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International Schools with true full inclusion

Last activity 13 June 2019 by beppi

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Dave1972Smithey

Hi there,
We are seeking a school that truly embraces children of all abilities.
We have considered a number of schools and advised that many are now consider only as a business and hence seek to minimise students that would need additional care and support to mitigate expenses and skilled staff.
A friend suggested Dover Court International School (DCIS) in the Holland area, however we heard that recent changes in the schools leadership and driven by investment from private equity now has the school focused on running purely as a business, that it has become highly disciplinarian and lost focus on the students success and welfare. Similar stories with a few of the other well know international schools. I would very much welcome feedback from others with children attending international schools, their experience and recommendations.

thanks Dave

surya2k

Read the below thread, if it helps.

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=842666

beppi

Disabled people are by far not as integrated and receive far less attention and support as in some Western countries. The idea that they not inferior to, just different from others does not exist in the general populace. You also hardly ever see disabled people in public.
As you have rightly observed, most of the private schools are for-profit and may not want to entertain students with higher support requirements. Probably those run by more enlightened foreign organisations fare better here (e.g. British, American, Canadian, Australian, French, German, etc. schools) - but this is just a guess of mine.
Singapore's public schools do surprize in many respects, so I won't rule them out either, if I were you.  Approach MoE and ask! There are special public schools for mentally disabled, but those aren't very good as far as I heard.

Dave1972Smithey

Thank you for the feedback. We spoke to some other expats, they are not returning to Dover Court International school after this term. They said the school has changed for the worst, driven mostly because of the private equity ownership that it's all about simplicity and maximising investor profits. Apparently there are good teachers that also feel the change in the schools approach to student welfare and there is a ground swell for them to leave.
So in summary lots of disgruntled parents and teachers that want to escape the despot regime!
Will look at other international schools and double check that they are as inclusive as they advertise.
Disappointed since it was so close to our intended new condo.

Dave1972Smithey

Dover Court Principle quote: "We’re not just a family, standalone school anymore, and in just four years the school has transformed on multiple levels."

https://whichschooladvisor.com/singapor … ad-teacher

Yep, no longer a family school environment! :-(

Fred

^

You forgot "JUST", that word changing the meaning of the whole sentence.

A little unfair of you, don't you think?

Dave1972Smithey

Possibly I have been unfair on the sentence. Use the word "just" twice in the same line is unfair on english grammar.
Do you think it's fair to suggest full inclusion when there are reports of exclusion?

beppi

As I wrote above, Singapore isn‘t really the place to expect anything even remotely worth the term „full inclusion“.
But if you find a school that is better in this respect than Dover, please come back and post it here - future readers in a similar situation would be glad for that!

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