The Heritage Private School

This article is about The Heritage Private School in Cyprus. For other schools with a similar name, see The Heritage School.

The Heritage Private School

Established	1987
Type	Private School
Director	Kypros Kouris
Location	Limassol Cyprus
Students	800 (approx.)
Gender	Co-Educational
Ages	2 1/2–18
Website	www.heritageschool.ac.cy

The Heritage Private School is an English independent school situated in the village of Palodia, about three miles north of the Limassol motorway.^[1] It teaches approximately 800 students between the ages of 3-18. The Heritage Private School is an impressive sight in the hills along the main Limassol to Troodos road. The school is in a stunning location, with mountain and sea views.

School history

1987 The Heritage Private School began in Moni, a village near Limassol, with only six pupils. Founders were Janet and David Austin.
1988 The school moved from Moni to the centre of Limassol. The number of students increased to 22.
1989 The UK National Curriculum was introduced to the school. The Kindergarten was created for children from 2 years of age. The number of students increased to 50.
1990 The upper floor of the main building was taken over to accommodate the increasing number of students, which by the end of the academic year reached 105. A playing field was rented.
1991 The school had by now developed the first year of secondary education. Student numbers became 207 and the staff number increased to 23. A third building was acquired.
1992 The school acquired a fourth building as the Secondary Department grew. By now, there were 230 students.
1993 The number of students increased to 270.
1994 Twenty donums of land were purchased, 4.5 km north of the Troodos roundabout, with the idea of building a new school.
1995 The Council of Ministers approved, in principle, the construction of the school on the new site.
1996 The fifth building was acquired. The student age range now encompassed ages 2 to 18.
1998 Forty additional donums of land were purchased, adjoining the original purchased land.
1999 A sixth building was rented to improve the facilities of the school, especially the library and administration areas.
2000 Architectural plans of the new school were submitted for a town-planning permit.
2001 A further thirty-two donums of land were purchased at the proposed new site. Another building was rented to accommodate the Secondary Department.
2003 Yet another building was rented, in order to better meet the needs of the pre-Key Stage Department.
2004 The permit was given for the building to begin. Building work started on the 1 December 2004, once contracts had been signed.
2007 In September the school finally moved to its new buildings.
2011 Construction commenced for the new Early Years Building and the Multifunction Building.
2012 The school celebrated its 25th Anniversary year. The new Early Years School was completed and opened, to accommodate more children from Nursery to Year 1, and the FIFA Star 1 full-size football pitch became operational. The rest of the stadium area and facilities continued in development.
2014. The Multifunction Building was completed, and the first school performance to use the indoor theatre was 'Grease'. PATH (Performing Arts at the Heritage) is now housed in this new state of the art building. Students from other schools are also welcomed to attend PATH.

Today

The Heritage Private School has a 1,500 seat outdoor amphitheatre, which hosts school and community dramatic and musical productions and art exhibitions.

With 800 culturally diverse students aged 2½ to 18 on roll, the school is truly international in its intake and philosophy, holding the prestigious British Council International School Award for “outstanding development of the international dimension in the curriculum”. Other recent awards include co-founder and co-director Zoe Kouris being named ‘2011 Cyprus Business Woman of the Year’,^[2] and the school’s selection to be the only business from the education sector to represent Cyprus in the prestigious 2011 European Business Awards sponsored by HSBC.^[3]

The buildings

The innovatively-designed curves of the main school buildings contain well-lit classrooms with interactive whiteboards, heating, and air conditioning, to provide learning in comfort all year round. Facilities include specialist drama studios, sound-insulated music rooms, well-equipped science and computer laboratories, and a Learning Resource Centre which contains a library, study desks and computers. Sports facilities include tennis courts, five-a-side football pitches and cricket practice lanes. An Early Years Building houses students from two years to five years, and a Multifunction Building has an indoor basketball court and theatre.

Ethos

The ethos of the school creates a caring community, friendly yet disciplined, with the aim of developing the full potential of every individual. Students are encouraged to accept responsibility for their own learning from an early age, and to develop social responsibility, mutual trust and respect. Everyone has a talent, and many extracurricular activities including academic, cultural, sporting, musical, creative and performance arts are offered, to help all students increase self-esteem and maturity, and to find their own niche. Healthy competition is valued, but effort, team spirit and good sportsmanship are considered paramount.

An annual Summer School also offers a valuable and rewarding experience during the holidays, focusing on fun activities and team building exercises for the younger students, with an option to study mathematics, languages, and the sciences. Older students can also attend classes to help them achieve a better understanding of subjects such as maths, English and the sciences.

Curriculum and extracurricular activities

The Heritage Private Institute offers a range of academic subjects, with a record of excellent results, and many other afternoon courses for children and adults. The staff and students take part in many EU educational and community projects to extend experience and learning, such as Comenius, Mediterranean Model United Nations and the European Youth Parliament. Students regularly participate in educational trips within Cyprus and abroad, environmental projects, school hikes, the International Award for Young People, public speaking, art and literary competitions, and voluntary service.

The school is academically selective and is approved by the Ministry of Education and Culture in Cyprus, and by the UK’s Department for Education. All teaching is in English, and the school uses the UK National Curriculum and standard assessments, including Cambridge Checkpoints in Year 9, ECDL qualifications, the French DELF examinations and the Greek competency examinations. The school is a University of Cambridge International Fellowship Centre,^[4] and a centre for the University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) and Edexcel International Examinations. Many students achieve exceptional IGCSE and AS/A Level results. Following the June 2011 examinations, for example, students of The Heritage Private School won 14 Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards and 3 Edexcel High Achievers Awards.^[5] Students graduate with a formal Leaving Certificate (Apolytirion). All of the Year 13 leavers inevitably progress to a university education in the United Kingdom or elsewhere.

References

↑ Aphrodite Sun Properties, Information about English Schools in Cyprus, http://www.cyprus-property-sales-resales.com/living-in-cyprus/schools-in-cyprus.html
↑ Zoe Kouris Wins The ‘2011 Cyprus Business Woman Of The Year’ Award, http://www.heritageschool.ac.cy/news-and-events/all-news/item/zoe-kouris-wins-the-2011-cyprus-business-woman-of-the-year-award
↑ European Business Awards, 2011 Country Representatives,http://www.businessawardseurope.com/country-reps/2011
↑ University of Cambridge International Examinations,Fellowship Centres,http://www.cie.org.uk/aboutcie/fellowship
↑ The Heritage Private School,14 Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards For Heritage Students,http://www.heritageschool.ac.cy/academic/item/14-outstanding-cambridge-learner-awards-for-heritage-students