British International School Jakarta Website

Welcome to the Secondary School at BIS

A former BIS Secondary School student famously said ‘you can take a student out of BIS but you will never take BIS out of a student’.

We are immensely proud of our Secondary School and when you come and visit us you will see a dynamic learning community where staff and student relations are among the best that you will find anywhere.

In the Secondary School we strive to challenge our students through a curriculum which engages and enables students to be happy and successful. Our learning and teaching is based on the very best practice from the UK and elsewhere around the world. We are continually reviewing how we teach to reflect how our students learn best. We are committed to providing a learning environment which challenges every student, encourages active participation and stretches them to use the higher order thinking skills. We never stand still but develop as teachers by sharing what we do well within the school and by embracing new innovative ideas that will best fit our school.

We aim high and we drive our students to do their best in everything they do. The success we enjoy is a reflection of our self-motivated and success driven students combined with committed and highly professional teaching staff and of course supportive parents.

The Primary and Secondary Schools collaborate closely to ensure a smooth transition for our students. We also make every effort to ensure new students who enter the Secondary School are fully supported so they settle into life at BIS as quickly as possible.

We take great pride in the level of support that we provide our students both academically and emotionally. Our Pastoral Care was considered outstanding in our previous OfSTED style inspection. We care about each other and our students know we care about them. Our school community also has a long tradition of reaching out to those less fortunate and our school community initiates many projects to enrich and improve the lives of others.

The holistic development of students at BIS starts from a solid foundation in the Primary School. In the Secondary School we continue to focus on the development of the personal, social and emotional skills of our students which we believe is so essential to ensure they fulfill their potential in every area of school life.

All students participate in residential visits and we actively explore opportunities for students to take learning outside the classroom. Our provision for extra-curricula activities, sports and swimming provides exceptional opportunities for students and includes a superb community sport programme. We also have a very active House System in school and this and many other opportunities provide students with leadership opportunities.

We have superb facilities and resources in the Secondary School at BIS including a state of the art ‘BIS World Theatre’ for school and community based drama and music. In addition we are also very excited that our new Secondary School library will be open this year.

We feel immensely privileged to be leading such a dynamic and successful school. When students leave BIS they will take a part of BIS with them and we hope that the skills knowledge and experiences they gain will enable them to lead happy, successful and fulfilling lives.

Rachael Hodgson
Head of Secondary

Curriculum at BIS - Breadth and Balance

The best of British and International secondary education is offered in the Secondary School. Our curriculum is based on the National Curriculum for England up in Key Stage 3 with adaptations made to the pedagogy to reflect the needs of an international school in Indonesia. At KS4 we offer IGCSE / GCSE and then IB Diploma at KS5.

Key Stage 3: Year 7 to 9 (Age 11 to 14)

Key Stage 3 follows the English National Curriculum and is delivered in these subjects: English, Mathematics, Science, Technology (Electronic Products, Food, Graphic Products, Textiles, Information Technology), Humanities, Modern Foreign Languages (MFL), Art, Drama, Music, Physical Education (PE), Personal Social and Health Education (PSHE).

Key Stage 4: Year 10 to 11 (Age 14 to 16)

The curriculum at Key Stage 4 leads to a two-year course of study leading to external International / General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE / GCSE) examinations. These exams allow for a range of achievement from A* to G although passes from A* to C are considered ‘good’ passes. These courses are assessed and graded by coursework and external examination, set by Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) and London Examinations (EDEXCEL) Boards.

In Year 9 students make their options for study at IGCSE / GCSE. The full Options Booklet is included on the website (click here to find out more).

Essentially all students study for the following compulsory courses: English or English as an Additional Language (EAL); Maths; Biology; Chemistry; Physics; PE; PSHE; *Critical Thinking; *International Award

In addition to the above, students make four options with one selected from the Languages, one from the Humanities and one from the practical subjects.

*Critical Thinking is a new innovation for 2009 and will explore different perspectives on a variety of topics and current issues for humanity in the 21st Century. Students will develop skills of enquiry, problem solving, and developing their potential to look at these issues from different perspectives. This will also act as an introductory course to the Theory of Knowledge course at IB.

*All students will follow the International Award (IA) commencing with the Bronze award and progressing to Silver by the end of the course. Ultimately students will also have the opportunity to undertake the Gold Award. The IA has immense benefits for the development of young people and many of the skills they will learn are indeed skills for life. As part of the IA students undertake service, learn and develop new skills, take part in physical recreation and provide a service to others.

International Baccalaureate: Year 12 to 13 (Age 16 to 18)

BIS is an IB World School and a member of the International Baccalaureate Organisation. The International Baccalaureate forms the basis of the academic curriculum of Year 12 and Year 13. There are over 1000 schools offering the IB programme in over 124 different countries – as far apart as Europe, Australasia, South East Asia and North America.

The IB Diploma is a two-year, pre-university certificate designed and administered centrally out of Geneva, and regionally, out of Singapore.

The curriculum respects and guides individuals according to their needs, while aiming to realise potential, foster enthusiasm for learning, develop social skills within a multi-cultural environment, and help students to interpret and develop their roles in a changing world.

Our CAS programme is recognized as world class and has become an exemplar to other schools. In 2007 our students won the UNESCO Mondialogo Award from 3000 schools worldwide and they followed this success by being runners-up in 2008.

The standards achieved by our students compare with the very best schools in the world. We are extremely proud of the achievements gained by our students who continue to gain entrance to many of the most prestigious universities.