SCHOOL GUIDE 2023-2024
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Home » Support & safety » Additional support

Additional support

Learning Support

The Learning Support Team engages students who have been identified as having specific challenges to their  learning. Support students may have diagnoses, social emotional needs or academic needs. Learning Support is composed of the Learning Support Coordinator, the  Individual Needs Teacher, Remedial Specialists, the Educational Assistant, coaches and counsellors.

  • The Learning Support Team works with students to develop the skills and strategies they need to become independent learners who can access our curriculum.
  • The team defines accommodations and modifications, and offers remediation and differentiated instruction.
  • Once the student has set their personal improvement goals our team collaborates to implement specific strategies to reach those goals.
  • The team stimulates our students to self-reflect and be aware of their personal process. Through regular evaluation with students and parents the team strives to offer the specific support the students need.
  • The team teaches mini-lessons about study skills, philosophy, neurodiversity and any other topics that might help our students to take the next step in their development.
  • The team assists students to plan and process their academic assignments, and work on their social and executive skills by doing fun activities.
  • Our coaches and counsellors also work on social emotional well-being, identifying strengths and challenges, and a range of other topics.
  • Throughout the team collaborates with the teachers to ensure that acquired skills and helpful strategies are transferred into the mainstream classroom so that students have a successful learning experience.
  • The team works alongside parents/guardians, to gain mutual understanding of their child’s strengths and challenges.
  • As a team we strive to empower and inspire our students to reach their full potential in all areas of their development.

Pastoral Programme

The student support system at the ISE Secondary School revolves around the pastoral care team. The central figure of this team is the Year Tutor. The Year Tutor is a link between parents, students and the school.  Each class has a year tutor who is responsible for supporting the individual student’s needs. Each class meets weekly with their year tutor. During tutorials different topics are covered, all with the theme of helping students to develop skills to support themselves throughout their time at school.

The school has a social worker assigned who can become involved to additionally support students and families. This can be in an educational capacity or social emotional support.

English Language Learning (ELL)

Students who meet the requirements for admission to the ISE and the Middle Years programme but have limited proficiency in English, will be placed in the ELL support programme. Students who enter the Diploma programme are expected to have a level of English proficiency in order to access all IB Diploma courses.  The ELL Coordinator is responsible for the ELL programme.

Course content
  • New students are assessed in English language proficiency if their background indicates that they will not be able to cope with English as the language of instruction. These assessments help to establish the level of support that a student needs.
  • All ELL students are placed in a MYP year group and follow a pull-out support programme at one of three levels — beginner, intermediate and advanced.
  • ELL beginner level students are withdrawn from the highest number of mainstream lessons. Mainstream subjects are added as a student’s proficiency in English improves.
  • It is possible to vary an ELL student’s subject package for example, adding a Language B at beginner level if a student has some prior knowledge of that language.
  • New ELL students are often placed at beginner level when they may already have some English proficiency. A limited mainstream subject package can ease the adjustment to a new school environment.
  • Decisions to add subjects to an ELL student’s package and eventual exit from the programme are taken at the four report times in the school year: first progress, mid-year, second progress and end-of-year.
  • The ELL lessons are scheduled across the 29-hour timetable and contain a mix of students from all five MYP year groups.  The progression of an ELL student within the programme is linked to many factors such as age and knowledge of English at entry to the programme, ELL support can last for up to 3 years.
  • All decisions concerning an ELL student, beginning with entry to the ISE Secondary School and level of initial support in the ELL programme and eventual exit, are made in consultation with parents.
  • Any students who have been in English medium education for longer than three years will be considered for the Language and Literature programme.

Careers

Careers and higher education guidance counselling is available to all our secondary school students, and is aimed at  supporting decisions regarding education within the school (e.g. choice of subjects for MP4-5 and the IB Diploma) and higher or vocational education beyond school. Careers counselling and guidance is based on teamwork between the year tutors, the IB Coordinators, subject teachers, and the school Careers Counsellor, who together ensure that students have the most suitable information, support and advice to arrive at  decisions which best fit their abilities and career aspirations.

Careers counselling as preparation for the IB Diploma Programme

The majority of MP5 students continue their studies in the IB Diploma programme. These students are provided with guidance on the most appropriate subject package for their longer-term career development. Students who do not continue their studies at IB-level receive advice about other possibilities open to them, particularly within the Netherlands.

Careers counselling for tertiary education

The careers office stocks a range of resources, and the school Careers Counsellor is experienced in assisting students with their applications to colleges and universities around the world. Our aim is to find the best fit for our students’ abilities and career ambitions, and to work alongside students to support them in reaching their true potential.