1. Please mention about the school and its mission/vision and various infrastructural facilities.

Alice Smith School was the first British international school in Malaysia and the only British international school in Kuala Lumpur which is ‘not for profit’.

With two stunning campuses, Primary and Secondary, providing world-class facilities and an abundance of green, open spaces, we are passionate about the difference we make and proud of our excellent reputation in providing an outstanding and thriving all-round education based on the British curriculum for 3 to 18 year olds.

Our Mission

To provide an outstanding British education for a successful international future

Our Vision

To lead the pursuit of excellence in learning through nurturing, inspiring and enriching the lives and characters of young people.

2. Kindly mention about the prominent personality of the school and his/her role in the development of the school.

The school was started in 1946 by Alice Fairfield-Smith at her home in Jalan Eaton, Kuala Lumpur at the end of the Second World War. A biology graduate from Harvard University and an experienced teacher, Alice Smith only had a handful of expatriate children then, including her own daughter, Lindsey. Alice Smith’s founding ethos of wanting to provide a high quality education for expatriate families living in Kuala Lumpur is still as relevant today as it was almost 75 years ago when the school first began.

3. Kindly describe about the various courses offered by the school and their salient features.

The primary curriculum is divided into 3 stages:

Foundation Stage

The Alice Smith Early Years Curriculum follows the skills and directives set out in the English National Curriculum. In the Foundation Stage, students will be learning skills, acquiring new knowledge and demonstrating their understanding through 7 areas of learning and development.

We aim to create a treasure-house of wonder and joy for curious young minds.

Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2)

In Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2), your child will experience free flow classrooms and play areas enabling them to select the activities planned by our teachers that interest and stimulate them the most. Your child will develop skills more quickly by engaging them in this way than in a formal class setting.

Key Stage 2

In Years 3 to 6, our flexible, well planned cross-curricular units encourage students to make sense of their learning by creating links between subjects and the real world. Learning initiated by student questions is encouraged, celebrated, tracked and recorded as part of the connected and authentic learning process.

Planning is based on the teacher’s reflections and their knowledge of your child. Content is not fixed each year which allows for a genuine connection with our ever changing student body and current affairs around the world.

Our secondary curriculum comprises English, mathematics, science and technology, sport, languages and the arts reflecting the very best of British education, enhanced and enriched by our international context. Our students are encouraged to become proficient lifelong learners through the explicit development of our KLASS learner attributes – – Happy and Healthy, Respectful, Community Minded, Independent Learners, Communicators and Problem Solvers.

Our curriculum is structured into three distinct phases: Key Stage 3 (Years 7 to 9), Key Stage 4 (Years 10 and 11) and Key Stage 5 (Sixth Form) and follows the National Curriculum for England through to (I)GCSE and A Level.

Key Stage 3 (11-14 years old)

In Key Stage 3, your child will build upon knowledge and understanding gained during their early education whilst developing their proficiency in a wide range of subjects through the acquisition of key learning skills. They will study 14 different subjects including English, maths, science and two modern foreign languages.

Key Stage 4 (14-16)

In Key Stage 4, your child will learn English, mathematics, science and a modern foreign language whilst also specialising in subject areas which reflect their interests, strengths and aspirations. This stage culminates in (I)GCSE examinations.

Students have the option between 9 and 11 (I)GCSEs depending upon their learning preferences (via combined core and additional mathematics plus triple science). Alongside the academic subjects your child will continue to receive physical education lessons and participate in our Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) programme, ACHIEVE.

Key Stage 5 (Age 16-18)

Our Sixth Form offers your child the opportunity to achieve their academic potential with a choice of over 24 A Level subjects and the option of completing the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), as well as a variety of enrichment activities (including leadership, service and physical activity).

4. Please mention what steps are you taking beyond the traditional curriculum to ensure overall development of the students?

Across the school there are over 100 activities to choose from each term. Not every activity is open to every age group but there is more than enough to satisfy everyone’s tastes and interests.

In addition the service learning dimension of our enrichment programme encourages students to work constructively with others and build communication skills. Our students work on projects both here in Kuala Lumpur, with organisations such as the UNHCR, and throughout the region.

5. What steps does the school take to motivate and develop the students’ interest towards education?

The Student Support Programme (SSP) is a scheme that allows our older students to help other students in their academic studies. The scheme involves volunteers from Year 12 and 13 offering support to students in the lower year groups in a subject of their choice. These choices are then matched with teachers’ requests for support in their subjects. Students involved attend regular training at which support strategies and feedback from teachers are given.

6. How are you providing financial assistance to the students in need?

As a not-for-profit institution funded solely by parent fees, the school ensures that all financial resources are invested in providing the highest quality of education possible for its students, as well as supporting the wider community.

Each year, the school offers full KLASS Scholarships and partial Reach for the Stars Scholarships for deserving students.

The KLASS scholarship is a full scholarship with the underlying aim to benefit high achieving post-SPM Malaysian students with limited financial means. Scholars are expected to push themselves in all aspects of learning, attain high levels of excellence in both academic and non-academic fields and become a fully integrated member of our school community.

Reach for the Stars scholarships are partial scholarships and can be awarded up to 50% off fees. Reach for the Stars scholarships are awarded on academic or talent merit.

Applications are welcome from students who excel in their academics or excel in music, performing arts or sport. Interested scholars will need to show strong academic performance and be an outstanding model student. This scholarship is awarded for both (I)GCSE and A level programmes.

7. What are the career opportunities available to the students after completion of their courses?

At Alice Smith, we have made Higher Education Counselling provision a core part of our Sixth Form package with the focus being on finding what American counsellors call the ‘right fit’ university for each student.

We look at their academic ability, professional objectives, extracurricular interests and even personality traits to help guide students to the right university for them.

At Alice Smith, we take great pride in our ability to give the best possible advice on university and other post school options. However, it is clear that the accelerated pace of change we see in the workforce is now filtering down to universities; so we will be working very hard over the next few years to make sure we keep up with this rate of change.

8. Other than traditional occupations, what other career field options are available for them?

With a wide range of A Level subjects offered at the school, our students have gone on to careers or courses in Medicine, Dentistry, Research, Genetics, Pathology, Physiotherapy, Sports Science, Physiology, Optometry, Law, Psychology, Pharmacology, Forensic Science, Agriculture, English, Engineering, Accountancy and many others.

9. Please enlighten us about the school’s major awards/achievements, its accomplished/renowned alumni, remarkable collaborations, and major accreditations.

The Alice Smith School is an accredited member of the Council of British International Schools (COBIS) and a founding member of the Federation of British International Schools in Asia (FOBISIA). Additionally it is a member of the Independent Schools Council (ISC), the East Asia Regional Council of Schools (EARCOS) and the Council of International Schools (CIS).

We are thrilled to be recently shortlisted for an award in The International Independent Schools of the Year category. The Independent Schools of the Year awards launched in 2018 celebrate the success stories of schools and their students across the independent education sector in the UK and British schools overseas.

Other notable achievements include being shortlisted for the TES International School of the Year Award in 2015, the British International School Awards (BISA) 2018 and Relocate Awards 2018. The school was also shortlisted in two categories for the International School Awards 2019, winning the Pastoral Initiative category. The awards recognise and celebrate excellence in educational practice in international schools worldwide.

10. Kindly elaborate about the future plans of the school in the same.

The school has an overall long term Master Plan with regards to its buildings and facilities. The latest phase was completed in November 2018 and consisted of extensions and refurbishments to the Humanities, Library, Sixth Form and Indoor sports blocks with over 6,000 square metres of new space at the Secondary Campus. This followed the expansion of the sports facilities, including the addition of an IAAF certified running track in 2016 and the Jubilee Centre, which houses our Students Canteen, Parent Deli and various office spaces at our Primary Campus was completed in 2015.