Academics – Assalam International School

Admissions Guidelines and Policy

Kwame Nkrumah said “I am not African because I was born in Africa but because Africa was born in me”. Though Assalam international school is promoting African values in its curriculum, we are open to everybody who is open to Africa. All expat families are welcome to join us, as long as they welcome African traditions and views in their children’s lives.

Academic Calendar

Our Academic year starts in January and ends in November and we follow Zanzibar’s Official Public Holidays calendar. Other important term days, such as School Trip days, Graduation Day or Parents Meeting days will be communicated directly throughout the school year.

Go to Academic Calendar

Application Timeline

Our school follows the Zanzibar’s official school calendar and starts every year around the first week of January. Therefore, we usually accept new enrollments in the month of December and in exceptional cases in January too. We also allow transfers throughout the school year, as long as the transferring school and teachers are in agreement.

Tuition & Fees

We have two different fee structures:

No fee for local students: At Assalam International Schools we offer free tuition scholarships to local students.

Contribution from students of foreign residents: We accept independent contributions for students from foreign families with residency in Zanzibar according to their financial abilities.

Curriculum

Our main goal is to provide our children with the best education offered by both the Zanzibar and International education standards. We use fieldwork Education and IPC methodology in our school combining with National Curriculum of Zanzibar.

To learn more about IPC: https://fieldworkeducation.com/curriculums/primary-years

We provide exciting and challenging opportunities to promote children’s personal development and well-being. We are proud to create an environment fit for learners in the twenty-first century. We aim for all our children to achieve high academic standards and be taught high level of English. We want to teach our students to work independently and collaboratively. By having international teachers and volunteers we expose our pupils to different cultures and traditions, broadening their horizons and learning tolerance. We teach them to respect and value themselves, other people and the environment.

We conduct traditional lessons in classrooms, but also provide modern technologies (Leap Learning) and practical activities – like Permaculture classes.

An ordinary day at Assalam International School

Gate Opening Time 07:30 am
Class Hours 08:00 am – 2:30 pm
Madrasa Time 03:00 pm – 06:00 pm
Gate Closing Time 06:00 pm

We kindly ask parents and guardians to respect the school hours!

The school is open from 7:30 am until 2:30 pm. Each day we start with a morning assembly conducted by our teachers. After assembly each class enjoys circle time with their main teacher. For children with learning difficulties, we offer special tutoring club in the morning, before lesson starts.

Regular lessons start at 8:15.
Nursery classes stay at school until 12:00 and enjoy free breakfast on the school grounds.
Primary age students continue lessons until 2:30 and are provided with 2 free meals at school – breakfast and lunch.

If Primary age students continue to learn in madrasa, which is not mandatory, between 3:00-6:00 pm they got extra snacks before starting madrasa hours.

CLASSES

All classes are conducted in English, except Religion, Arabic and Kiswahili– they are conducted by our local teachers with a support of international teachers or volunteers. During most of this session we have 2 grown-ups conducting them in one classroom. Once a week each class is practicing numeracy, literacy and language skills in Leap Learning Lab.

Social Science lessons are divided into: theoretical part conducted in the class or in our STEAM lab and practical part conducted in our permaculture garden with a support of our local or international gardeners. Our children are learning how to maintain the garden and produce their own food. We also have a cowshed and chicken coop and our students can visit our animals and learn how to look after them.

Sport lessons are conducted outside. We have a big basketball and volleyball pitch and swimming pool, part of the swimming lessons is conducted in the ocean.

Each class has also Art lesson – we have a well-stocked STEAM lab. Our children can develop their creative skills using wide range of resources.

Our Nursery classes are enjoying Free play sessions every day. During such lessons they can chose how they will spend their time. Activities are carefully selected by the class teachers allowing students to develop fine and gross motor skills, social, or mathematical skills. They can enjoy activities at the table as well as messy activities outside the classroom.

Our Team

We have qualified and dedicated team of local and international teachers and volunteers. All our local teachers have diplomas in education and come from Zanzibar or Tanzania mainland. We have also a great team of international team members coming from all over the world to teach or support our school – just to mention few countries like: Kenya, Zimbabwe, Poland, Turkey.