The International Baccalaureate Organisation visited the school from the 15th to the 17th of January as part of the 5-year review process which all IB schools undertake to ensure that the program is being run to the standards expected by the IB.
This process started in May last year when staff were involved in a self-study and the results of this along with a variety of other data was sent to the IBO offices in The Hague.
The visit was made by two representatives of the IBO, Fiona Clark, who works directly for the IBO in The Netherlands and James Kazi, who is the Deputy Headmaster of Charterhouse School in the UK. During the visit, they met with students, staff, parents and the Board of the school to discuss all aspects of the IB Diploma program and its implementation in the school. They also observed lessons in the Secondary school and visited the junior and infants campuses as well.
Following the conclusion of the visit, a written report was sent to the school of the findings. Whilst there were some recommendations for improvements there were also many commendations which were also highlighted. One of the first things that the visitors said to us in their summary was how open, honest, supportive and welcoming the school was and that they had really enjoyed their time at the school. They felt that we were really trying to live up to both our own mission statement and the ideals of the IBO.
It is important that the school has these reviews of our teaching practice from a variety of different organisations and it does mean that we are constantly striving to improve the standards of the school and ensure the very best for our students. The findings of this visit will allow us only to improve upon the work that we are already doing as a school and create more opportunities for our school to succeed.
