North London International School

[theDudesmummy]

Hi
Has anyone any thoughts/ reports about this school or anyone have DCs that go there? We are very much considering it for our DS (he's only 20 months at the moment but am starting to think early). We went to an open day there yesterdary and were impressed. I like a lot about it, especially the small size, the IB programme, the intenational/global focus, and the fact that he could start in reception and then stay there until he finishes school (well, moving from the junior to senior school obviously).

Has anyone any thoughts about this school? I would really appreciate any comments.

Thanks

Bump.

I am not sure about whether you are from abroad but unlike in other countries very few local children go to international schools in London, instead they use English independent schools, some of which offer IB. It is generally populated by children who are staying in London for a few years. This may not be a problem to you but does change the atmosphere and is difficult for long term friendships and can be disruptive academically. It's worth asking the school how stable the population is.

No we are British and will be staying here. They said that it is about 50:50 between local and international families. This seemed a good mix to me, I don't know other people think.

So 50% of the kids would likely be there short-term? That doesn't sound great. It'd be hard to find a London school that isn't international I think but perhaps a different kind of international...

I really like the international element though, as well the global philosphy of the IBO. When I went to school I attended a school with quite a few children from other countries whose parents were only in the country for a year or two, and felt I was really enriched by knowing them and expanding my knowledge of the world that way. Do peole really think an international school would be a major academic disadvantage?

It is a non-selective school, which also appeals at present, but I suppose if he turns out to be very bright (hard to tell at this stage although of course one can hope!) then I could envisage moving him to a selective, more academic school for senior school, if he was able to get in.

Hi
Im so glad I found this topic. We are currently based in Tokyo but may be moving back to London in a few months. I went to check out NLIS as it looked great from the website and the curriculum is fab. My first impression was that it was a little cramped - mind you at the time they were having renovation works done so a lot of stuff was all over the place. That aside, after talking with the lady, I found the curriculum was really enriching, very well rounded. 60% of local kids, 40% international.

Just today I went to a IB v English curriculum talk - it went through both curriculums, its pros and cons , it was very useful. The IB only started around 1968, so still pretty young in terms of education. The Primary Years Programme(which is what I am interested in) was established around 1997, so that is very young, although there are some fantastic things about it. What niggles me is that there is no external assessment of kids in IB curriculum until the actual IB diploma which is just before their university years. Up till that point, all assessments are internal and this, depending on the school could be very rigorous, or not. The problem then would be that if your child moved to a different IB school, there is no benchmark in terms of how your child is doing in relation to other kids - because each school sets its own levels of assessment etc. Also, IB works very well if there is investment in teacher training, and that is not govt funded. The Middle Years Programme is very well embedded and has a much stronger standing in comparison to the PYP. Univerisites recognise the IB, and currently 7% of all applications accepted in UK universities are from IB students. In comparison to A Levels, where there is a band e.g. A-C, Ib is done on a score out of a maximum of 45. So, eg. if your child were to go into medicine, he would require a score of at least 43/45 to be accepted.

Another point is that whilst the curriculum is very well rounded in terms of range of subjects etc, this may have an impact on the depth to which a subject is studied, the teaching hours put in, the interest of the student.

My main concern is the lack of 'official' assessments in the IB curriculum - how do you know how well your child is doing against all other kids in his age group if there is no external tests to check? Also how do I know that the schools are testing to the best of their ability, as all tests are in-house?

Im still very much interested in the school, but will be contacting them on their assessment process and how much of an investment they put into their teacher training.

Would be happy to hear your views!!

just posted a longish answer that vanished -so here is a shorter version. (I am not a NLIS parent, but have children at N London schools and know children at the school).

Some of these points look a long way ahead but the time goes quickly!

1 - there have been media reports that because of the top marks for the IB are higher than the top A Level grades that offers from unisn for competitive courses tend to be higher. I can't remember specifics but it might be worth investigating. Also I seem to recall that some schools such as King's are going back to A Levels having offered the IB in the past - again not sure of the details but worth investigating.
Also ask NLIS for destinations of its 18+ leavers and compare with another less selective indie.

2 - there are lots of indie and good state schools in north London so local children tend to move around quite a lot, as well as the international children.
The London indies often have a number of international families anyway, so there is opportunity for cultural enrichment. However, other schools may not embrace the international side as much as NLIS.

3- I don't think NLIS do GCSEs (I am not sure, again it would be worth checking) as this could make it difficult for you to transfer to a different school at 16 for 6th Form as your child would lack qualifications.

4- have you looked at other schools in N London that offer 3-18 or 7-18.
Most of the schools now have pre-preps and prep departments eg
Habs, Mill Hill, Highgate, UCS.