Pursuant to Article 34 of the Statute of the International School, at the meeting held on the 09.07.2021., the Board of International School adopted the following:

Inclusion Policy

Basic Provisions

Article 1

International School’s primary motivation and mission is to help all its students become citizens of the world whose knowledge, ideas and actions will make them successful people and role models for future generations.

Having a vision that our school is a place where new ideas are born, talents nourished and knowledge improved, we welcome all applicants who are creative, ambitious, hard-working, reflective and open-minded, regardless of their nationality, religion, ethnicity, gender, origin, social status or personal beliefs. We believe that quality education should be available to all students who want to become citizens of the world whose knowledge, ideas and actions will make them successful people and role models for future generations.

Inclusion is a process of identifying and removing barriers to learning for all students, by implementing adequate policies, regulations, teaching methodologies and participation activities for all students.

Being aware of different learner profiles, learning diversities and potential learning barriers, the professional staff of the International School is committed to identifying barriers to learning and implementing strategically created teaching methodologies and individual educational plans to help students overcome those barriers and reach their full academic potential.

The purpose of the Inclusion Policy

Article 2

The purpose of the Inclusion Policy is to:

• Create positive and strength-based environment for both students and teachers;
• Implement adequate measures for identifying, assessing and removing barriers to learning;
• Acknowledge the diversity in learning;
• Present roles and responsibilities of the professional staff;
• Promote effective learning;
• Promote all students’ right to quality education;
• Empower students and teachers to be open-minded and tolerant;
• Help students achieve the best results.

Identifying barriers to learning

Article 3

Acknowledging differences and promoting tolerance, mutual respect and understanding is integral to the International School’s learning environment.

During an Admission Process (for more information see: Admission Policy), students applicant will be interviewed and their learner profile and learning abilities will be tested.

The School Counsellor and the school’s professional staff will be asked to assess whether there are any barriers to learning, which include, but are not limited to:

• Learning disabilities such as discalculia, dyslexia, dysgraphia;
• Behavioral, social and emotional problems problems such as ADHD, dyspraxia or depression;
• Medical conditions such as Autistic Disorder or Asperger’s syndrome;
• Language barriers.

If the School Counsellor or teachers suspect of any of the barriers to learning, in agreement with the parents, the student will take a specific test that might assess the level of the learning barrier. This test will also allow the teachers to create individual educational plans for students in collaboration with the School Counsellor.

Individual Educational Plan

Article 4

Being aware of the students’ diversity in learning, teachers and the school’s professional staff are responsible of implementing and monitoring individual educational plans for students who manifest:

• Learning disabilities;
• Behavioral problems;
• Certain medical conditions;
• Language barrier;
• Academic achievement that is less than expected.

Individual Educational Plan can be created for individual subjects or for all the subjects that the student chose. It consists of specific learning and assessment objectives and specific tasks designed to remove the student’s barrier to learning.

The School Counsellor, student’s Class teacher and student’s Mentor are responsible for monitoring the student’s development in collaboration with the subject teacher(s).

Class Teachers and Mentors are responsible for communication with parents/legal guardians in order to help the student achieve his/her full academic potential.

The Individual Educational Plan is monitored weekly and assessed by tests, coursework, assessments or homework. With the student’s learning process, the Individual Educational Plan can also be changed to meet the student’s needs.

If a barrier to learning is identified as a medical problem, the school pedagogical leadership team will encourage parents to consult with the healthcare professionals.

Confidentiality

Article 5

All the students’ information are confidential and the access to them is restricted to the school administration, pedagogical leadership team, mentors and class teachers.

Only after communication with the parents and their approval will these information be shared with other teachers if that is beneficial for the student’s education.

Admission of students with special access needs to the Diploma Programme

Article 6

The International School believes that quality education should be available to all students. This is why the International School tries to provide conditions as fair as possible for all students, so they could present their knowledge and competencies.

All students are welcome to enroll in the Diploma Programme in the International School, in compliance with the School’s Admission Policy.

In order to meet student’s needs, during examinations, some access arrangements are allowed without the approval of the International Baccalaureate Organisation:

• Taking exam in a separate room with an additional invigilator;
• Appropriate lighting and volume setting;
• Seating plan;
• Rest breaks;
• Allowing care assistant to be present, provided that the care assistant is not the student’s relative or another student taking that exam;
• Hearing or visual aids or a communicator who should only explain the examination instructions, but not information from the question paper.

Access to Diploma Programme Examination

Article 7

The International School is responsible for maintaining a strength-based and affirmative learning environment. The International School will apply the student for “assessment access arrangements” in the cases when a learning disability is caused by psycho-emotional or medical problems.

In order to apply the student for “assessment access arrangement”, parents/ legal guardians should provide:

• psychological, psychoeducational or medical documentation not older than two years old.

The subject teacher and the School Counselor will provide:

• at least one piece of educational evidence;
• the candidate’s standard scores.

The “assessment access arrangement” may include, but are not limited to:

• Additional time;
• Additional ICT equipment;
• Scribe;
• Readers;
• Practical assistant;
• Modified exam papers.

The School will apply the student for an adequate “assessment access arrangement”, but the final decision on approval is the responsibility of the international examination organisation.

The application for an adequate “assessment access arrangement” is submitted within 2 months after the beginning of the school year, after collecting evidence and documentation. The Diploma Programme Coordinator will submit the documents and communicate with the International Baccalaureate Organisation.

After approval, the Diploma Programme Coordinator will explain the assessment requirements and access arrangements to both student and his/her parents/legal guardians.

The responsibilities of the International School and the teachers

Article 8

The International School and its pedagogical leadership team will:

• Provide training and support for the teachers;
• Raise awareness about the importance of different approaches in teaching and learning;
• Empower teachers to remove students’ barriers to learning;
• Provide resources for teachers and students;
• Apply students for “assessment access arrangement” provided they have all documentation required by the international examination organisation;
• Inform parents about assessment requirements and discuss if there is a need for “assessment access arrangement” upon enrollment.

The teachers are welcome to differentiate their teaching methodologies and to empower students to achieve the best results. The teachers will:

• Monitor students’ progress;
• Report to the pedagogical leadership team if they notice any underachievement or lack of results in student’s learning process;
• Create, implement and monitor the student’s Individual Educational Plan in collaboration with the student’s class teacher, mentor and the School Counsellor.

The School Counsellor will:

• Provide support to teachers and students;
• Monitor student’s progress;
• Provide counselling when the student is dealing with psychological or emotional problems;
• Conduct workshops for teachers and students to familiarise them with the barriers to learning and ways to overcome them;
• Conduct lesson observations and evaluations.

All the student’s information gathered during counselling is securely stored and is not accessible by anyone else, unless:

• Student presents danger for himself or the others;
• There are legal implications (child abuse, neglect).

In the cases listed above, the School Counsellor is obliged to inform the school administration and the social services will be notified.

The responsibilities of the students and parents/legal guardians

Article 9

The students should be responsible toward their well-being and health. Therefore, the students are obliged to:

• Clearly present their needs;
• Participate in counselling or collaborative activities that might help them overcome barriers to learning;
• Ask for help if they feel the need.

The parents/legal guardians are obliged to:

• Acknowledge the barriers to learning if their child clearly expressed them;
• Consult with healthcare professionals;
• Communicate honestly with the student’s class teacher, mentor or a representative of the pedagogical leadership team about the child’s needs.

Final Provisions

Article 10

The Inclusion Policy is developed by the Inclusion Policy Committee:

• Aleksandar Petrović – School Counsellor;
• Zorana Živanović – Programme Coordinator.

The Inclusion Policy will come into force on the eighth day following their posting on the School’s notice board.

The teaching staff, the International School’s Coordinators, the School Principal and the Board will collaboratively review this Policy in August 2022, on which they will report to parents and students through an official email in September of the same year.

 

President of the Board

_____________________________

Nikola Subotić