South Island School

The 1400 students at South Island are our most outstanding assets. Made up of young people from 39 different countries, our school is an international, multicultural community that is characterised by excellent relationships between students and staff. Our students are well behaved, incredibly hard working and committed to their own learning. They enjoy their school and their achievements and they live life to the full through their exceptional involvement in a very wide range of extra-curricular activities and opportunities. The students reach high academic levels: the vast majority leave school at 18 with diploma level qualifications and go on to universities, world-wide.

We are committed to providing an all-round education for our students and they respond by excelling in all areas of school life. We are non-selective, although students are required to pass an English test to ensure they can fully access the curriculum. We have a special learning support class for students with moderate to complex learning needs. These students are integrated into mainstream classes wherever possible, sometimes with additional help. There is a small EAL team to further support students requiring additional English language skills.

South Island follows an English language curriculum in an international context. Our IB MYP curriculum from Years 7 to 9 is innovative, international and designed to develop approaches to learning to support higher levels of study. Our students progress onwards to (I)GCSEs, and finally to the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) or Career-related Programme (IBCP). Outcomes are always far above international averages.

Pastorally, we are a school where the well-being, happiness and success of every individual is very important to us. Tutor groups are around 17 in size and tutors stay with their groups throughout the school. All teachers are expected to be tutors within a very strong Learning Family and House System.

In Years 7 to 9, student guidance is led by a Head of Year within the Family Bauhinia learning family. Students are also assigned to one of six houses, and the Heads of House take over leadership of student guidance from Year 10 onwards, ensuring students receive the personalised help and support they need right the way through to Year 13.

Our teachers, who join us from English speaking nations and schools around the world, generally find South Island the most rewarding and engaging post they have experienced. Our staff find it a joy to work with such talented young people, showing such lively enquiring minds and a strong sense of personal responsibility. Our challenge is always to ensure that our students reach their full potential, and meet the rightly high expectations of their parents and the local community.

Teachers work very hard at South Island School, both within and outside of regular working hours – and the professional rewards for their commitment are very strong. Our dedicated team of Support Staff also ensure that everything we do is professionally supported. Staff are committed to their own learning and they give selflessly to provide enrichment opportunities for our students. They also work for each other and there is a real team spirit at the school, where people are supported to achieve their best through induction, professional review and a continued commitment to training. There are regular opportunities for further promotion, both within the School and across the Foundation.

The school provides an excellent learning environment with very good facilities in individual subject areas. We have a sophisticated ICT infrastructure, a one to one laptop programme using Apple Macs and numerous other forms of technology to support learning and teaching. All teachers are all issued with their own Apple Mac laptop. We have an innovative school week structure that includes two hour lessons in many subjects and regular collaborative planning time for all teaching teams, and the school enjoys a reputation for innovation and risk-taking.

Not surprisingly, South Island School is continuously oversubscribed and there is a high demand for places. Our philosophy is ‘Making a Difference’. The values and mission areas that underpin this statement enable us to prepare our students to be aware of their place in society and of the responsibilities that they have – to themselves, to their families, to their community and as global citizens.

As part of the family of ESF, South Island School enjoys the benefit of the professional community of a much larger educational organisation. There are 1,000 teachers and 17,000 students in our network and we have significant resources to develop collectively.