Educational Leadership Network entitled "Coaching and Mentoring to Empower and Inspire."  The 30 delegates were incredibly engaged, and together we explored practical coaching models, strategies, and tools to help leaders foster growth and development in their teams, their schools and themselves. One of our first reflections was recalling colleagues- female and male- who had supported us on our leadership journeys-both formally and informally. Starting on this task there was a tangible shift in energy in the room; people were enjoying the positive recollections, smiling and laughing, and as I walked around the groups I heard words floating around; ‘trust’, 'belief’,  ‘space to grow’, ‘relevant’ and  ‘support’.  A key take-away was the importance of a trust-filled organisational culture where everyone believes in the capacity to improve. We discussed and practised  strategies like the GROW model and looked at how to set personal goals for both professional and personal growth. I was also proud to be invited by Suzanne Watson to the panel discussion with Audrey R. Hametner, MBA, ACC, SSBB and Susanna Thomas where we discussed our leadership journeys, and the values and beliefs we have challenged and developed along the way. Such a great conversation! Thank you Fiona Cottam FCCT for giving so many of us a platform and a voice to connect, to support one another and to facilitate development and growth of ourselves and our schools. Looking forward to the chapter..! P.S: Thank you for the kind feedback Fiona Afrifa 🙂 #WELNUAE Abir Sadek Alesha D. Anita Stewart Audrey R. Hametner, MBA, ACC, SSBB Eman Elshazly Fiona Afrifa Jaimie Redgwick Jane Clewlow Lindsey Kidd Natasha Tan Rachael Wilding Rebecca Devlin Ribal AL-ATA ريبال العطا Saima Habib Leisa Grace Wilson Nicki Williams نيكى وليامز Abigail Fishbourne Paola Wingrove Natasha Hilton

One of my core leadership values is authenticity, and I’m proud to say that Shelley Saha and the team truly captured the essence of what makes Aspen Heights unique. The feedback we’ve received shows how deeply our shared values shape who we are as a school community. As a leader within the International Schools Partnership (ISP), I especially value how difference is celebrated as a strength. Each of us brings something unique—our passions, experiences, and moral compass- and these qualities are not only encouraged but deeply valued. Matthew Syed’s Rebel Ideas highlights the power of diverse thinking; embracing different perspectives is key to becoming innovative problem solvers in today’s complex world. I appreciate ISP for fostering an environment where leaders are empowered to be their true, authentic selves, and to think differently. #Leadership #Authenticity #Diversity #RebelIdeas #Innovation #ISP #AspenHeights