Qatar Foundation’s (QF) Pre-University Education (PUE) has kicked off the 2018-2019 academic year with its third annual PUE Forum. 

The PUE Forum 2018 – which took place at Qatar National Convention Centre and was attended by more than 1,000 staff and faculty – gave employees the opportunity to network, celebrate achievements through the announcement of the winners of the annual PUE Awards, share ideas, and build long-lasting relationships between teachers and staff members across all of PUE’s schools and centres. 
Buthaina Ali al-Nuaimi, president of Pre-University Education, QF, welcomed the PUE community with an inspiring speech celebrating recent successes and welcoming the new academic year, set to begin with over 5,000 students enrolled across 10 PUE schools. Al-Nuaimi also highlighted that the 2018/19 academic year will see the opening of a new high school specialising in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) subjects, Qatar Academy for Science and Technology, which will operate under the umbrella of PUE.
“Commitment to excellence and innovation in teaching and learning characterises our QF schools,” said al-Nuaimi. 
“I am proud to be a part of this organisation and to have the opportunity to celebrate everyone’s success together as a community. With the efforts, hard work, and dedication of each and every one of our employees, we are able to fulfil our vision of ‘Leading Learning’.”
The forum featured an awards ceremony -- an initiative launched during the PUE Forum 2016 -- designed to recognise exceptional efforts, as well as to build morale, motivation, and mutual respect among all PUE employees. Award categories included ‘Exceptional Contribution to Collaboration across Schools’, ‘Exceptional Contribution to Student Welfare’, ‘Best Education Initiative’, ‘Outstanding Teacher’, ‘Outstanding Practitioner – Academic’, and ‘Outstanding Practitioner – Non Academic’.
Salem al-Marri, head of Community and Outreach at PUE, who was among the award recipients, said, “My team and I worked very hard on this project and it’s an incredible honour to be given the award for ‘Outstanding Practitioner – Non Academic’ in recognition of our hard work. 
Courtney Piper, teacher at Awsaj Academy, which operates under PUE, said, “I am beyond humbled and honoured to receive the award for ‘Best Education Initiative’. 
“The incredible results of language acquisition amongst the students at Awsaj Academy have been made possible by the outstanding team I have had the privilege to work with over the years. I am looking forward to watching our students develop further.”
During his speech, Stuart Leeming, executive director of QF Schools, congratulated all the award winners on their achievements, highlighted a number of recent successes, and encouraged the PUE community to continue striving for excellence.
The forum also featured student performance segments that showcased the abilities of four students from PUE schools. Junayd Koch, Grade 11, Qatar Academy Doha; Fatma al- Muhannadi, Grade 5, Qatar Academy Al Khor; Mohammed al-Naimi, Grade 11, Qatar Leadership Academy; and Jade D’Mello, Grade 12, Qatar Academy Sidra, gave inspiring speeches and performances.

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