Chapter 6: Attendance and Inclusive Education

Our approach to attendance and punctuality is determined by Dutch law. The “Leerplicht Wet” (Compulsory Education Law) dictates that children aged 5 to 16 (or 18 if they do not yet have a diploma) must attend school unless there is a valid reason not to. Parents are responsible for ensuring that their children are present in school and on time.

Absences
If a child is ill or needs to be absent for a medical or dentist appointment, parents/guardians need to inform the school following the procedures outlined for that specific section of the school.

• For Primary School: email Primary Office at primary@ishthehague.nl and copy in the class teacher by 08:10.
• For Secondary School: Parents/guardians should inform school of any absence via iSAMS or call the Secondary Reception 070-3281450 or email ish.reception@ishthehague.nl before 08:00.

In the event that a long illness is anticipated, parents/guardians should also inform their child’s class teacher/mentor and Year Leader. The email should include the reason for the absence and an indication of how long the child will be absent.

Regular or persistent absence (authorised or unauthorised) and/or late arrival will be followed up by the school as the school is obligated to inform any unexplained or persistent absences/ late attendance to the Dutch Attendance Officer (Leerplicht).

If repeated or extended illness is a cause for concern (regularly sent home ill from school, absence during specific days/events, patterns of absence etc), the school will inquire about the absence and where appropriate will refer the child to the school doctor (Centrum Jeugd en Gezin, CJG) who will arrange a meeting with the parents/guardians.

The School Doctor will inform the school of the next steps.

Late arrivals
Please see the sections on Attendance and Punctuality from Primary School (Chapter 15) and Secondary School (Chapter 18) for more specific details about the follow up for late arrivals and absences for each school section.

Special Leave
If a student must be absent for reasons other than illness or a medical or dentist appointment, a ‘Request for Special Leave’ form should be completed at least two weeks prior to the requested leave date. In cases of emergency the request can be submitted later.

The Special Leave Forms for Primary and for Secondary School and all details regarding Special Leave can be found on the school website.

ISH is bound to Dutch regulations in this respect and can only approve special leave for very specific reasons like serious illness, death or marriage of a close relative or moving house. A maximum of 10 days per school year can be approved, as long as it abides by the rules and regulations.
 
Any requests for Special Leave of more than 10 days will need to be referred to the Attendance Officer (Leerplicht) who will then determine whether or not the leave can be granted.

All students who are resident in the Netherlands have the right to access education that suits their qualities and abilities. The education provided by a school must provide them with the potential to be successful and therefore the school should try to determine before entry whether the education that is offered by the school is appropriate. Admission to ISH is determined by the nature of our academic programmes and the availability of the additional support that we provide.

We offer a range of support for students with additional needs, including academic, social-emotional and health - but we are not a special educational needs school. At entry, families are required to provide all available information regarding their children's additional needs so that we are able to determine whether they are able to benefit from our educational programmes in an appropriate manner. In the event that we are provided with inaccurate and/or incomplete information a student’s place at the school may be jeopardised. Please refer to the school’s Educational Support
27    Profile on the school website for further information on what support the school is able to provide. https://www.ishthehague.nl/academic/learning-support.

Once we have implemented the support and interventions that are available within our school, there may be cases when we determine that we are not able to provide appropriate education to meet the needs of a child that ensures their success and safety and/or the safety of others. In such cases, we have a responsibility to advise families in order to help them to find appropriate alternative education. Parents/guardians with questions on this can contact Assistant Principal Upper School (i.mckenna@ishthehague.nl) or Assistant Principal Lower School (c.lapiere@ishthehague.nl) in Primary. For Secondary School parents/guardians can contact the Deputy Head Student Support (k.stellema@ishthehague.nl). More information about the law relating to learning support can be found at the following websites: www.passendonderwijs.nl and https://www.swvzhw.nl/. Please note that the school has both parent and staff representation on the support plan council - ondersteuningsplanraad (OPR).

The school embraces the IB definition that “Inclusion is an ongoing process that aims to increase access and engagement for all students by identifying and removing barriers. It is facilitated in a culture of collaboration, mutual respect, support and problem-solving involving the whole school community.”

The International School of The Hague actively strives to dismantle institutionalised inequalities, that are both explicit or implicit by nature through the work of different individuals and groups, such as the IDEA Committee. It prioritises equality, inclusive admissions and recruitment, as well as related professional development and curricular review.

In the event of serious or repeated unacceptable behaviour that is deemed unsafe for the student themselves or for others around them, the school has the right to remove students from the school setting. In the Primary school, this will result in an internal suspension or removal from the class. However, if the behaviour remains disruptive, the school will contact parents and ask for the child to be picked up. In our Secondary school, the suspension may take place internally or externally depending on the age of the child and the nature of the behaviour they have engaged in.

The law states that if it is deemed necessary to suspend a child this will be for a maximum period of five school days. When a child is suspended for any period of time, parents/guardians must be informed of the reasons in writing. If the suspension is for two days or more then the school inspectorate must also be informed via the school’s online dossier. In such cases, the name and details of the child are not shared. Only the details of the suspension, the reason and the year of the child’s birth is recorded.

Expulsion can only be approved by the Executive Director in consultation with the school leadership. Notification in writing outlining clearly the reasons for the expulsion must be provided for the parents/guardians, school inspectorate and the Dutch Compulsory Education Department. Parents will have six months to appeal the decision.

Repeating Years
One measure of intervention to enable students to make necessary progress may be to allow a student to repeat a school year in order to give them additional time to develop. However, this option is limited:

• Students may repeat only once per programme (IPC, MYP, DP and CP).
• Students who start the school one or two years below the age of their peers can only repeat the year once.

It is important to recognise that for many students, working alongside others who are significantly younger or older whilst their peers move on, can be very detrimental to their emotional wellbeing.

There may be some occasions where a student has experienced mental or physical ill health, which has resulted in them taking substantial time out from their schooling. We will review such situations on a case-by-case basis to decide whether repeating a year in a manner that contravenes the general rules set out above is in the benefit of the child.