|
school report
REPORT
PERIODIC QUALITY INSPECTION
INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF THE HAGUE
School : International School of The Hague
Department(s) : Middle Years Programme (MYP) and
Diploma Programme (DP)
City : The Hague
BRIN-number : 02GP
Inspection number : 95039
Date school visit : 13 and 15 June 2007
Date determination :
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION 5
2. QUALITY PROFILE 7
Quality profile International School of The Hague 7
3. OBSERVATION 11
4. CONTINUATION OF THE SUPERVISION 15
Periodic quality inspection report International School of The Hague – 13-6-2007 3
1. INTRODUCTION
On 13 and 15 June 2007 the Inspectie van het Onderwijs (Education Inspection) visited The International School of The Hague within the framework of a periodic quality inspection (PKO [periodiek kwaliteitsonderzoek]). For this there has been an inspection into the specific indicators used within the evaluation framework of the Inspection for secondary education 20065.
The Inspection of Education strives to tailor the supervision as optimally as possible to the school situation, the so-called risk-specific supervision. Within the framework of risk-specific supervision, the inspection examines schools with a low risk for the quality of the education, and with predominantly sufficient assessments on the quality aspects in previous inspections, less intensively. Schools with a higher risk are examined more frequently, or more intensively.
The aspects of quality control, progress and education time have been assessed again. This is procedure during the periodic quality inspections of the investigation. In addition to this the core indicators of aspects which have been assessed negatively in the previous inspection will be examined again. At this school that is the case with regard to the quality aspects of the subject matter and didactic actions of the teachers.
As laid down in the supervision framework the inspection takes the data, which the school has already collected itself with regard to its own quality within the framework of self evaluation, as much as possible as a starting point. Thus the inspection dovetails the specific situation of the school and in addition to that, the school will not be burdened unnecessarily.
For this your school sent in the following relevant documents which are related to your self-evaluation activities.
CIS accreditation service
Subject policy book 2007
JB diploma program booklet 2006/2007
Year 10 and 11 MYP handbook, August 2006
Year 7 MYP handbook, August 2007
MYP moderation assessment 2006-2007
CIS preliminary /preparatory visit 2003
Annual Report DISS 2006
Policy Manual June 2007
Personal project guide MYP
Community and service, mentor package 2006-2007
MYP grade descriptors
IB extended essay
IB learner profile
IBO MYP progress report 2005 and IBO reaction
On the basis of the self evaluation data supplied by the school, no changes have been made in the contents of the PKO.
Periodic quality inspection report International School of The Hague – 13-6-2007 5
The setup of the inspection
The periodic quality inspection consists of the following activities:
1. Analysis of self-evaluation documents and of other documents which the school has sent prior to the school visit.
2. Examination and analysis of documents and data with regard to the school which are present at the inspection, such as the risk profile, inspection reports, Annual Inspection, Periodic Quality inspection and Regular School inspection.
3. school visit:
a. conversations with the School Management
b. conversations with teachers
c. lesson visits.
The content of the report
The inspection into the quality of the education produces a school quality profile (chapter 2). This profile consists of an overview of the quality aspects and of the indicators assessed.
In chapter 3 a brief starting point indication of the school is given first, followed by an explanation of assessment in the quality profile.
In chapter 4 the continuation supervision is indicated and, if necessary, there will be indications with regard to legal provisions which the school does not comply with.
Periodic quality inspection report International School of The Hague – 13-6-2007 6
2. QUALITY PROFILE
During a PKO the inspection always assesses the quality indicators such as quality care, and progress. Moreover, the inspection has carried out a study into the quality aspects of subject matter provision and didactic actions, and to the compliance with legal regulations, among which is the programmed education time.
At this school the inspection has not carried out a new inspection regarding the other quality aspects, because, during the implemented risk analysis no signals have come forward indicating that the educational quality regarding these aspects possibly runs a risk. In the quality profile, regarding the aspects in question, this is referred to as ' not investigated (no risk) '. The whole of the assessments with this PKO is indicated in the tables below.
In the valuation of the indicators it is expressed to what extent the indicators contribute to the quality of the quality aspect concerned:
1. does not or hardly contributes;
2. contributes insufficiently;
3. contributes sufficiently;
4. contributes to a great extent;
5. at the aspect ' Progress ' also category ' 5 ' (means ' cannot be assessed ') has been added. Because here, in some cases, the inspection cannot give a founded assessment.
Quality profile of the International School of The Hague
of the student population *
and teaching as formulated in the school plan *
progress *
learning and teaching *
activities *
1.6 The school guarantees the quality of learning and teaching *
1.7. The school guarantees the quality of the school exams and
other testing instruments. *
1.8. The school reports to interested parties providing insight
into the realised quality of the education *
1.9 The school guarantees the social safety of students and staff *
1.10 The school takes care of the quality of the education aimed
at the promotion of social integration and active citizenship,
including the transference of knowledge about, and acquaintance
with the diversity in society *
Periodic quality inspection report International School of The Hague – 13-6-2007 7
Quality aspect: subject matter provision
The subject matter provision is aimed on the broad development of students and the preparation
on continuation education or the job market 1 2 3 4
Not investigated (no risk)
3.1 The subject matter provision in the lower school complies
with the legal requirements *
3.2. The subject matter provision in the sixth form covers the
exam programs *
3.5 The subject matter provision in the various school years
affiliate to each other *
3.6 The subject matter provision in the various subjects shows
coherence *
3.7 The subject matter provision enables harmonisation with the
Educational needs of individual students. *
3.8 The school with a substantial percentage of students who
are weak in the field of language, has subject matter provision that is
appropriate for the linguistic educational needs of these students,
with all the subjects. *
Quality aspect: time 1 2 3 4
4.1 The planned education time meets the legal requirements. *
4.3 Cancellation of planned education activities is limited. *
4.4 Unauthorised absence of students is limited. *
4.5 Students make efficient use of the education time. *
Quality aspect: Pedagogic action
The pedagogic actions of the teachers lead to a safe and supportive learning environment
Not investigated (no risk)
Quality aspect: didactic action 1 2 3 4
6.2. Teachers explain in a clear way *
6.5 Teachers stimulate the students to think *
6.9 Teachers gear their didactic actions to the
differences in development between students. *
Quality aspect: Active and independent role of students
The students play an active and independent role within the educational activities
Not investigated (no risk)
Quality aspect: Atmosphere at the school
The school offers a respectful and safe environment to students, parents and staff.
Not investigated (no risk)
Periodic quality inspection report International School of The Hague – 13-6-2007 8
Quality aspect: Guidance
The guidance is aimed to allow the students to develop according to their possibilities.
Not investigated (no risk)
Quality aspect: Care
Students with special educational needs receive appropriate care.
Not investigated (no risk)
Quality aspect: Progress 1 2 3 4 5
11.1 Students achieve the educational level that can
be expected. *
11.5 Students experience little delay in the
vwo ( pre-university education) education. *
11.10 Students of the vwo education achieve the
grades for their exams that should be expected *
11.11 Students function according to expectations
in continuous education or the work area. *
11.13 The skills of the students are at the levels that
should be expected *
Periodic quality inspection report International School of The Hague – 13-6-2007 9
In this chapter you will find an observation with regard to the quality of the education at the school.
General policy
The inspection assesses the quality of the education at The International School of The Hague (ISH) for all indicators of the examined quality aspects as being sufficient or good. This assessment is in line with the ambitious objectives which the school sets for itself.
The school has planned sufficient education time in all school years. Because all lessons which are cancelled as a result of unforeseen circumstances are filled in under supervision of other teachers, the planned education time corresponds with the realised, and therefore assessed as good, education time.
With regard to the turnover of the school the inspection does not make an assessment within this inspection.
The inspection will further explain this assessment below.
Starting point situation
The ISH is a school for special neutral education in which both a Primary and a Secondary school occupy a part. The school is headed by a Principal, who is supported by heads of school, namely a head of the Primary school and a head of the Secondary school.
In a formal sense the Primary school is an establishment of the Haagse Schoolvereniging (HSV) and the Secondary school is an establishment of the Rijnlands Lyceum in Wassenaar. This inspection concerns the Secondary school.
The ISH is affiliated with the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO). In school years 7 up to and including 11 the school provides education in conformity with the main starting points of the IBO education according to the MYP (Middle Years Programme). In school years 12 and 13 students are educated according to the DP (diploma Programme). Staff members and students originate from a large number of different countries, and the language of instruction is English.
Last year the school was faced with two circumstances which temporarily had an unfavourable influence on the starting point situation, in the first place the move to the new school building created more problems than expected, particularly due to the late completion of the building and subsequently the large number of building and engineering work that turned out to not have been finished at that point. Secondly during the school year a vacancy for the function of head of the Secondary school occurred. As a result of this, the pressure of the workload increased on both the principal, the head of the Primary school and the various team leaders. According to expectations this vacancy will be filled as of August 2007.
Periodic quality inspection report International School of The Hague – 13-6-2007 11
Progress
When giving a valuation for the turnover, reservation is called for. For the internationally oriented secondary education (igvo) a progress chart such as this is available for regular schools for secondary education is missing. Part of the progress chart regards the surplus value of the school. In order to determine the surplus value, among other things the level of the students at their start in secondary education is looked at. For the igvo that start situation and the continuation of that have not been mapped until now because of the large number of complications: the student population shows a greater variety in characteristics than in regular education; students flow in from internationally-oriented primary education but also from foreign countries, the pattern of intake and outflow on the whole shows a lot of changes. Comparing data at a national level has limited availability because it concerns a relatively small group of students, divided over 8 igvo-schools. Comparison at an international level is nearly impossible due to the large number of variables.
The inspection only provides an assessment with regard to the examination results which students achieve at the DP. The examination results are judged as at least sufficiently. There are two arguments for this. In the first place, the average results for the examination subjects at an international level are at least equal to the results of other international Baccalaureate Organization (IBO)-schools. Secondly, with a success rate of between 96% and 98% in the past and 99% in 2006, the ISH, already for a large number of years, is among the best scoring international schools in the Netherlands.
Quality care
The inspection assesses the quality care for four of the examined indicators as sufficient and for the remaining as good. The previous years the ISH has worked with drive on the development of quality care. Thereby two factors function as a catalyst.
In the first place the different organisations with which the school is involved and following on from that a stimulating influence on the realisation of good quality.
Thus the joint Dutch International Secondary Schools (DISS) annually publish a report in which, among other things, a report is given on the mutually agreed educational policy in fields such as the attention to Dutch language and culture, school safety, multilingualism and unplanned cancellation of lessons. The ISH succeeds in translating these starting points for policy, related to IBO-standards, in among other things, a socially safe school environment, and education which is aimed at the promotion of the social integration like through the topic Community and Service' (C&S). Moreover, the annual report of the DISS contains evaluations of the progress realised by the separate schools.
In addition to that the ISH takes part in the accreditation route of the Council or International Schools (CIS), under the motto ' school improvement of ongoing accreditation '. The school draws up an extensive self-evaluation at the beginning of the accreditation route. A valuation framework, drawn up by the CIS is used with the accreditation.
Periodic quality inspection report International School of The Hague – 13-6-2007 12
Finally, cyclical visits from the IBO take place which are also preceded by a self-evaluation of the school. During the visits of the IBO the MYP and DP are alternatingly examined. Thanks to the combination of the visit projects of the CIS and IBO a systematic quality cycle is created within which the different quality aspects of the education are brought up alternatively and successively. A good example of the attention to cyclical quality care is the introduction of the new MYP. Prior to the introduction a strategic policy plan was drawn up. Interim a progress report was drawn up on which the IBO reacted. At the end of the first complete MYP cycle which the school went through, the first results were recently evaluated. This evaluation will be included in an international comparison by the IBO.
Secondly, students, parents and staff of the ISH are motivated to maximally commit themselves, each from their personal position, to a good (educational) quality of the school. Within the IBO the ISH wants to count as a ' school or excellence '. The professional attitude to work within the various staff categories in particular expressly supports this ambition. Through this professional attitude to work, both management and teachers occupy themselves mainly with the tasks which must be counted to the core of their responsibility: Management steers the school and the total quality care, whereas teachers focus on providing good education and the quality care of this.
Part of the professional attitude of the management and teachers is the awareness that parents are interested in a good educational standard. The school pursues, expressly, a good provision of information towards the parents. In addition to written information which the school provides to parents, there are several information evenings. The school also involves parents in the quality care. Thus the school has an ' Educational focus committee ' of which teachers, parents and students are part.
On some aspects, the school can improve. For example, the quality of evaluations further increases when the school succeeds in formulating all policy objectives in a smart way. Moreover the school can increase its insight into the progress both by developing instruments for measuring the skills which students have acquired, and instruments which can give information with regard to the surplus value of the education offered.
Education and learning
The inspection assesses the coherence in the offer in the different school years as sufficient. Both within and between the MYP and DP that coherence is sufficiently guaranteed. Through the introduction of the MYP the coherence between the lower school (MYP) and the sixth form (DP) improved. With the introduction of the MYP the school better succeeds in preparing the students for their continuation study in the DP. Thanks to the MYP students are able to plan and organise their own study and to also carry the responsibility for that.
Periodic quality inspection report International School of The Hague – 13-6-2007 13
Within the MYP there is a lot of emphasis on total coherence within education. During the lessons which the inspection visited teachers made links to other subjects. Moreover the education in the MYP also takes form on the basis of projects and ' Areas of interaction ' where, expressly, the educational coherence is pursued.
In conformity with the principles within the MYP with regard to learning and teaching, teachers stimulate the students to think. The inspection also assesses this indicator as good. During the lessons which the inspection attended during this school visit, examples of 'good practice' were observed: With professions information and communication technology students themselves draw up a questionnaire to allow themselves to be assessed by others. With the Spanish subject, students are expected to expressly reflect on what they learned in the previous lesson.
On the ISH a considerable part of the students have a background other than English-speaking. The inspection assesses the way in which the school approaches the language needs of these students as good. On the ISH there is a lot of attention to education in the personal language of the students in accordance with the educational policy formulated by the DISS. For the IBO, the international comparison of the school on this aspect was a reason for a compliment being directed at the school.
Development perspective
In general the context within which the school functions is advantageous. Following the move the school is housed in an excellent building at a beautiful location. The financial problems which arose last year at administration level have been solved. Moreover it also seems that a possible imminent financial problem around the obligation of parents to pay the ' school fee ' will be solved. According to expectations the payment of the 'school fee' will soon have a formal, legal basis.
The ISH is aware of its favourable starting point situation and consequently sets its objectives and ambitions high.
The various sections and external organisations actively contribute to the realisation of those objectives and the quality of the education. Good agreements have been made in the school with regard to the various educational topics, and the quality care is cyclically and systematic. The school deserves a compliment for that.
Previously we already noted that the school can further improve itself on some aspects, such as formulating the set objectives more smartly and the determination of the surplus value of the education.
The inspection is confident that the powerful and positive development of the school will continue in the coming years.
Periodic quality inspection report International School of The Hague – 13-6-2007 14
4 CONTINUATION OF THE SUPERVISION
With this PKO the inspection has also examined the compliance with a number of legal regulations. This concerned, among other things, the legal regulations with regard to the planned education time and with regard to the school guide and school plan determined by the competent authority.
On the basis of this investigation the inspection concludes that the school complies with these provisions.
The findings of this PKO lead to the next arrangement for the continuation of the supervision (supervision arrangement):
The observed quality of the education at the school does not require adaptation of the regular inspection planning of the inspection. The school will be incorporated into the regular planning of the supervision.
Periodic quality inspection report International School of The Hague – 13-6-2007 15
|
