Catherine McKeever has been appointed as the new Head of School at GEMS World Academy Switzerland (GWAS), succeeding Audrey Peverelli.
With a Bachelor’s and a Master’s Degree in Educational Management as well as a postgraduate Certificate of Education, Catherine draws on solid international experience gained from teaching at different schools in California, London, Dubai and now in Switzerland.
Specialized in school improvement and the development of school leadership, she focuses on empowering schools by applying simple but efficient protocols. “It is important to enable schools to make changes on their own. This leads to more and more adjustments and improvements coming from within the school and from the teachers themselves”, Catherine explains.
The environment surrounding GEMS World Academy is already very familiar to her: After having spent over 20 years in London, Catherine joined GEMS Jumeirah Primary School in Dubai in 2014, holding the position of the school Principal for two years. According to Catherine, working for GEMS World Academy is an excellent opportunity to further apply her strategies and methods within a much broader, international environment.
Her vision for GEMS World Academy Switzerland
Thrilled to be living and working in Switzerland, a country that has enticed her for many years due to its countryside and its quality of life, Catherine is eager to engage herself in the educational system within GWAS. Her philosophy centers on enabling children to move forward and to grow within a fun and interesting school environment so that they can fulfill their full potential in whichever way they chose.
Her key goal is to continue to build on the success of GWAS with its constantly growing number of students over the past three years and to further establish the institution as a leading IB World School. To achieve this, Catherine finds it essential that “children have an interdisciplinary approach to learning. They need to develop skills with which they can apply their knowledge in different ways. The education system at GEMS World Academy Switzerland focuses on empowering the children in fields such as math, sciences and English. The explicit teaching of literacy and numeracy is at the heart of everything we do.”
In addition to a staff of highly educated teachers with international backgrounds, a strong focus on wellbeing and the active involvement of parents also play important roles in GWAS school life. Catherine aims to continue strengthening the commitment to offer the children at GEMS World Academy Switzerland the best possible education they can receive in the fullest sense of the word, whether it is academically, culturally or emotionally and regardless of what their future choices in life may be. At GWAS it is as much about how students learn as it is what they learn to prepare them for the ever- changing global world.
GEMS World Academy Switzerland is an international school for children ages 3 to 18 and it offers all three IB Programmes (Primary Years Program/PYP, Middle Years Programme/MYP and the Diploma Programme/DP).
GEMS World Academy Switzerland (GWAS)
La Tuilière 18
1163
Etoy
Switzerland
021 964 18 18
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www.gemsworldacademy-switzerland.com
