A well-rounded curriculum that aids learning beyond core academic subjects enables students to develop essential life skills, such as critical thinking, problem solving, communication, collaboration and time management. The transferable nature of these skills make them valuable for future success.
The educational framework at Global Indian International School, the 9GEMS model, aims at a balanced and adaptive approach to your child’s development in nine key areas. This holistic approach, which is a combination of academics, extracurriculars and skills-based learning, helps students excel, both inside and outside the school environment. It nurtures the intellectual, physical, emotional and social development of students.
As part of the 9 GEMS model, we emphasise on academic prowess but at the same time, focus on other significant aspects of student growth such as sports, skills development, creativity and universal values of compassion and kindness. This approach allows us to nurture the uniqueness of every student.
We provide our students the latest learning tools and a nurturing environment. The integrated approach to learning helps our students grow into adults that can handle challenges in the workplace, contribute to their communities and find success in what they do.
In this article, we’ve listed these nine focus areas to help you understand why each one is important and how at GIIS we are constantly working towards all of them to raise well-rounded students with 21st-century competencies and skills for success.
1. Academics
As a leading international school in Singapore, we focus on optimised academic excellence for every student. To ensure that each of our students can take full advantage of our academic opportunities and facilities, we offer multiple curricula from kindergarten through Grade 12.
Teachers at GIIS use a range of teaching methods to help students advance. Various classroom tools help students to learn in a 21st-century environment and achieve the desired learning outcomes. Teacher guides are available to provide extra help to teachers to plan their lessons while a well-established LMS, educational apps, online learning platforms and tools like Google Classroom and Toddle enable our students to collaborate and enhance their learning.
GIIS has a consistent and proven track record of academic results across curricula — IGCSE, IBDP, and CBSE. With 104 IBDP World Toppers and Near Perfect Scorers till date, and 901 IGCSE Cambridge A* and A scorers, 250 of our students have been placed in top 20 universities since 2019.
In 2024, GIIS students have received 121 offers from the top 50* Global Universities (as per QS World University Rankings 2024), including 4 conditional offers in 2024, subject to final exam outcomes and acceptance by students. The final placements for 2024 are yet to come.
2. Sports
Sports can build physical and mental toughness in students, preparing them to compete and succeed in the world after school. Sports also help students develop team-building skills, which can help them become valuable members of their communities and valued team members in their workplaces. GIIS uses data analytics to measure progress in sporting activities and help students understand their strengths and weaknesses.
This gives our students an edge to excel. We help students develop superior skills and mental toughness by offering the Gold Squad Programme for additional training under skilled coaches. Students who have a particular talent in specific sports may be chosen in the Gold Squad for that particular sport.
3. Visual and performing arts
Fine arts and performing arts help students hone and develop their creativity. Thinking creatively is one key skill that students need in order to solve problems in the classroom and their everyday lives.
At GIIS, fine arts and performing arts skills are developed through the Co-Curricular Activities (CCAs). These activities give students the necessary knowledge and skills to develop their talents and to create a portfolio for future opportunities, which could also lead them to study their art in more depth at University or beyond.
4. Personality development
Every student is a unique individual that brings their own personality, including personal strengths, to the classroom. Personality development helps students have confidence in their individual talents and characteristics, which enables them to make valuable contributions to classroom discussion and group activities.
There are many ways that we help students develop their personality and strengths, including critical thinking, sports, social contribution, service, self-expression and meditation.
5. Innovation and creativity
Every student has individual areas of interest about which they feel passionately. These areas of interest can eventually transform into a future career if nurtured properly. We help students develop their creativity and innovation in these areas by mapping their interests and competencies and then facilitating growth in the areas identified.
GIIS’ Global Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (GCIE) aims to nurture the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship in students by sparking their creativity. It encourages students to learn, invent and apply their inherent and acquired skills to discover new things, while improving on the existing ones. School events like Real World Challenges Convention (RWCC), GenZ challenge, activities in collaboration with Junior Achievement Singapore, help in challenging innovation and creativity among our students.
6. Entrepreneurship & leadership
Entrepreneurship and leadership help drive the global economy, solve problems on an international scale and shape our world. At GIIS, we believe that entrepreneurship and leadership are critical skills. Every student can be a leader if their sense of leadership and their idea development is nurtured from an early age.
GIIS develops these skills in many ways. For example, we invite experts from all fields to speak to our students and conduct boot camps to facilitate exposure to new concepts. We also encourage interactive conversations about leadership and entrepreneurship. We firmly believe that participation in these activities help our students think differently, gain confidence, find out more about their subjects of interest and speak and act on it in various ways.
GCIE conducts regular Entrepreneurship bootcamps for students aged 12 to 18 years with professors and external domain experts from the corporate world. These bootcamps help in training students to become young entrepreneurs, right from the conception stage to pitching ideas to potential investors.
7. Universal values and ethics
GIIS is guided by the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, and lessons on compassion, tolerance and care for others are shared and imbued by our students. These universal values and ethics help turn our students into compassionate citizens of the world. They are aligned with the Singapore Kindness Movement and are encouraged to practice kindness and empathy in their daily lives. We conduct activities like meditation and yoga, which help our students develop patience, emotional intelligence and understanding.
8. Community and care
Each one of our students is an integral part of the community where they live. That’s why it’s critical for our students to learn how to be good citizens in their neighbourhoods. We teach our students to take care of their communities, wherein they learn to be active participants and helpers in community events.
We encourage charity drives, community event participation, green initiatives and conservation of resources. Through these activities, our students learn how to care for members of their communities – now and in the future. Even as adults, our students will have the skills and compassion they need to look after members of their community and care for the people around them.
9. Skills development
Skills development is critical for today’s students. To be successful in school and the workplace, each person needs communication skills, planning and research skills, technical skills and more. At GIIS, we’ve identified the numerous skills that students need to lead a productive life, and we teach those skills.
Through multiple skills-based studios that have been customised for our students, we help them develop new skills. We also focus on activities to enhance their soft skills. What we aim at, ultimately, is to develop well-rounded students!
9GEMS scholarship
GIIS offers the 9GEMS Holistic Development Scholarship to students who have received national, global, regional or inter-school recognition for their talent and performance in sports, dance, music, art or drama, or have immensely contributed towards community service or have displayed extraordinary leadership skills.
If you are keen to know more about GIIS, please don’t hesitate to contact our admissions team.
