Secondary School support Profile (SOP)

Appropriate education

All children deserve appropriate education. They have a right to an education that challenges them while considering their needs. Whenever possible, children attend mainstream education. Special education may sometimes be needed for students whose needs are better met there. In this way, they are best prepared for further education and a place in society.

The school works with organisations that provide youth services in and around the home situation for those students who need this support.

What this document covers

This report describes the school’s vision on support, the support facilities that the school offers in order to provide inclusive education and the development goals that the school has set itself. This document is, therefore, also relevant for the alliance (samenwerkingverband) and the parents

Role of the alliance and the school

To ensure that all children have a suitable place, schools have set up regional alliances (samewerkingsverbanden). In these alliances mainstream and special education work together. The schools within the alliance make arrangements on aspects that include the guidance and support that all schools in the region can offer and the students who can be placed in special education. The alliance also makes arrangements with the municipalities in the region about the deployment of and alignment with youth services (jeugdhulpverlening).

Parents apply to the school of their choice for their child and the school reviews what support the child will need and what opportunities the school can offer. This document can serve to help parents in the selection of a school by providing an overview of the support that the school can offer their child. Whether the school is the right place for their child will always become clear in an individual interview about the child’s needs. This will not only depend on the support that can be provided but also on the specific capabilities and support needs of the child.

How this document has been created

This document has been prepared on the basis of an online questionnaire. The school has formulated the support that is possible, the vision on which that support is based and the relevant goals that have been set.

2.1 General information

Gegeven	Antwoord
Date of completion	February 2023
Name of our school	International School of The Hague
Type of education	Secondary Education (Voortgezet onderwijs/ VO)
Name of our school board	Stichting 'Het Rijnlands Lyceum'
Name of our alliance	SWV 2 Zuid Holland West
Lower educational levels	IB Middle Years Programme (MYP)
Upper education levels	IB MYP (5th MYP Certifi cate), IB Diploma Programme (IBDP), IB Careers Programme (IBCP)
Years	We offer a full fi ve years (MYP and 2 years in either IBDP or IBCP)

2.2 Vision

Our educational concept
International Baccalaureate (IB) - Inquiry based learning

Explanation of educational concept

The International School of The Hague (ISH) 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 wellbeing. 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.

This website explains the International Baccalaureate (IB) and its separate components:
https://www.ibo.org/programmes/
You can read more about the Middle Years Programme (IB MYP), Diploma Programma (IB DP) and Career- related Programme (IB CP) that we offer at The International School of the Hague.

Our vision on appropriate education 

Mission: Curious, connected and compassionate: Inspiring personal excellence in our strong and diverse community. Vision: To shape a better future for all: Inspiring students to become compassionate and proactive global citizens.

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 with a thirst for knowledge.

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.

In addition to our ISH Guiding Statements, this is our vision on inclusive education (from our Inclusion Policy):

We acknowledge that:

• ●education for all is a human right
• ●every educator is an educator of all students
• ●learning diversity is a rich resource for building inclusive communities
• ●multilingualism is a fact, right, and resource
• ●diversity includes all members of a community.

We strive to:

• ●create affirmative, responsive environments that promote a sense of belonging, safety, self-worth and whole growth for every student
• ●consider learning from a strength-based perspective
• ●ensure that all learners belong and experience equal opportunities to participate and engage in High Quality Learning
• ●unlock every student’s full potential through connecting with, and building on, previous knowledge
• ●ensure that all students in the school community fully participate in an IB education and are empowered to exercise their rights and accept their responsibilities as citizens
• ●ensure that assessment provides all learners with opportunities to demonstrate their learning, which is rewarded and celebrated
• ●ensure all students in the school community have a voice and are listened to so that their input and insights are taken into account
• ●enable all students in the school community to develop the IB learner profi le attributes and develop into inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect
• ●ensure that all students experience success as a key component of learning.

2.3 Education and support
Strengths in our support

The International School of the Hague offers a rich environment for learning and holistic development including a variety of outside school and extracurricular activities, including sports, music, arts, design, green space, MUNISH. Furthermore, our pastoral curriculum supports our students’ social and emotional development and mental wellbeing.

Support structure
The ISH has a comprehensive specialized support structure:

• ●Learning Support Department - a team of learning support specialists
• ●Student Wellbeing Department - a team of counsellors
• ●English as an Additional Language Department- a team of English teachers that help students who have to acquire English as an additional language to access the working language of the school.
• ●Health Office - a team of trained nurses who offer basic medical support.

Collaboration
A multidisciplinary Student Support Team works together to address complex student needs. This team consists of the coordinators of the Learning Support, Student Wellbeing, and English as an Additional Language Departments, Year Leaders, and Deputy Heads for both Student Support and Student Guidance. The MYP and IB CP/DP coordinators join on request.

For external support ISH works effectively with an outside school support network (School Formaat Social Worker, School Doctor and School Nurse from the CGD, Attendance Officer, and educational consultants of the Samenwerkingsverband) in regular "JES (Jeugd en School Formaat)-meetings".

Students in their exam year with diagnosed needs can apply for Inclusive Access Arrangements with recent valid documentation. The IB will authorize this based on valid documentation provided in an up-to-date psycho-educational report.

Depending on the student's educational needs and the school's facilities, ISH offers small group or individual support sessions.

The Student Wellbeing Department has a "Camino room", which is a physical space with a support system, where students can take a sensory break for 5-10 minutes to be able to return to class again, and for quiet social lunches.

The Student Wellbeing Department connects students in need of psycho-educational assessments to external psychological agencies. We work together with these external agencies to implement any recommendation from the psycho-educational Assessments within the school setting.

The internationally mobile community is characterized by specific issues as a result of displacement, adjusting to a new country and culture. Mobility affects learning, and sometimes students have gaps in knowledge because of the different educational systems. Within the support structure of the ISH, we carefully screen students to place them in groups that fit their current level to help them overcome gaps, offer several types of support to help them throughout their journey with us, and monitor students’ progress through the Student Support Team structure. For more information, see the Learning Support and Wellbeing Department protocols and procedures.

IDEA committee
The purpose of the IDEA committee is to identify and implement programmes that will strengthen Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Anti-racism at ISH. Key areas of the committee include the creation of a safe space for students and other members of the ISH community.

Limitations to our support

It is vital that any student that joins ISH Secondary arrives with the potential of being successful in the academic programmes and is able to benefit from an IB education. The International Baccalaureate MYP is equal to HAVO/ VWO in the Netherlands and requires significant independence, motivation and organization from a student.

Our academic programme is unlikely to be appropriate for students with a general learning difficulty, disharmonic learning profile, memory and/or attention issues, learning disadvantages, and/or limited English understanding and expression (in Year 10 and above).

Whether this school can facilitate a student’s learning profile will be a case-by-case decision. We are not a special educational needs school and all students who are enrolled are expected to follow the full IB MYP, CP or DP curriculum. We are not able to offer an alternative curriculum other than the IB MYP, CP, or DP.

For students who have documented educational needs, we generally offer 45 minutes of small group support per week.

ISH does not facilitate one on one support in the classroom, nor do we recommend one-to-one assistance provided by external agencies except in exceptional cases.

ISH students need to be able to behave safely and appropriately in a mainstream school context. ISH cannot facilitate students that endanger their own safety or that of other students, that show serious disruptive behaviours that obstruct the learning environment, have serious truancy problems, and/or refuse to come to school.

ISH cannot facilitate students who require a therapeutic educational programme (education that includes an intensive therapy programme).

ISH cannot facilitate students who need daily complex medical expertise.

There are more limited secondary education options for international students than for Dutch students, and transfer to Dutch schools rarely happens. Out of necessity, students who wish to enter the Dutch Secondary education system after Primary school will have to move into the first year of ISH Secondary, before they can transition into Dutch education. Dutch Secondary education's first year is ISH's second year of the IB MYP. This is a good option for students who have a decent level of Dutch, whose family intends to stay for a longer time in the Netherlands, and whose learning better fits the Dutch Secondary Education options.

Students must be able to demonstrate English language profi ciency in line with the following levels:

• Year 7 - Beginner Phase 1
• Years 8 - 9 - MYP English Language Acquisition Phase 2
• Years 10 - MYP English Language Acquisition Phase 3
• Years 12 - 13 - DP English B Standard Level (SL)

These limitations ensure that we only accept students with the language potential to benefit from our educational programmes. Further details are outlined in our ISH admissions policy and EAL support document.

Our ambitions and development goals for support

ISH is further developing the Dyslexia and Dyscalculia policy.

ISH is further developing English fluency methods, such as a summer course for new English Language Learners, software platforms, and in-class EAL support for English language learners to get better access to our working language.

ISH is further developing internal universal screening through GL assessment measures, including the CAT4, Math baseline testing and PASS.

We are keen to develop a protocol to identify and support high potential learners.

Continually improving and further developing our transition programme with a particular focus on consistency of induction of all new starters throughout the year.

Our school offers our student several support facilities. Paragraphs 3.1-3.3 provide summaries of the support available.

To ensure appropriate support for our students, our school has a support process in place and collaborates with external organisations.

This chapter describes how our school ensures appropriate support by working according to a PDCA cycle.

Specialist	Definition
Video coach and/or video interaction coach	An expert intended to improve teacher behaviour through personal coaching or discussing video recordings.
Coach for Appropriate Education	The Coach for Appropriate Education focuses on the learning process and questions around support from students and teachers.
Dyscalculia Specialist	An expert in identifying dyscalculia in students and implementing appropriate support.
Dyslexia Specialist	An expert in identifying dyslexia in students and implementing appropriate support.
Physical Specialist (such as a motor remedial teacher)	An expert who provides additional educational assistance in the context of physical education. They focus on the child’s physical development.
Behavioural/Social skills Specialist (SOVA = sociale- vaardigheidstraining)	A specialist in assisting in the development of skills relating to the interaction with others. Social skills include (amongst others): understanding others, being a good listener, paying attention to another person’s feelings and solving conflict.
Young Child Specialist	An expert who has specialised in the development and needs of young children.
Speech Therapist	A speech therapist in education offers prevention, care, training and advice relating to the primary mouth functions (sucking, swallowing and chewing), hearing, voice, language and speech.
Highly Gifted Specialist	An expert in coaching students with a talent to realise exceptional performances.
Intellectual Impairment Specialist	An expert in focusing on students who perform below average.
Dutch as a second language Specialist (NT2)	A specialist in the field of Dutch language acquisition for students with a different language background.
Support Consultant/ Behavioural Scientist	The support consultant is characterised as a behavioural scientist with a wide knowledge of the school, who contributes to the development of students with behavioural problems. They often coach teachers, peripatetic teachers and others. This is often a psychological or a special education expert.
Special Education Expert	The special education expert implements a treatment and coaching plan for persons with development, learning and behavioural problems to improve their situation. In this way, the aim is to provide the support that best suits their character and concerns for the purposes of optimising their development and maximising their opportunities to engage. The special education expert, therefore, specialises within scientific education.
Psychologist	A psychologist is a professional expert in psychology, the science of focussing on inner life (knowing, feeling and striving) and behaviour of people.
Arithmetic / mathematics Specialist	A specialist in identifying arithmetic and mathematical problems in students and implementing appropriate support.
Language/reading specialist	A specialist in identifying language and reading problems in students and preparing appropriate support.
Internal counsellor	An expert responsible for coordinating, counselling and innovating tasks at school.
Student Coaching	An expert who helps, advises or refers students with problems.
Remedial Teaching	An expert providing assistance to students with learning difficulties or behavioural disorders (such as fear of failure).
Support Coordinator	An expert responsible for coordinating, counselling and innovating tasks at school.