At ISD, we guide and encourage our students to meet their potential, while acknowledging and addressing their learning differences.
We offer targeted support and teach appropriate strategies to transfer learning from various classroom settings. We regularly confer with students, parents, subject teachers, and any other professionals involved in a student’s development to design the best possible independent educational plan with long-term goals and short-term objectives.
When collaborating with subject teachers, we jointly determine a student’s gaps and learning skills. We also address assignments and questions about the student’s present levels of performance.
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To gain a realistic understanding of their behaviours, we help our students use their learner profile to identify areas of strength and areas with needs for further development. This guides the students in understanding how their efforts and use of time have a direct impact on their learning. Students are then introduced and encouraged to put into practice diverse strategies from the following areas:
In addition, we employ a referral process that is initiated by a student’s year head and developed in conjunction with the parents. This entails creating and sharing a full psychological educational assessment which states the learning needs of the student. The assessment also makes recommendations for specific accommodations and/or modifications. An individualised education plan (IEP), containing learning goals broken down into learning outcomes, is developed for each student. |
LIONS WITH NEURODIVERSITY
Lions with Neurodiversity is a parent and community group for those interested in exploring neurodiverse conditions. The majority of the group is made up of parents supporting their own child with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) but is open to anyone. Some other forms of neurodiversity are:
- Autism Spectrum Conditions,
- Dyslexia,
- Dysgraphia,
- Dyscalculia,
- Dyspraxia,
- Tourette Syndrome,
- and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
The group shares resources, engages with guest speakers, and members discuss successes and challenges facing their child and family.
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Group meetings are an opportunity to connect with each other and share experiences, to get some input and insight into what we are doing in school to support students that experience some form of neurodiversity, to hear from specialists, and to share resources. We are very fortunate to have a strong relationship with the ADHD Foundation, The Neurodiversity Charity, and over recent years have had various specialists visit us in person and online to observe classes, advise teachers, and share their expertise with our whole community. |
ACADEMIC SUPPORT
Our mission statement commits us to work together to “challenge and support our students to be successful and responsible global citizens”.
As we strongly believe that students learn best when they are happy and secure, we have a comprehensive network of support for them: all of our teachers, coaches and activity supervisors are dedicated to encouraging, inspiring and helping students to “meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two…just the same¹.”
¹ “If” by Rudyard Kipling
ENGLISH AS AN ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE
Students learn languages best when they are given comprehensible input and opportunities to practise in a non-threatening environment. That’s exactly what our English as an Additional Language (EAL) team does, supporting students whose first language is not English to acquire the level of linguistic competence necessary to succeed in the mainstream academic classroom.
We believe that the most efficient way to provide this support is by immersing the students in an authentic language environment which is comprehensible, yet challenging.
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Our EAL curriculum recognises and respects the varied interests, abilities, needs, and diverse cultural backgrounds of our students. It presents a progressive course of study, which gives insight into the structures and functions of the language, and emphasises communication. Students are also encouraged to access their mother tongue to provide content support on their academic journey. Language acquisition grows incrementally through a constant and natural interaction of the four modes: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. In our programme, students are assessed on their participation, oral work, and teacher observation. They can exit the programme at any time during the school year when their work reaches the required standard of fluency and accuracy to succeed in the mainstream classroom. |
MENTORING
Everyone deserves a mentor. Our mentoring programme at ISD is all about helping and supporting individuals fulfil their potential.
Everyday life can present many kinds of challenges and we can all benefit from being supported to see these challenges from another perspective, to make sense of them and to tackle them in order to achieve our goals in life.
Mentoring can support diverse objectives such as:
- social integration;
- organisation and stress management;
- independence and self-reliance in one’s learning process;
- communication skills, self-confidence and self-esteem building;
- nurturing an interest or talent;
- changing a behavioural approach.
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STUDENT MENTORING |
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Supporting students to achieve their potential by identifying challenges, setting goals and working together to achieve these goals. This can be achieved either by matching a student mentee to student mentor (peer mentoring) or by matching a student mentee to adult mentor. |
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STUDENT TRANSITION MENTORING |
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Transition mentoring includes:
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MENTORING WORKSHOPS |
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Offering monthly workshops to parents, mentors, interested faculty and staff members. Those can take on a range of topics like:
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INCLUSION PROGRAMME |
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Offering an after-school games club for students entering ISD later in the school year to more quickly build relationships within their new environment. |
UNIVERSITY & CAREER PLANNING
Our Senior School counsellors reach out to students and parents for testing, career-exploration, university information sessions and application procedures. At the same time, students and parents in grades 9-12 are always welcome to initiate their own contact with the counsellors.
In addition, our dedicated German and Japanese higher education counsellors assist students who are interested in attending universities in Germany and Japan.
For more information about the ISD senior school counselling department and the support we provide to students and parents, please visit the ISD counselling website:
LIBRARIES
Our three well-stocked libraries are more than just cosy places to settle down with a good book. At ISD we believe that libraries should provide an environment where students are exposed to new ideas though the use of multiple resources. For that reason, you'll find more than just books within our walls. As well as fostering a love of reading, our librarians aim to help students develop the skills that will enable them to become independent and effective users of ideas and information.
Our Senior School Library website is full of news, resources, ideas for reading, and curriculum information. On the website, you will find support materials for MLA documentation style as well as resources that support the writing process. Via the website, you can also request new resources, follow us on Twitter, or contact Library staff. ISD parents are also welcome to borrow books and other resources from our libraries.
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Elementary School Library |
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Senior School Library |
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The Senior School "McWilliam Library" caters to students in grades 6 to 10. It is a modern, flexible learning space, completely refurbished in 2014. Our acoustic pods enable students and teachers to work together in small groups, conduct online interviews, produce sound and video recordings, or to work quietly on their own, while our innovative Makerspace area allows students to build, tinker and design. As well as an extensive collection of English language fiction for all tastes and reading abilities, our senior school library is home to an array of books in German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese and Korean. We also house newspapers and magazines in a variety of languages. Our collections include books on parenting, resources for teens, University and Careers information, as well as a collection of DVDs and CD books. |
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Learning Resource Centre |
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The Learning Resource Centre (LRC) serves the needs of our Diploma Programme students in grades 11 and 12. Refurbished and expanded in 2015, the LRC provides a pre-university study area for both students and teachers. |
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e-Resources |
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A large collection of eResources is also available to current students, parents and teachers on our intranet. In addition to academic databases such as Britannica, ProQuest and Questia, we also provide access to Statista, The Day, Opposing Viewpoints, Grove Art and Grove Music, as well as a further collection of databases, encyclopaedia, and open access academic databases. |
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Curriculum Support |
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The senior school librarian works in partnership with teachers to provide collaborative instruction in the areas of creative writing, academic writing, the research process and the use of technology for learning. Two particular areas of focus are the Middle Years Programme Personal Project and the Diploma Programme Extended Essay. The librarian also supports literacy for all senior school students. |
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Maker spaces |
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The Senior School Library Makerspace is available to all students at break and lunchtimes. Students can choose from Lego and Lego Mindstorms, K'Nex, puzzles and board games, card games, quizzes, mindfulness drawing, and crafts such as bracelet-making, knitting, and embroidery. We also have a collection of 'Maker' books and resources. Students are welcome to come along and make, tinker, innovate, or create. |
