Middle School Looks to the Future with New Advisory Program

It’s about building relationships, developing personal skills, and preparing for the future.

Social-emotional learning is at the forefront of the Middle School Advisory program at ICS Addis, and a new advisory curriculum is adding future-focused lessons with a uniquely international context. Positive Action is an international curriculum that teaches self-management and responsible decision-making.

“While the focus of the advisory continues to be wellbeing, relationships, and approaches to learning, introducing Positive Action across the Middle School creates consistency to how we approach teaching these skills,” MS Deputy Principal Cal Stuart said. “With input from our team of advisory leaders, as well as other trusted international schools in our network, we chose a program that fits our international context and will provide continuity for our students as they progress from Grade 6 to Grade 8 and beyond.”

Meeting for 45 minutes at the start of school four days each week, Middle School teachers host small groups of students for Advisory. The regularity of these meetings allows students to build connections with one another, as well as an adult outside of a strict student-teacher context, that can help them be successful in school and in life. The focus of the time together centers around promoting student wellbeing, gaining self-management skills, and taking ownership of their path to success through goal-setting.

Sloane Hill is a Grade 6 Level Leader, an ICS Teacher, and Advisor. She helped implement Positive Action across the Middle School and said the program aligns directly with the ICS Way, the International Baccalaureate (IB) programs, and our school community’s values. It has also become even more important returning to in-person school after the pandemic.

“A focus on social-emotional learning (SEL) is one major shift we are seeing in schools like ICS Addis who are evolving and moving toward the future of education,” Sloane said. “Research shows that when schools focus on SEL, students’ academics and overall wellness improve immensely. Students will take the broad range of skills they learn in advisory into their classrooms and into their future careers and personal lives beyond ICS.”