BY Ann Marie Angebrandt
NEWPORT teachers Brett and Nicole Scott flew to the Middle East last week to face the biggest personal and professional challenge of their lives.
The husband and wife, who both teach at Bayside Secondary College’s Williamstown campus, are among a select group of teachers posted to the United Arab Emirates to open the first international school based on the Victorian education system.
That curriculum was hand-picked by the Sharjah ruler when he toured the world, looking for an educational system for a new state-of-the-art international school for his oil-rich nation.
The Victorian International School of Sharjah will open this September for both local and expatriate students, using the Victorian curriculum and 23 Victorian teachers, many from Melbourne’s West.
Brett, 46, who is a librarian and Japanese teacher at Bayside, said the two-year appointment was both thrilling and scary.
“This will be my first overseas work experience, and there’s been more than a few times I wasn’t sure if we could do this,” he said.
The couple have two daughters, Shania, 8, and Tia, 7, who will also attend the prestigious school.
It is expected to have up to 2600 students by 2010.
“They’re excited, but it will be a big adjustment from Willy Primary,” he said.
The school is set on a 10-hectare property with tennis courts, swimming pools and a 600-seat auditorium.
The annual school fees of about $16,000 will be a pittance for most residents, but it’s the unique curriculum that will be its drawcard.
Rather than rote learning in an existing textbook-focused style, students will be taught through the Victorian Essential Learning Standards, an inquiry-based curriculum that aims to produce independent and creative learners.
“It will be like we are landing from Mars,” he said. “It’s a massive yield for Victoria because it will open the doors for other countries to take our curriculum overseas.”
The couple were offered their positions only a few weeks ago.
Since then, they have undergone intensive cultural training, learned about the 45 degree-plus heat they will arrive in, and done some fast packing in Australia.
They hope to continue ties with Bayside through exchange programs or classroom links.
Brett, who is also a well known local musician, said he would take two of his 14 guitars along, even though Sharjah’s alcohol-dry clubs might not offer the same atmosphere as Williamstown’s Steam Packet Hotel, where he is a regular.
“The whole experience will be new but we’re all very excited,” he said.
“Other expats there have told us two years very easily turns into 10 years.”
On a mission … Brett and Nicole Scott face a big personal and professional challenge.
Picture supplied.
