ISH Mission
Curious, connected and compassionate: inspiring personal excellence in our strong and diverse community
ISH VISION
To shape a better future for all: inspiring students to become compassionate and proactive global citizens
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- Value Statements
- Our Strategic Objectives
- Intercultural Understanding
- Community Profile
- High Quality Learning
Value Statements
Curious
- We are open-minded critical thinkers who learn through inquiry, reflection and engaging with different perspectives
- We learn about ourselves and the world around us through service and experiential learning
- We are independent and interdependent life-long learners
Connected
- We take pride in the strength of our community and the diversity within it
- We value our individual identities and celebrate cultural diversity
- We connect with local and global communities through our learning
Compassionate
- We develop self-respect and show compassion to others
- We take responsibility for our actions and strive to have a positive impact
- We show courage and act with integrity, fairness and respect
Our Strategic Objectives
Our Strategic Objectives
- To ensure that the ISH mission, vision and values are integral to our thinking, actions and decision-making across the whole school
- To promote high-quality teaching and learning through evidence-based inquiry and the appropriate use of data
- To provide our students and our staff with a physically and psychologically safe learning environment that is conducive to learning and wellbeing
Strategic Plan
To ensure the effective implementation of our Guiding Statements.
Learning at The International School of The Hague
A Philosophical Stance (Adapted from the IB)
The International School of The Hague shares an understanding that at the centre of international education are students who come to school with combinations of unique and shared patterns of values, knowledge and experience of the world and their place within it. ISH encourages these students to pursue personal excellence by being curious, connected and compassionate lifelong learners.
The International School of The Hague takes a holistic view of education, so that along with cognitive development, the school programmes address social, emotional and physical well-being. ISH offers opportunities for students to become active and caring members of local, national and global communities and develop international mindedness and intercultural understanding through the attributes of the ISH Community Profile.
Teachers at the school are committed to an inclusive learning environment and help empower and inspire personal excellence in all students by encouraging them to take responsibility for their learning. Teaching and learning grows from an understanding that people work together to construct meaning and make sense of the world. ISH supports and challenges students to improve their learning by engaging with a strong, diverse community and a coherent curriculum that is broad, balanced, challenging, conceptual and connected.
Intercultural Understanding
The International School of The Hague, with its strong diverse community within the International City of Justice and Peace is well placed to provide a dynamic learning environment that is conducive to intercultural learning and global citizenship.
Intercultural Learning challenges students to learn from different cultures and to deepen their understanding, acceptance and respect for diverse groups of people. It allows students to develop their own cultural identity and to facilitate open-minded discussion. This enhanced level of communication helps engage students in tackling global issues.
Global Citizenship is about understanding the ongoing and inevitable global opportunities and challenges we face. Global learners develop awareness and respect that motivates them to take action in relation to the complexities of the world.
Community Profile
The International School of The Hague Community Profile is used to promote intercultural learning and develop global citizenship. It is based on the IB Learner Profile, the concept of international mindedness, the IPC Personal Goals and the ISH Guiding Statements. Different departments in the school are encouraged to develop subject-specific and/or age-appropriate adaptations for the attributes in the profile.
The ISH Community Profile is based on the IB Learner Profile, the concept of international mindedness, the IPC Personal Goals and the ISH Guiding Statements.
How it is being used throughout the school
Primary
Secondary
Curious, Connected, Compassionate
We value creative processes and innovation even when the results are unpredictable and surprising. We create ideas individually and in diverse groups across the whole range of subjects and beyond. We respect and celebrate the creativity arising from our different cultural backgrounds.
We persevere with a task, are capable of acknowledging disappointment and adapting when we are not successful straight away. We strive to achieve the best possible outcomes and support each other. We welcome the learning opportunities provided by difficulties and challenges.
We nurture our curiosity, developing skills for inquiry and research. We know how to learn independently and with others. We learn with enthusiasm and sustain our love of learning throughout life.
We develop and use conceptual understanding, exploring knowledge across a range of disciplines. We engage with issues and ideas that have local and global significance.
We act with integrity and honesty, with a strong sense of fairness and justice, and with respect for the dignity and rights of people everywhere. We take responsibility for our actions and their consequences.
We critically appreciate our own cultures and personal histories, as well as the values and traditions of others. We seek and evaluate a range of points of view, and we are willing to grow from the experience.
We use critical and creative thinking skills to analyse and take responsible action on complex problems. We exercise initiative in making reasoned, ethical decisions.
We express ourselves confidently and creatively in more than one language and in many ways. We collaborate effectively, listening carefully to the perspectives of other individuals and groups.
We show empathy, compassion and respect. We have a commitment to service, and we act to make a positive difference in the lives of others and in the world around us.
We approach uncertainty with forethought and determination; we work independently and cooperatively to explore new ideas and innovative strategies. We are resourceful and resilient in the face of challenges and change.
We understand the importance of balancing different aspects of our lives - intellectual, physical, and emotional - to achieve well-being for ourselves and others. We recognise our interdependence with other people and with the world in which we live.
We thoughtfully consider the world and our own ideas and experience. We work to understand our strengths and weaknesses in order to support our learning and personal development.
*Adapted from the IB Learner Profile
High Quality Learning
At ISH we inspire our students to be curious. To do this, we use student-led inquiry to solve challenging problems that are set in authentic contexts wherever possible. Students learn to apply their knowledge and skills to deepen conceptual, disciplinary and interdisciplinary understanding and make effective connections. Our students learn how to collaborate, act with compassion and become responsible global citizens. Our students, teachers and community model the attributes of the ISH Community Profile.
High Quality Learning at ISH is
- An active process where students make connections between new ideas and prior understandings.
- Collaborative and supported by quality interactions with teachers and other students.
- Centred on students’ responsibility for their own learning; they are able to exercise choice, develop goals, plan their approach and work independently.
- Reflective, enabling students to monitor and review their learning with a clear sense of how to improve; students are supported to learn from their failures as much as their successes.
- A process of change and personal growth.
High Quality Learning at ISH occurs when students
- Are curious, inspired and motivated to take ownership of their learning.
- Build on prior skills, knowledge and understanding.
- Remain resilient and engaged, especially when learning about complex or unfamiliar ideas.
- Feel safe and secure in their learning environment and at home.
- Have confidence in their teachers and trust their peers.
- Actively apply their knowledge and skills towards solving local and global issues.
High Quality Learning at ISH occurs when teachers
- Have high expectations, and encourage students to set high expectations for themselves, which inspire, motivate and challenge students.
- Maintain good relationships with students in order to involve and motivate them.
- Promote students’ love of learning and intellectual curiosity.
- Guide students to reflect on the progress they have made and their emerging needs.
- Are aware of students’ capabilities and their prior knowledge, and plan teaching to build on these.
- Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how students learn and encourage them to take a responsible and conscientious attitude to their own work and study.
- Demonstrate an awareness of the physical, social and intellectual development of students, and know how to adapt teaching to support students’ learning at different stages of developments
- Have a clear understanding of the needs of all students, including those with unique and individual challenges. Teachers are able to adopt and constantly review a variety of teaching approaches to engage and support all students.
- Develop effective professional relationships with colleagues leading to successful collaboration, knowing how and when to draw on advice and specialist support.
- Reflect systematically on the effectiveness of lessons and approaches to teaching and its impact on learning.
- Make productive use of formative and summative assessment to support students’ learning.
- Use digital tools to effectively support and enhance pedagogical approaches which are known to improve learning.
High Quality Learning at ISH occurs when parents
- Are well informed and curious about their own child’s learning.
- Connect and collaborate with others to further support their child’s learning and wellbeing.
- Provide a compassionate home environment which celebrates and promotes individuals’ culture and language.