Application procedure

Admission

Parents/guardians may apply for placement by going to our website at www.isecampus.nl where they can complete the application for admission form online.  Placement depends upon the group size as well as on the specific needs of the child and/or age group.

Acceptance of students

What is the intended target audience for the school?

The International Department caters for the needs of students who will be in The Netherlands for a limited period of time.

The International Department provides education through an English medium for students whose parents are able to demonstrate a need for international education.

A student can be admitted to the International Department if they comply with one of the following:

• The student has a non-Dutch nationality and has a parent that is working in The Netherlands for a limited time;
• The student has Dutch nationality and has lived and gone to school abroad for at least two years because a parent was stationed abroad;
• The student has Dutch nationality and has a parent that will be stationed abroad within two years and for at least two years.

Children in the International Department are placed according to the D.I.P.S. regulations. These regulations are available upon request.

The Dutch Bilingual Department caters for:

• Children with a foreign nationality who will be staying in the Netherlands for a longer period of time and  need to be prepared for the Dutch educational system.
• Dutch children who, after having stayed abroad, have to be prepared again for the Dutch educational system.
• Dutch children whose parents choose this school as an internationally oriented primary school.

Registration

Our school uses the applicable admission rules prescribed by law. This means that every four-year old child is entitled to attend school, but this is not mandatory. They are also entitled to visit 1 morning per week, as soon as they are 3 years and 10 months old.

The rule that applies to enrolment is that there must be an available place in the relevant group and that we can cater for the needs of the child. Children who will continue to the Dutch Bilingual Department and will turn 4 in September, October, November or December may continue to group 1. The children who will continue on to the International Department will remain in the Dual Language Foundation Group until the start of the next academic year. This is due to the difference in education systems.

The Foundation class is divided into two groups, upper foundation and lower foundation. The lower foundation will be for children who are 3 years of age and the upper foundation will be for children that have turned 4 before the end of the school year. We recognize that these children have additional learning needs and should be extended before they enter group 1. All children will have access to both languages; however, they will be directed to language appropriate activities according to their choice of continuing education.

Once the four year olds are registered at the school, the expectation is that they will attend school regularly and not be absent due to a holiday or for some other reason. The holiday periods apply to these children as well.

Education becomes compulsory at age five. At that point the child is obliged to attend school. This obligation becomes effective on the first school day of the month that follows the month in which the child turns five. To go into group 2 (5-6 year olds) your child needs to turn 5 before September 1st (International Department) or January 1st (Dutch Department).

Our school can admit most students that comply with the age requirement and who fall within our support profile, regardless of nationality, religion, or other personal conviction. Siblings of children who are already enrolled at our school are given admission priority. Our school office can provide you with all the information needed for enrollment. The school will be responsible to place your child in the right year group. The school upholds a 6 week probation period before finalising placement. If necessary, tests and/or external examination can be part of the enrollment procedure.

Admission process

Parents enlist their child at least 10 weeks before the beginning of the school year at the school of their choice. After registration the school has 6 weeks to decide upon admission of the student. This period of time can be extended once by 4 weeks. If the Board has not reached a decision after 10 weeks, then the student is entitled to a temporary placement at the school of registration, until the school has found a suitable place for this student.

If parents do not agree with the school’s decision to admit, they can ask for support from an educational consultant. Educational consultants mediate between parents and the school without cost. If that does not work out, parents can go to the (temporary) national committee of arbitration regarding inclusion.

Admissions Procedure:

1. Parents/guardians complete the Registration of Interest within Open Apply.
2. Parents/ guardians receive acknowledgement from the Admissions Office.
3. The appropriate application form will be added to the Open Apply checklist. Parents complete the Checklist items online via Open Apply, including uploading important documents such as school reports, a passport, IEPs, “all previous” school reports psychological assessment results, speech and language reports and any other additional developmental reports
4. Once the completed Checklist items have been received, the Admissions Committee will review the application for admission. As part of this process, the ISE may contact previous schools, if approved by parents. The Admissions Committee will issue a decision on admission and placement and will inform parents of the status of the application within 6 weeks.
5. If the application is accepted, parents will be sent a confirmation of admission and, if needed, additional intake and admissions documents will be sent to parents to complete.
6. If the application for admission is refused, parents will be advised of the intention to refuse, or final decision to refuse, as well as the reason(s) for refusal and be given support to find a more suitable school placement.
7. Students who qualify for admission may be placed on a waiting list if a space is not immediately available. Students are placed on the waiting list in order of receipt of applications. Parents will be informed immediately on their application if there is a waiting list.

We expect you to provide the school with complete documentation concerning your child’s educational history (educational report). If this information is not complete or inaccurate, we are not able to place your child at the ISE.

This documentation must at a minimum include the following:

• School reports of the previous 2 years
• Test results
• If applicable, information about special care needs provided by the previous school including copies of individual action plans, test results and (external) examination reports

This documentation should be submitted together with the application and school fee forms before a predetermined date. This procedure is also applicable to brothers and sisters of students already admitted to the school.

Admission of students with Special Needs

According to the 2014 Education act schools have a duty of care to provide good education for each student who has applied to the school.

In order to provide good education for all children, regular and special schools form regional partnerships. The schools in the partnership make agreements on how to support students and fund learning support needs. Previously, parents of a child needing extra support needed to find a suitable school. However, since the 2014  Education Act the mainstream school that the child is attending is responsible for finding an appropriate educational place to cater for the child’s learning support needs.

The school where a child is registered is obliged to first see if the child can receive additional support in the classroom. If the school itself cannot cater for the child’s learning support needs, then the school will find an appropriate school for the child.

A school support profile has been written for the ISE primary. This describes exactly what learning support needs can be supported and accommodated at the school.

Our teachers are experts in the field of language learning in English and/or NT2 level Dutch. The presence of special language classes is an additional facility, tailored to our population of students.  Due to the  large influx of new students, during the academic year, we work with teaching assistants in groups 1 to 3. These teaching assistants can also support  if or when a  group exceeds the maximum of 22 children. In both the Dutch Bilingual and the International Departments, we have remedial teachers (support teachers) at our disposal who can guide the children either individually or in a small group.

Due to the lingual barrier, the children of the international department cannot make effective use of the support offered by psychologists and / or orthopedagogues in the region. Hence close collaboration with

English-speaking psychologists and / or orthopedagogue elsewhere in the country are facilitated through our Learning Support Team.

The ISE has a comprehensive learning support team to effectively monitor our transient international population.

Specialised teachers within the ISE’s standard basic support include:

• A teacher librarian
• Second language teachers
• Foreign language teachers
• Dyslexia specialist
• Maths Coordinator
• Culture Coordinators
• Literacy Coordinators
• Learning Support teachers
• Internal supervisors
• Teaching Assistants
• Learning Support Teaching Assistants
• Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) / Mindfulness coach
• School video interaction (SVIB) supervisor
• Kids Skills coaches
• ICT specialists
• Gym teacher
• Motor Remedial Teacher (MRT)

Acceleration / extending a year

The school supports the acceleration of students provided they possess sufficiently developed educational and social/emotional maturity. The Dutch Inspectorate of Education expects schools to abide by these principles.

Criteria that apply to ‘accelerated advancement’ and ‘repeating’ decisions:

• Requests can originate from parents/guardians as well as teachers.
• Requests are processed by the student support team. The procedure is then discussed with the parents/guardians. Extensive internal investigation will take place, both on an educational and social/emotional plane. If necessary, this is followed up with an external investigation.
• Based on the results, the management of the school makes a decision to accelerate or to repeat.
• This decision is discussed with the parents/guardians.

Burgerlijk SOFI Number (BSN number)

All students are required to have a BSN number (income tax number available at the income tax office). You are required to provide this number to the school.

Withdrawal of students

Withdrawal of students must be performed in writing by using a withdrawal form, obtainable at the reception or from the website. The school’s administration would appreciate being informed of your child’s departure in a timely manner. The reports and statement of attendance you need can take up to 4 weeks to prepare. School fees are due up to and including the last month that your child attends school. Should you provide less than one month prior notice you are also charged for the subsequent month.