Shell School Damascus

Damascus, Syria

Information about the school

Shell has a long history of providing a school in Damascus. In 2006, it was decided to close the Shell School (Al Kafilah) as the children could attend another international school in Damascus. De Paddestoel was maintained as a pre-school facility, and renamed as Villa Yalla.

In 2008, the other international school was closed, as a result of which Shell opened a new school in September 2009.

The Shell School in Damascus is therefore split over two sites. Villa Yalla remains for three and four year olds; a newly-acquired building some 20 km away serves for the rest of the primary range.

Villa Yalla

Mission statement

Playing to Learn, Learning to Play

We are all equally different

We are exploring with all our senses

We are taking the first steps on our

lifelong learning journey

We are taking the first steps on our lifelong learning journey
Villa Yalla caters for children from the term in which they become 3 years of age. Children leave at the end of the Nursery year (that is, the school year in which they become 4). To maximise the use of space, the school currently accommodates the pre-Nursery children in the morning and the Nursery children in the afternoon. There is a maximum capacity of 24 children.
Villa Yalla is located in a converted apartment in West Mezzeh, a pleasant residential suburb of Damascus conveniently located for the Damascus Shell Club and much of the Shell housing. It is fully air-conditioned, well resourced and equipped with open plan classroom areas for the pre-nursery and nursery. There is an art/music room and a small library.
There are also changing facilities, a kitchen/ staff area and a spacious safe shaded outdoor playing area with a sand pit, swings and climbing frames, lots of bicycles and tricycles as well as other games and toys.

The coordinator of Villa Yalla, a fully-qualified expatriate teacher, is deputy headteacher of the whole Shell School in Damascus. Other well-qualified and experienced staff are found from the expatriate and local population and employed on local contracts.

Kora al-Assad

In September 2009, a facility to cater for the primary age range beyond Nursery was opened in a converted villa in Kora al-Assad, a quiet village some 20km from West Mezzeh and the main location for the housing of those Shell employees not living in Mezzeh.

At the time of writing, this facility is so new it does not even have a name! It is housed in a converted villa, the nature of which lends itself to open-plan, collaborative learning and teaching. It is fully air-conditioned, and increasingly well-resourced with accommodation including an art room, a language room, a library, a hall and a kitchen. The gardens and tennis court provide ample, shaded play area.

There are some 55 children on roll, with a maximum capacity of around 64. There are 4 fully-qualified and experienced expatriate teachers as well as the headteacher of the whole Shell School in Damascus, who is predominantly based at this site. In addition, there are well-qualified locally-employed staff working as part-time teachers and learning assistants, drawn from both the expatriate and local population.

In common with other Shell Schools, the school follows the International Primary Curriculum (IPC) across the range from Nursery to Primary 8. It also uses the English National Curriculum as the base for English and mathematics.

In addition, all children at the Kora al-Assad site have Arabic lessons twice a week. Dutch lessons are provided for the Dutch children, in order to maintain their Dutch language skills.

As a learning-focused school, the aim is to encourage and enhance children’s learning. This is not just limited to learning in linguistic and mathematical areas, but also includes areas such as artistic, musical, physical and general academic development. The school also values learning in personal and social areas, and promotes the development of international understanding.
Damascus is a thriving city full of history and culture and there are many things to see and visit both in Damascus itself and in Syria in general. Syrian people are known for their friendliness and hospitality. There is a Shell club close to Villa Yalla which is a centre for many social activities.
Travel to the neighbouring countries of Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan is also popular. In the winter at weekends, skiing just over the border in Lebanon is an easy drive.