School history

Nazarbayev Intellectual school of Chemistry and Biology in Almaty was opened on August 15, 2015. It is one of 20 schools established in all regions of Kazakhstan upon an initiative of the President of the state N.A. Nazarbayev. The main tasks of “Nazarbayev Intellectual schools” are the acquisition of English, Kazakh and Russian languages by students as well as the development of conceptual thinking and skills of critical analysis.

The school developed the Guiding statements in collaboration with the students, teaching and non-teaching staff as well as parents. The school mission is to provide highquality education and a trilingual environment as well as to develop students’ leadership skills. For enrollment in the school, the students undergo a competitive selection process which includes: a two-stage entrance test to assess applicant`s aptitude in the core subjects

(Mathematics, Kazakh, Russian, and English languages) and spatial thinking skills, evidence of successful completion of primary education, evidence of active involvement in extra-curricular activities and a minimum GPA of 4.0. The tools of selection are created by Kazakhstani specialists in cooperation with CITO (Netherlands) and CTY (Johns Hopkins University, USA). All successful candidates receive government grants. Currently the school has an enrolment of 1220 students ranging from Grade 7 to Grade12 (from 13-18 years old) and employs about 140 teachers. The school implements criteria-based assessment representing internal formative and summative assessment and independent external assessment. The external summative assessment is conducted jointly with the International Cambridge Examinations Council (Great Britain). Grading scale:

KZ GPA Grading US GPA Equivalent Letter Grade

5.0 4.0 A

4.0 3.0 B

3.0 2.0 C

2.0 1.0 D

1.0 E/F

The school offers an educational program, the “NIS Programme”. The program was developed by the teachers of the AEO of “Nazarbayev Intellectual schools” and is a coproject prepared jointly with the consultants of Cambridge Assessment International Education. The model of the integrated educational program used at the school provides two levels of education: Middle school (7th -10th grades) and High school (11th -12th grades).

The “Global Perspectives and Project work” subject is new for our school and promotes the development of global thinking and research skills.

In the 11th and 12th grades, provision is made for students’ career guidance through a choice of two profession-oriented subjects for study (from Chemistry, Biology, Computer Science and Physics). The programme is extended by the addition of elective courses offered at school and

chosen by students. The most popular courses are «STEM», «Drama», «Design thinking», «Robotics» and «Critical thinking». The students also participate in summer courses of the leading universities of the USA (Stanford, Hopkins, and Columbia). The development of global thinking is one of the foundations of the educational programs and is supported through a system of clubs and projects. In particular, a significant contribution to the development in this direction is the introduction of the ‘Model of the United Nations’ (MUN), incorporated into the 11th grade ‘Global Perspectives’ curriculum and the establishment of the Global Initiatives Club (GIN) as part of the extracurricular activities for the 7th -10th grades. The extra-curricular activities are provided in the form of clubs and projects run by both local and international teachers and community volunteers. The students are offered an extensive variety of clubs: tourism and sport, carpet making, painting, drama studio, dance, chess, singing and debates. Sports events are held on Saturdays, such as chess tournaments, volleyball, basketball, and indoor soccer. In addition, there are elective classes such as

French, German, Korean and Chinese languages; Olympiad tutorials, exam preparation classes and individual consultations for students who require additional support. A club system consolidates like-minded students by interests: TEDх, Wikipedia, GIN, MUN and school leadership. The development of creativity and sports is one of the priorities of the school. The students receive recognition at network, national and international competitions. Among the winners, there are laureates of the republican and international vocal festivals, winners of military sports competitions, chess tournament and togyzkumalak at the republican level. The Summer School Program operates annually at the school, the main goal of which is the expansion of English language and leadership skills, deepening subject knowledge through research and project works. When planning and implementation of the summer school program, there is a strong commitment to providing the project and research work in the English language, a key component of tolerance and interculturalism. In the framework of the Summer school,

the school provides the large family of students from the city’s general education schools, with extra opportunities. Special emphasis is placed on working with parents. The Parents’ Committee actively supports the school policy, helps to resolve many issues and takes an active part in the life

of the school.