This school welcomes kids with poor grades

Dubai: Is your child a poor performer? Do good grades elude him or her? Well, an out-of-the-box school in Malaysia is going all out to rope in such kids to tap what it claims is their hidden “genius potential”.

In Dubai last week on a roadshow of sorts for the Selangor-based Kingsley Leadership Academy (KLA), leadership coach Arthur Carmazzi said unlike most schools which still focus on academics with traditional teaching methods, KLA’s model works on the premise that not all students are good at taking tests, but can be hugely successful if nurtured the right way.

Wisdom teams

“Students attend class as teams, not individuals. We set them up in groups of five in ‘wisdom teams’ with up to six coaches who support them to competently teach each other. There is no homework. They write and publish books that incorporate a story. The entire learning process is gamified and connected to real companies and their real problems,” said Carmazzi.

The school has an IGCSE accreditation plus international certifications in leadership psychology and organisational culture and behaviour.

The school is open to 13-18 year olds and the fees, including accommodation, learning tools and industry access is $38,000, Carmazzi added.