Academic
Meet Our Staff
The Executive Director of Xenion Junior School is Mrs Katelitsa Zouvani-Phylactou, Head Teacher of Xenion High School, founder of Xenion Education and well-known educator. The day-to-day management of the school is in the hands of Mrs. Xenia Phylactou-Monoyiou, an experienced and skilled teacher who studied in the UK. We are also fortunate to have, as an Academic Consultant, Mrs. Maureen Chapman, an experienced teacher who is also British-trained in Primary Education and has many years of experience as a primary teacher in the UK and in the UAE.
This combination of experience and knowledge of both UK and Cypriot curricula has enabled us to create a balanced teaching programme which draws upon the best of both.
Teaching staff are recruited from Cyprus and the UK, hold either PGCE, BEd or degrees with QTS qualifications and are mostly bilingual. Experience of teaching young children is, obviously, a must but we also select on the basis of personality and look for individuals who are dedicated to their profession and bring both creativity and passion to its practice.
Pastoral Care
Our aim is to help parents in the development of their children’s character by providing models of care, respect and co-operation.
The welfare of our students is paramount and close attention is paid to their emotional well-being. We have a ‘Zero Tolerance’ policy towards any form of bullying and strive to ensure that the time your child spends at Xenion Junior School is not only stimulating and productive but also SAFE and HAPPY.
Communication
Classter
Teams & Tapestry
These systems are used daily by the staff and they are the most effective ways for parents, to contact the teachers, the Reception, the Deputy Head and the Director.
Calendar & Monthly Agenda
This agenda informs parents and students regarding any events, field trips, celebrations etc.
Visiting Hours
Visiting Hour is a 40 minute period every week. During this time parents can visit the school to speak to any teacher or call any teacher available during the indicated times.
Communication Folder
In this folder students/parents will receive all announcements from the school.
Social Media
Xenion Education uses Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to upload any news and events. Everyone can easily access our page by writing Xenion Education in the search area.
Teaching Methods
Learning and teaching at Xenion Junior School are rooted in experiential learning. Students are encouraged to experiment through carefully monitored play and independent discovery and all intelligences, including kinaesthetic, spatial and emotional, are developed.
There is a hands-on approach to all lessons which helps the students to become confident learners, less likely to rely on ‘spoon-feeding’ by the teacher.
Teaching at this school is firmly child-centered and we take advantage of every new and exciting pedagogical method, while always retaining foundations rooted in approaches which have withstood the test of time: we blend the best of the new with the wisdom of previous generations.
- Our English teaching is fully in line with the UK system and Linguistic improvement is a major aim of our curriculum: it is developed every day in both oral and written work.
- We also focus on the improvement of mathematical skills, knowledge and understanding; developing this through practical work, mental maths and more formal, written exercises.
- All aspects of the curriculum are approached with equal care and attention to children’s needs, allowing each pupil to express themselves creatively, intellectually and emotionally while developing their talents across the board.
- Limited class sizes ensure that each child is given the attention they need to do well and student assessment is formative; designed to support and encourage improvement rather than merely generate grades at the end of the school year.
- Children are not only grouped by age; we also take into account individual abilities, so that our flexible and responsive teaching can enable every child to fulfill their potential.
Discipline
At Xenion Junior we believe that children must be supported to develop self-discipline and respect for themselves and for the people and places around them. This is a major theme in our HPSE syllabus and is reinforced in every aspect of our daily teaching. Lack of discipline and poor conduct affect students’ progress and are not acceptable at our school.
Our rules are simple, designed to create conditions which allow everybody to learn and teach in a civilized environment and we help children to understand that these rules must be followed.
In addition we operate a MERIT AND PENALTY POINTS SYSTEM, which encourages and acknowledges achievement and good conduct but also serves, if necessary, to impose sanctions on those few students who do not always behave as they should.
Our policy is to concentrate on encouraging positive behaviour and to create an ethos in which bad behaviour does not occur. However, if punishment is appropriate, parents will be fully informed.
Timetable
The Junior School year starts on the 2nd Monday of September and runs to the third week of June. The school day is from 07:45 until 14:15.
Children are supervised during breaks and lunch breaks as well as while coming in or going out of school.
| JUNIOR SCHOOL TIMETABLE | ||
| TIME | PERIOD | DURATION |
| 07:45 – 07:50 | Registration Time | 5’ |
| 07:50 – 08:30 | Period 1 | 40’ |
| 08:30 – 09:10 | Period 2 | 40’ |
| 09:10 – 09:30 | 1st Break | 20’ |
| 09:30 – 10:10 | Period 3 | 40’ |
| 10:10 – 10:50 | Period 4 | 40’ |
| 10:50 – 11:05 | 2nd Break | 15’ |
| 11:05 – 11:45 | Period 5 | 40’ |
| 11:45 – 12:25 | Period 6 | 40’ |
| 12:25 – 12:55 | Lunch Break | 30’ |
| 12:55 – 13:35 | Period 7 | 40’ |
| 13:35 – 14:15 | Period 8 | 40’ |
| School Day Ends | ||
| 14:15 – 15:00 | CLUBS | 45’ |
School Events
SCHOOL EVENTS
May Day, 1st May – School Holiday
Day of St. John Chrysostomos, 13th November – School Holiday
Extra-Curricular Activities
The school organises termly excursions for which a charge is made. The cost includes entrance fees, lunch and coach transportation. Usually all children and staff are involved in the excursion, making it a wonderful experience.
Individual teachers organise local field trips which enhance the curriculum by giving children hands on experiences. These trips are usually within the local area and are usually free of charge or subsidised by the School or the Parents’ Association. Parental permission will not be asked for field trip excursions as they are part of the school curriculum. More details are added on the monthly agendas.
International Participation
’’School adaptability as the key to develop a child’s potential’’. The SCHOOL ADAPT project, is funded under the ERASMUS + program (Action KA2 – School education). We are looking forward to our fruitful cooperation with our partners from Cyprus, Italy, Poland, and Spain.
Our project
The SCHOOL-ADAPT project responds to the Europe 2020 priorities in the area of education and training, youth and early school leaving in the context of globalization and labour market integration. With increasing migration into and within an already culturally diverse EU, even more efforts in the educational system are needed to respond to the needs of pupils with a migrant background and to prepare schools, teachers and parents for growing diversity in today’s classroom.
The Project Objectives Are:
- Foster adaptability of school-age children (6-14 years old) to use and boost their learning potential and to meet the requirements of the education system of the unknown environment.
- Help children and young people from migrant backgrounds in the project countries to become well-integrated into the education system abroad and through this into society.
- Contribute to improving migrant pupils’ overall school performance and well-being.
- Prepare highly qualified, special primary and lower-secondary educators & teachers to work with migrant students.
- Tackle educational disadvantages and early school, leaving by giving migrant parents’ opportunities to support their children in their learning in the project countries.
- Reduce social isolation and perceived barriers to full integration among migrant children.
Target Groups
Project results MODEL OF WORKING WITH A PUPIL RETURNING FROM ABROAD TO THE NATIVE EDUCATION SYSTEM The Model of Working with a Pupil Returning from Abroad to the Native Education System is an inclusive educational model to facilitate the challenging experience of migration – adaptation process of children (6-14 years old), support inclusive school communities for all students and create an effective teaching and learning environment.
- primary and lower-secondary school students (6-14 years old)
- parents
- primary and/or lower -secondary school teachers and experts
- school psychologists, educators, management staff
PROJECT RESULTS
MODEL OF WORKING WITH A FOREIGN PUPIL COMING TO NEW COUNTRY (ADAPTATION OF FOREIGN PUPIL)
The model relates to the process of adaptation of pupils and their families to the new school reality. It provides information for all those involved in the process: the parents who have made the decision to move to another country, the principal of the receiving school, the teaching staff and the local community. It includes all stages from the parents’ decision to move to the child’s first few months in the new school. The model is largely based on the experiences of the project partners.Training Toolkit – Pupil Adaptation
The Training Toolkit for Pupil adaptation is a comprehensive set of precious resources specifically designed to support the teachers in the application of the two Models for adaptation (Model 1 and Model 2), develop skills and establish a mindset to foster an inclusive learning environment.CHANGING PERSPECTIVES: AN ONLINE E-LEARNING PLATFORM
For teachers with a focus on facilitating school integration for foreign and returning students. Let’s educate ourselves on intercultural education! Let the learning process begins.M-LEARNING COURSE FOR PARENTS
Online space to develop skills of parents for supporting their children in the process of changing schools and adapting to the new education system. Delivered in attractive, multimedia form. Website: Click Here
Clubs
In the beginning of the year, you will receive the Xenion Junior School Club Programme and a Club Analysis document, which is an explanation of each club for Xenion Junior School students. These documents are both emailed to parents prior to the beginning of the new school year.
Wednesday and Friday clubs are compulsory for all students of Xenion Junior School. All other clubs are optional.
Our clubs finish at 3.00pm on a daily basis. At this time all children go home.
Junior School
Robotics
Computing
Chess, Board Games
Cooking
Creative Arts
Dance
Films and Drama
Music
Library And Literature
Ball Sports
Football
Meditation, And Quite Club
Pre School
Sports
Outside Play
Chess, Board Games
Fabulous Football
Amazing Activities(Art)
Dance
Construction Club
Bricks/Lego/Duplo
Parents Association
The Committee of the Parents’ Association is elected during the first meeting of the school year and its term of office is one year. All parents are automatically members of the association. The elected committee meets once a month unless there is a need for an additional meeting.
The Association aims to give the school practical help in its work and to serve as a bridge of communication between school and parents. It contributes to the smooth running of the school in a number of ways and offers a lot to the students.
The fee for the parents’ association is per family and covers insurance, parties, presents, awards and some subsidies towards school excursions, performances, events, field trips and other school based activities. All subscriptions are fully utilized for the benefit of Xenion Junior School students within the school year.
Technology
- Teams and channels with chat function which enable conversation and instant communication between teachers and students.
- Document storage in SharePoint. Every team who uses Microsoft Teams will have a site in SharePoint Online, which will contain a default document library folder. All files shared across all conversations will automatically save to this folder.
- Online video calling and screen sharing.
- Online meetings. This feature also includes a scheduling aid, a note-taking app, file uploading, and in-meeting chat messaging.
- Audio conferencing. With audio conferencing, anyone can join an online meeting via phone.
Lunch & Cafeteria
Xenion Cafeteria prepares all the school meals. It also offers fresh, home-made sandwiches and salads as well as a wide range of snacks, drinks, home baking and fresh fruit. Lunch can be either a packed lunch brought from home or a cooked lunch from Xenion Cafeteria. Packed lunch must be prepared and sent in with the child at 7.45am.
Our online lunch ordering system, Xenion Junior School Lunch Box allows parents to choose their child’s lunches in advance.
Orders can be placed on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. All orders however, must be placed before 11.00pm on the day before the lunch is required. There are two options for lunch per day. Our cafeteria also stocks small lunch portions, snacks and cold sandwiches in case an order is not placed in time or forgotten. However, the choice will be limited so we suggest that online ordering becomes routine, to prevent any disappointment. We regret that the school cannot accept any requests, orders or changes to the meals after payment is completed. Lunches are only available to order online. If you have more than one child at Xenion, the system allows you to complete multiple lunch orders before requiring payment. You do not need separate login details for each child. Please be aware that the system is unable to offer any refunds for absences.
This system not only helps Xenion on its journey to becoming a paperless school but also ensures greater speed and simplicity for our lunch orders.
Allergies:
At Xenion, we carefully manage the ingredients we buy and how we prepare our products. While we do take extreme care to minimise the risk of cross contamination, we cannot guarantee that any of our products are safe to consume for people with specific allergies. Any important information regarding dietary requirements (illness, allergies etc.) must be communicated to the Form teachers on the first day of term, AND earlier via Reception. For any specific and/or serious allergies or requirements, the school recommends that parents send lunch from home. Please refer to the Parents’ Handbook for further details.
Uniform General Rules:
- No jewellery is to be worn except:
- No necklaces or rings are allowed, as these items can be dangerous.
- Children are not allowed to wear nail varnish or make-up.
- Sensible haircuts: no coloured hair, severely short hair, excessive gel,extreme variations in lengths, designs cut into hair
- Boys’ hair should not be worn long.
- Black shoes must be sensible and practical for wearing all day. Trademark logos must not be visible.
| Boys | Girls |
| Long sleeve shirt | Long sleeve shirt |
| Waistcoat | Waistcoat |
| Beret | Beret |
| Tie | Tie |
| Formal black leather shoes | Formal black leather shoes |
| Long blue trousers with black socks | Skirt with white ankle socks |
| Black belt | Black belt |
| Students are allowed to wear their hoodies or school jackets as long as they are removed when the school celebrations takes place | |
| B. Daily school Uniform during Autumn and Winter: | |
| Boys | Girls |
| Long sleeve T-shirt with collar | Long sleeve T-shirt with collar |
| Hoodie | Hoodie |
| Blue jacket | Blue jacket |
| Black leather shoes or black trainers | Black leather shoes or black trainers |
| Black belt | Black belt |
| Long blue trousers with black socks or tracksuit bottoms | Long blue trousers with black socks or a blue skirt with white socks or blue tights or tracksuit bottoms |
| For P.E | For P.E |
| Tracksuit bottoms White P.E T-shirt Black trainers | Tracksuit bottoms White P.E T-shirt Black trainers |
| C. Daily School Uniform during Spring and Summer: | |
| Boys | Girls |
| Short sleeve T-shirt with collar | Short sleeve T-shirt with collar |
| Black leather shoes or black trainers | Black leather shoes or black trainers |
| Black belt | Black belt |
| Long blue trousers with black socks or shorts with white socks | Long blue trousers with black socks or a blue skirt with white socks |
| For P.E | For P.E |
| P.E shorts White P.E t-shirt Black trainers | P.E shorts White P.E t-shirt Black trainers |
Stationery and Books
Books and some stationery items will be provided by the school and are included in the fees.
All equipment and books supplied remain the property of Xenion Junior School and children are expected to keep all items in good condition. Parents will be asked to pay for or replace damaged or lost books and equipment. During the year, children may be asked to purchase additional resources which are over and above the standard requirements.
Uniform, stationery items and books are available from the school.
Classes
Pupils are generally grouped as follows (age as at 1st September):
| Junior Classes | ||||
| Preschool | 4 Years Old | |||
| Junior 1 | 6 Years Old | Junior 4 | 9 Years Old | |
| Junior 2 | 7 Years Old | Junior 5 | 10 Years Old | |
| Junior 3 | 8 Years Old | Junior 6 | 11 Years Old | |