St Andrews International School has achieved the Inclusive School Award with Centre of Excellence status.
Heartbeat of the School
St Andrews International School is a modern, progressive, visionary and a beacon of an inclusive international school. One that is at the heart of its broad and diverse community and, moreover, one that ensures that the community it serves acts as the heartbeat of the school.
St Andrews International School, Bangkok was founded in 2001. In 2013, it joined the Nord Anglia Education (NAE) group of schools. NAE is an excellent international education company which has 88 international schools across the world. St Andrews is a privately owned, non-selective, multinational school community with students from over 60 different nationalities. Its stated aim is to ’provide an inclusive, international education in a safe, happy, supportive and stimulating environment’. Currently, there are 2238 students on roll aged between 2 and 18. There are 981 students in the Primary School phase and 1257 in the High School phase.
Wholly Inclusive
St Andrews International School Bangkok is wholly inclusive. Leadership at the school has made the intentional decision to develop diverse student and faculty populations that reflect society, including multilingual learners and students with diverse learning profiles. The school takes a system-led approach to building capacity amongst stakeholders, offering universal design for access to all aspects of school life. Over time St Andrews has majestically learned how to achieve and weave both academic rigour and excellence, as well as equity of access to the curriculum. As we begin the third decade of the 21st Century, inclusion is one of the greatest challenges facing international schools. St Andrews is a trailblazer in establishing innovative, inclusive practice, whilst others are just beginning the journey. International schools are all at different stages of inclusive development, determining the extent to which they can serve their students. Inclusion will remain an important feature of the international school landscape for some time to come. International schools seeking to become more inclusive would be wise to learn from St. Andrews as it is authentically inclusive and a beacon institution in this regard.
Leaders in St Andrews have a clear and accurate understanding of the school and strategic planning is rigorous. The actions required to innovate and bring about further improvement are identified and monitored. Leaders have an excellent capacity for further improvement. Leaders at all levels, including early years, communicate ambition and high expectations. All leaders have a thorough knowledge of the curriculum and the best practices in teaching and learning. Skills and talent are tracked within the appraisal programme so that all teachers can share good practice and draw on each other’s strengths. Many teachers lead staff meetings as the school believes ‘everyone’s a leader’. There is a strong culture of continuous improvement and risk taking, with professional development opportunities to underpin this. Leaders recognise talent and promote within the school where appropriate. Staff agree they are encouraged, well trained and have opportunities to grow. They understand the ethos of collective responsibility and accountability. Responses to the IQM assessment team showed that all that they engaged with were proud to work at the school.
Exceptional Teachers
Guided by their exceptional teachers, children love what they learn, learn what they love and make thrilling new discoveries. With access to more than 150 extra-curricular clubs, it is fair to say that they’ll achieve more than previously one may have imagined possible. Noteworthy from the assessors’ points of view are the quality of life-enhancing trips and expeditions on offer, as well as exclusive collaborations with MIT, The Juilliard School and UNICEF. Pupils from all phases say they feel safe, supported and welcomed. They speak highly of the school’s pastoral care and appreciate the many extra-curricular activities available. ‘Teachers are devoted to us’, stated one pupil on our guided tour of the secondary campus.
Parents are supportive of the values and performance of the school. In discussions with assessors, the parents showed a trust in, and respect for, the school. Parents say they are well informed about the progress of their children. They value the informative reports they receive and are confident that they can use them to judge progress. They felt that the flow of information to and from the school enabled them to help their children learn. For many, the school has become a vital part of their family life in Bangkok. At every level, including governance, parents can influence the school and they know that their views will be listened to and respected. The school community also gets involved in national directives where Government Ministries ask for support from schools for national initiatives. We learned how the school has raised funds to support the Klong Toey during the pandemic and about the work of the Mae Fah Luang Foundation and the deserved levels of recognition bestowed upon the School Director for her life-long commitment and contributions to Thai education.
Teachers and leaders are accessible through a range of methods and are very responsive to parental concerns. The STAR staff have a particularly close bond with parents ensuring that pupils with additional needs are looked after well. The school gathers parents’ views both formally and informally. Some parents are governors and members of the forums which gather parents’ views and ideas, so that the board can be fully informed. Parents particularly chose the school because of its promotion of inclusive values, safety, high expectations and exceptional academic outcomes. They said that the school is very well led and responsive at all levels. One parent summarised the inclusive nature of the school as ‘life-changing’. The evidence from the assessment endorses this view completely.
Beautiful, Tranquil and Purposeful
During the two-day assessment visit of St Andrews School, the assessors were privileged to spend a day on each of the school campuses – the primary and the secondary High School.
The Key Stage 1 building was purpose built in 2014. Classrooms have access to a large, shared space on each floor which is set up for role play and contains a reading area. There is a specialist ICT facility with 22 computers available on the fourth floor and a well-equipped cooking room on the ground floor next to the canteen area. There is a new KS1 outside play area which is equipped with a sand pit and various construction equipment.
The Key Stage 2 building was purpose built in 2009. Large, well-resourced classrooms open onto shared areas on each floor. Extra teaching rooms are available for group work and one-to-one withdrawal. Year 6 have classrooms in another area of the school around a quad which supports the waterway running through its middle. This is a great area allowing year 6 students to really feel slightly different and as a means for further preparing them for transition to high school.
There has been a redevelopment of the original waterways or ‘canal’ systems that had run through the grounds of the primary school. This has been utilised to recreate an eco-system of plants and fish, teaching the pupils about ecology and the environment.
The grounds are truly beautiful, tranquil and purposeful with plentiful areas for students to relax and play outside of academic lessons. The sports’ facilities are second to none, both schools featuring state-of-the-art gymnasiums and swimming pools. All outside play areas have appropriate softer floors which are all-weather, artificial grass or sand. The outdoor areas are all maintained to a very high standard of cleanliness, safety and maintenance by the estate’s staff.
Pleasant Relaxation Space
The Primary music department has been moved to the centre of the school to show the importance that the school places upon its creative and performing arts programmes. The music rooms are next to the existing drama studio where whole-school productions and shows can be put on for parents. The Juilliard-Nord Anglia Performing Arts Program enriches the music curriculum, offering students opportunities to explore creativity and performance skills through collaborations with Juilliard specialists and alumni. From Early Years to High School, students are encouraged to develop their musical talents and confidence. There are specialist facilities for learning support and the Embracing Differences’ programme on the ground floor of the gold building. These consist of small teaching spaces with appropriate specialist equipment and a large, shared area with play facilities that seeks to create a very pleasant relaxation space for students, particularly the higher needs students who wish to use these facilities.
PE facilities in the High School include a Sports Hall (containing two basketball courts and marked for multiple other sports), a 25m swimming pool and associated changing rooms, a fitness room and a yoga studio, as well as an all-weather football pitch, two outside hardcourts and a 100m running track. The school’s extra-curricular sports’ programme is supplemented with access to local facilities available near to the school, such as full-sized football pitches, tennis and badminton courts, a climbing wall and the national athletics stadium.
Over the course of the assessors’ visit, students regularly explained how happy they are to speak to teachers, Heads of Year, their tutors, councillors and the Learning Support team with issues which they are facing at school or at home. They all felt that there was someone within the school that they could go to if they had a need, no matter how big or small.
St Andrews International School is an outstanding school. It provides an outstanding quality of education for pupils across the full age range and meets the standards for the IQM International Inclusive School Award.
Find out more about the IQM Inclusive School Award
If your school is interested in obtaining the IQM Inclusive School Award or you wish to talk to a member of the IQM team please telephone:
028 7127 7857 (9.00 am to 5.00 pm)
or email: [email protected] for further details.
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