“Happy children, children who feel loved, cared for, and secure, are children who can develop academically.”

Realizing this, and the fact that children need to, through an education that encompasses much more than the academic, develop a love of learning and an enthusiasm for inquiry, Chartwell International School was founded in Belgrade over 20 years ago. When it was established, it was only the second public school in the nation to depart from and question the established educational model. The plan was to introduce the concepts of the need for practical instruction and the need for relevant knowledge gradually at first. Its aim was to bring in the best world practises and incorporate them with the traditional ones to face the challenge that all education systems are faced with in today’s world of great technological, demographic, social, environmental, and political shifts.

A Home Away from Home

Students would come to Chartwell International School to do more than just learn; it was intended to be a home away from home. It was to be a oasis  where students, breaking away from the typical norms of education, would be challenged just enough to grow in accordance with their own skills through academics, extracurricular activities, sports, music, and involvement in the local community.

“The job of a teacher is not to deliver information. It is to guide the social process of learning. The job of a teacher is to inspire, challenge, and excite their students to want to learn.”

Instead of basing their education on facts and definitions, which they would learn to reproduce, students in Chartwell would learn to seek independently and find the knowledge and skills that they need in all of life’s situations.

Having this in mind, encouragement and motivation were to be the key words in the teaching philosophy of Chartwell International School.

Offering Excellence

In today’s world, technology has become an integral part of everyone’s everyday lives. Technology has revolutionised the world, our lives, and the educational system. Smart boards have taken the place of chalk and blackboards, and Google Classroom and other teaching tools have improved the teacher-centered classroom. Being able to adapt to change while upholding conventional educational standards is not always simple.

The Chartwell International School buildings have been constructed and furnished to ensure that the school provides quality standards in education. Its objective is to create an environment for both teachers and students that will enable everyone to produce their best work. The team states, “In line with the recent pandemic and the changes taking place in the world around us, we have also invested a lot to enable top-quality remote learning. We have invested in technology and the education of our teachers.”

However, it is not the technology that is the measure of the quality of teaching at Chartwell International School; the success of its school and the heart of its school are the teachers. For in the end, as someone stated, “What will actually, finally, without a doubt “revolutionize education”? There isn’t a single thing, technological or otherwise. Engaged students in a social setting under the care of an inspiring teacher seems to be their ultimate response.”

Chartwell International School teachers come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences, but what they all have in common is a love of teaching, empathy with their students, and a commitment to their education. If a measure of the quality of a teacher lies in his or her willingness to give himself or herself to the students, to spend time with them, and to learn who they really are, then for certain Chartwell teachers, they are well qualified for the role that they play.

Given that pupils attend school for eight hours every day, Chartwell promotes a strong sense of family. The governing principles at Chartwell School include respect for others and common sense rather than rules. This is what distinguishes the school as a special, stress-free setting where students and staff can interact during breaks, engage in sports activities, solve problems, and take part in other initiatives. Despite the vast cultural gaps between them, students and teachers respect one another and collaborate together to produce the best outcomes.

A Student Centric Curriculum and Assistance

Class sizes at Chartwell International School are customised to the needs of the students and allow for individualised curriculum planning. Chartwell has integrated technology into its classrooms to the extent necessary to enhance instruction and promote more student participation, active learning, and creative applications of technology, even if Cambridge, whose curriculum the school follows, is traditional in many ways.

Another goal of Chartwell International School is to encourage healthy living among its students. This is accomplished by promoting healthy food as well as ongoing conversations on various aspects of healthy living, regular encouragement of students to participate in sports, spend time outside, etc.

Chartwell International School is a school with its own catering service that provides healthy hot meals for students who spend 8 hours a day at school. The meals are well balanced and in keeping with the school food standards, ensuring that the students have healthy diets with

• high-quality meat, poultry or oily fish
• fruit and vegetables
• bread, other cereals and potatoes

Apart from playing a role in the lives of its students, schools play important roles in society. Schools participate in public activities such as fundraising, public events, etc. The school states, “This role of the school is to prepare its students to be better members of the society that we live in.”

Realizing this, at Chartwell International School, emphasis is placed on extracurricular activities, which are offered on a daily basis and range from sports to fencing, dance, drama, and languages. Chartwell students are involved in the life of the community as well by attending workshops, visiting exhibitions, and going to the theater, as well as taking part in humanitarian activities, and helping orphaned and disadvantaged Serbian children through their traditional project, “Something for Everyone: Children to Children. A group of pupils visited the Royal Palace in Belgrade as part of the charity appeal, supported by the Royal Family. “The students get really involved, organising their own fundraising projects,” says the founder. “It is important that they understand there is a world out there that is not like their own.”

Giving students these experiences and increasing engagement has many entry points – from incorporating active learning, to innovative uses of technology, to inclusive, community-building strategies.

Globalization today has erased or at least blurred borders, and more and more people from different nations, with different traditions, personalities, qualities, and attributes, live and work together, forming and shaping our society.

Exemplary Study Approach

English is the primary language of instruction at Chartwell International School, however, many other languages are also available. Chartwell places a lot of importance on cultural variety. The kids at Chartwell learn alongside peers from all over the world, from Jaipur to Japan, and they have a keen awareness of what the world has to offer. Every year, the school observes UN Day to encourage respect and tolerance. Children perform songs and recite poetry in both their native tongues and the languages they are learning in school during poetry and music evenings. Valentine’s Day, Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day, Mother’s Day, Easter, and Christmas are all observed in accordance with British customs, and Chartwell is the only school in Belgrade to observe Bonfire Night.

Cambridge University has granted Chartwell accreditation as an international school and testing facility. It is acknowledged as an international educational institution by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Serbia. Chartwell participates in COBIS.

These accreditations are an important reference in the educational environment of today. The educators at Chartwell are pleased to see that this is not the most crucial reference. The two most important people are parents and students.

The pace of modern life’s evolution and the expectations it places on us provide challenges to the entire world. The family is not an exception to this as a social unit. The family visits the schools, logically expecting them to assist in overcoming the increased expectations and obstacles.And this is where Chartwell comes in and stands firm, once again stressing that education is much more than knowledge of the facts. Chartwell School makes sure that it’s there for its students, that at the end of the day they feel loved, cared for, and secured, and that they leave their “little world” in Belgrade equipped to meet the challenges they will face in a rapidly globalising and competitive world.

Words from Leadership

“Our graduating students leave us to go to universities around the globe and they achieve good results. We are of course very proud of them. However, most importantly, we are proud that they have become good people. People with the right values, who respect themselves and deserve to do so, but also people who have learned to respect those around them regardless of the differences.”(Word of the Founder)

“In these ever-changing times it is hard to predict which path one will take or how fast one will grow in the future,” states Aleksandar Ignjatovic, the executive director. “The Japanese have a philosophy of continuous quality improvement,” he says. “This philosophy is applied to many areas of life, education included. This philosophy states that one should always look for opportunities to improve upon current processes, making things incrementally better as time passes. This is what Chartwell International School plans to do – it will strive to make things better, to reevaluate what it does looking at its results, and take steps to improve things incrementally in the years to come.”

Website: www.chartwell.edu.rs