International Baccalaureate Middle Years evaluation visit, and school wide CIS Opinion Survey (June 2009)

Areas of focus very familiar to all Council of International School (CIS) and International Baccalaureate schools are evaluation, reflection and development. It is these areas that were formally addressed at the end of the last academic year.

The ISH underwent its third Middle Years Programme evaluation visit as an IB world school, and in the same period, the school chose to repeat the opinion survey conducted originally as part of the school’s self study in 2004-5.

The feedback from the MYP evaluation, and the CIS survey results had a great deal in common, and the survey feedback very much reinforced the findings of the MYP visiting team. The school management will incorporate the results of both findings into their curriculum, strategic and administrative planning.

Key areas on which positive feedback was given:
Both the evaluation and survey results highlighted the positive atmosphere of the school; working relationships, respect for each other and the level of friendliness between students, teachers and parents. In addition the visiting team was impressed with the ICT facilities and the introduction to the school of laptops to all MYP students along with the introduction of an online system that comprehensively documents the school curriculum.

Staff were viewed as committed, prepared, involved and knowledgeable. Additionally the community and service area leader and personal project coordinator were given particular praise for their leadership and organisation. The school was commended for the level of professional development opportunities available to staff.

Key areas which the school will address are as follows: All teachers are aware their role communicators is crucial, yet at the same time they recognize that there is room for improvement in this respect. The areas of interaction are the context for teaching and learning, and there needs to be a deeper focus on inquiry in order to help students to analyse beyond the facts and look at the holistic picture of the knowledge they have acquired. Effective communication with parents does not automatically include effective communication with the students. Communication of events and activities must receive more attention in the school.  The school will also investigate ways of encouraging greater awareness and participation in the existing methods of communication and exchange of opinions. This includes awareness of parental access to the curriculum documentation site ATLAS. The school will continue to focus on further strengthening links between disciplines (interdisciplinary units of work), on increasing the variety of teaching strategies, and on focusing on learning styles. In addition the school reporting process will be reviewed.

I would like to thank everyone who took part in the ISH Opinion Survey for their time and commitment to the survey, which has provided the school with valuable information and feedback. Furthermore, I would like to extend my congratulations to Jetty van Driel and the team at the International School Hilversum for the achievement of such a positive MYP evaluation report.

Kate Corder
Project Coordinator – Accreditation
Verenigde Scholen J.A. Alberdingk Thijm