Dear parents,
I am delighted to be sharing a newsletter with you on what is perhaps one of the best aspects of our school, a culture of inclusion.
One of the things the leadership at XLIS strives for is transparency. This is why we have provided our academic policies on our website here as well as out entire PYP and MYP curriculum on our website also. Our current beliefs on inclusion may be found in our inclusion policy here. If you have any questions about any aspect of our school or would like to meet with me, I love to connect with our community.
Response to Intervention (RTI)
The term Response to Intervention is found throughout the XLIS policy. This can also be referred to as a Multi-tiered System of Support (MTSS). This tiered system is how we support students with differentiated instruction. Tier 1 refers to all students at the school, all our teachers are required to differentiate instruction in their classes. Tier 2 refers to students who may be behind grade level in a subject. These students are supported by EAL teachers in primary or by being placed in a suitable phase in secondary school. Teachers provide push-in support for them in some classes such as Science.
Tier 3 refers to students who have a diagnosed special need. These students are precious to us and receive more support from our student services team. They are often on an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) and receive accommodations or modifications on their exams. There is a video on this page, if you would like to learn more about RTI.
XLIS Student Support Team
The XLIS Student Support team consists of two Enhanced Learning Teachers (Mr. Mann & Mr. Leuty) as well as two Social Emotional Learning Counsellors (Ms. Taylor & Ms. Wu). This team is supported by the divisional principals and myself and is led by Mr. Rambaud. The team meets weekly with the divisional principals to plan support and monthly with me. The addition of two new team members this year has allowed us to increase the support.
As we are an inclusive school we often have misunderstandings, where students cannot understand why some students receive “special treatment”. At times teachers need to be more understanding with students who require Tier 3 support. They often wonder why some students need a one-to-one aide with them all day. I hope we can all work to educate our community that including people with special needs rather than excluding them is the way to go. I am delighted to say that at XLIS this culture of inclusion is thriving.
Inclusion in the Diploma Program
Our culture of inclusion goes all the way up to our IBDP. The IB Diploma is currently the most rigorous university acceptance program worldwide. Students at XLIS have the option of taking the IB Diploma or the XLIS Diploma. The XLIS Diploma is significantly easier than the IB Diploma but can still be used to get into good universities in the USA or Canada. As XLIS is an inclusive school, any of our students have the right to attempt the full IB Diploma. We will advise our students based on what we feel is best for them, as we do not want anybody to fail, however, in the end, we believe it is the student’s right to choose. This impacts our school’s average points, which is a major marketing tool for some schools, however, we have decided to do what is right for our students by giving them the choice. At XLIS we will always have a range of students who get very high grades as well as moderate and low scores. In this current cohort for example we have 10 students currently predicted to get above 40 points. Below are the three different graduation pathways for our students.
I hope our community can understand and appreciate the immense blessing it is that we are all learning in an inclusive program. If you would like any further information about the culture of inclusion at XLIS, please let me know. I love meeting with your community.
Yours sincerely,
Brian Lalor
Deputy Head of School
