Your child’s development in these 9 areas holds the key to future success

Melissa Maria
Oct 15, 2021
9 GEMS

A well-rounded education helps prepare students for academic excellence and success beyond school. The educational framework at GIIS, the 9 GEMS model, aims at fostering a balanced and adaptive approach to your child’s development in nine areas to mark their future success. This holistic approach to learning helps students by developing their talents and confidence inside and outside the school environment. 

Of course, academic excellence is one of the primary objectives of sending your child to school. 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 allows us to nurture each student’s uniqueness.

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. A variety of 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. Our graduating students regularly achieve excellent results across curricula. Our most recent 2021 batch of students made history with their astounding World-topping results, making the school community proud of their unflinching efforts despite the ongoing pandemic.

Sports helps students in building both the physical and mental strength


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.

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.

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.

Skills enhancement helps our students to excel beyond school life

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 For Excelling Students

GIIS offers the 9GEMS Holistic Development Scholarship to students who have received national, global or regional 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. 

We understand as a parent seeking a reputable international school in Singapore, you may have questions regarding your child’s education. To know more, please don’t hesitate to contact our friendly admissions counsellors or book a campus tour to visit us in person.

Melissa Maria

GIIS Singapore SMART Campus principal, Ms Melissa Maria’s journey as an educator started when she was only 16 and continued in the field after she completed her Master’s degree in History and Bachelor’s degree in Education. For over 25 years now, she has been at the forefront of introducing new ideas and methodologies to education. She is also the City Coordinator for Singapore, selected by the CBSE Board for Grade 10 and 12 exams, 2021, managing two other international schools besides GIIS. With numerous achievements sprinkled across her distinguished career, Ms. Maria has been recognised for her efforts as a Mindef volunteer by the Singapore government.


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