Gandhi Memorial Intercontinental School Bali

Inclusion Policy

From July 2022

Introduction

GMIS Bali inclusion policy is a set of guidelines and practices that aim to provide equal
opportunities for students with disabilities or special educational needs to access high quality
education. The policy aims to promote diversity, eliminate discrimination, and create an inclusive
environment for all students.

At GMIS Bali we believe in fostering a supportive and inclusive environment for every learner,
whereby each individual is valued and his or her differences are seen as strengths and not
weaknesses.

Strength in unity and diversity is something we strive towards; that goes hand in hand with being
Internationally-Minded. We acknowledge that every learner is unique and has a preferred learning
and thinking style.

The inclusion policy is reviewed and updated as the need arises by the leadership team.

Purpose of this document

● The implementation of our inclusion policy requires a collaborative effort from school
administration, teachers, students, and parents to create an inclusive environment that
benefits all students.
● Explain our philosophy to support all students with learning needs and support our teachers
to help students with disabilities participate in school activities.
● Describe the procedures conducted by the Inclusion Core Team to identify early, assess
and provide for ; the needs of our students.
● Inform all stakeholders about inclusive arrangements available for students.
● Identify roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders.
Philosophy of GMIS Bali

The GMIS Bali inclusion policy envisages increasing participation from the fullest spectrum of
students to elicit and extend their multidimensional learning abilities.

To achieve this GMIS Bali focuses on building every student’s self-esteem, thereby allowing them
to express their true and natural talents.

By following principles of building upon prior knowledge through scaffolding, we at GMIS Bali, set
high expectations for students and provide a selection and variety of learning activities in the form
of DP CAS, CP Service learning, MYP Service As Action, PYP Action experiences and
assessments that have challenging learning outcomes. Students with inclusive learning
requirements may be offered different entry/exit points.

Inclusion Core Team

An Inclusion Core Team (comprising school Principal, Supervisors and Academic coordinators) in
GMIS Bali strive to address the issue and provide support to each individual child, regardless of
gender, caste, creed, colour or capability.

Our Inclusion Core Team is in school from 08:00- 15:00 every working day to carry out the
following functions:

● During admissions parents are encouraged to let the Inclusion Core Team know

○ Specific learning issues, language and communication disorders

○ Social, emotional and behavioral issues
○ Medical conditions
○ Mental Health issues
○ Physical and sensory conditions

● In case of non-mention of the conditions stated above and the Inclusion Core Team
discovers inclusive learning needs for a particular child, the child is advised to meet a
qualified Counselor or Psychologist to seek professional help and submit a report.

● The Inclusion Core Team is available for students who require someone to talk to regarding
any emotional, academic, social, personal or behavioral issue.

● The Inclusion Core Team will organize whole –class learning activities on Saturdays or after
school activities with homeroom teachers which gives all students the opportunity to
 discover more about their strengths, weaknesses, learning preferences and learning styles.
These activities also promote bonding between teachers and students in a dynamic and fun
environment.

● The Inclusion Core Team will maintain and update an inventory of inclusive teaching and
learning resources to support students and teachers.

● The Inclusion Core Team will maintain a centralized place for documentation and record of
the students requiring inclusive learning arrangements.

● The Inclusion Core Team will organize field trips to increase collaboration, self-esteem,
character-building, sportsmanship and leadership qualities in students in fun environments.

● The Inclusion Core Team will lead collaborative meetings to discuss strategies in
implementing inclusive environments and other key requirements by the Ministry of
Education and IB.

Identifying and assessing students’ learning requirements

The following norms are followed for identifying children who might require inclusive learning
arrangements at GMIS Bali. The collective responsibility of which lies with the Academic and Non-
Academic staff:

● Observation of the child’s behavior during the GMRC period where the students get to bond
with their home room teachers.

● Observation of the child’s behavior in the classroom during lessons.

● Observation of the child’s behavior during breaks or at other times when the child interacts
with his/her classmates.

● Tracking Information- Is the child performing below age expected levels?

● Monitoring their progress regularly.

● Concerns raised by parents / school staff / students with regard to learning experiences at
school or at home.

● Health Diagnosis concerns.

Differentiation in GMIS Bali

The support procedures at GMIS Bali help those students who may have struggled to get
expected achievement levels.

● Provide support to the students by offering one-to-one advice to them during school hours.

● Advise parents with inclusive learning arrangements that can support their child.

● Encourage parents to divulge important information about their children that would assist in
supporting inclusive learning arrangement and develop constructive relationships with our
core team in working as a team to support the child.

● Advise the child’s home room teacher with respect to the provisions and support the child
may need.

● Advise teachers inclusive learning arrangement for students that would benefit by having
extra time when they sit for assessments.

● Encouraging the use of mother tongue where appropriate allows students to more
confidently express themselves and gain conceptual understanding of central ideas. (Link
to Language Policy)

● Inclusive assessment arrangements for their internal and external assessments approved
by IB.
● Modified task specific clarifications.
● Extra support classes.
● Differentiated tasks for formative and summative assessments
● School plans outbound activities to improve self-esteem, character building, sportsmanship
and leadership qualities.
● Extension to deadline.
Documentation for Inclusive Assessment Arrangements

Procedure: (Taken from Access and Inclusion Policy of IB)

1. The coordinator must submit the application for inclusive access arrangements on behalf of
the student. Although a teacher may complete the application, it is ultimately the
coordinator’s responsibility to submit the completed form to the IB.

2. All requests for inclusive access arrangements submitted by a coordinator must have the
support of the head of the IB World School (all correspondence from the IB concerning
students with access requirements will normally be addressed to the coordinator).

3. All requests for access arrangements for IB assessments must be:

○ based on the usual way of learning and teaching in the classroom
○ in line with the eligibility criteria stated in this policy
○ submitted along with supporting documents as evidence
○ submitted by the deadline stated in the Assessment procedures for the relevant
programme(s).

4. Two forms of supporting documentation are required when submitting a request for access
arrangements for IB authorization.

○ An official report that includes:

■ a psychological/medical report
■ evidence from a language test for additional language learners
○ Educational evidence from the school

5. Access arrangements are based on a student’s current access requirements. The

supporting evidence must therefore justify that access arrangements are necessary for the
current assessment.

6. All psychological/medical reports must be undertaken within three years of the intended
examination that the request relates to and dated accordingly. However, the IB can be
flexible with the date of medical reports for students with permanent sensory and/or
physical challenges.

7. The language test for additional language learners must be conducted no earlier than one
year before an IB assessment and the report must be dated accordingly.
Psychological/medical reports
● A psychological/medical report must be written by medical, educational or psychological
professionals with appropriate qualifications and/or professional licenses in their country of
residence.

● The IB and the school reserves the right to query or reject a report if it considers that the
signatory (or signatories) may not be suitably qualified to undertake the evaluation and
identification. It is not permitted for a relative of the student to write or be involved in the
writing of the report.

● Online standardized psychological tests (not screening tests) can be used if the school has
an available member of staff with the relevant expertise to conduct the tests and sign the
reports.

● All psychological reports from external professionals must:

○ be legible, on a document with a letterhead, signed and dated
○ be accompanied by a translation into English, French or Spanish, if it is not written in
one of these IB working languages
○ state the title, name and professional credentials of the person(s) who has
undertaken the testing or who is writing the report
○ state the student’s performance on standardized psychological tests (where
available and published, recent editions of standardized tests should be employed)
○ report results as standard scores, which have a mean of 100 and a standard
deviation of 15, and not percentiles or age/grade equivalents.
○ A full psychological test report testing all areas is not required. The IB only requires
scores in the areas that have been observed or identified as challenging for the
student.

Language Test Reports

All language test reports for additional language learners must state:
● the standardized language test used
● The school will follow additional guidelines stated in the access and inclusion policy of IB
Educational evidence
Educational evidence can be a letter/observational report from the coordinator and/or the student’s
subject teacher(s) outlining any difficulties that may be apparent in the classroom, plus a summary
about the arrangements provided to the student in order to access learning and assessment.
Educational evidence can also be provided by way of a detailed individualized educational plan for
the student, or a sample of work done under timed conditions without the access arrangements
that are being requested (for example, without the use of additional time/word processor/word
processor with spell checker).

Roles and Responsibilities

Responsibilities of the school

● to provide guidance to students with learning support requirements

● to raise staff awareness of the learning support requirements of our students
● to provide resources for the implementation and continuation of the Inclusion Policy
● to make sure the inclusive learning arrangements are in compliance with laws regarding
students with learning support requirements

Responsibilities of the Inclusion Core Team

● to make information about inclusion and differentiation available

● to provide support to teachers and students as appropriate and needed
● to encourage communication among teachers, and between teachers and students with
learning support requirements
● to ensure quality decision-making about learning support and assessment accommodations
● to nurture a culture of collaboration, respect, support and problem solving

Responsibilities of the IB Coordinators

● to work collaboratively with faculty to support students with learning support requirements
● to apply to the IB for students with assessment access requirements.
● to provide examination accommodations as needed and approved by the IB
● to maintain discretion and confidence in providing special education needs services
Responsibilities of the teachers

● to identify struggling learners and refer the student to the IB coordinator as needed
● to implement the appropriate interventions suggested by the Inclusion Core Team
● to maintain accurate records of students’ progress
● to participate in all required training when available
● to maintain discretion and confidentiality in providing inclusive learning arrangements

Responsibilities of the parents

● to communicate to the school all information and documentation regarding their child’s
learning support requirement
● to communicate with the school regarding any changes in their child’s learning support
requirement and any other issues that may affect their learning
● to provide documentation needed for IB accommodation requests
● to play an active role in their child’s education

Responsibilities of the students

● to be proactive in asking for assistance from the school administrators, faculty, and staff
● to be an active participant in classes and meetings
● to follow IB policies and procedures
● to accept their responsibilities and exercise their rights while respecting other people’s
rights

References

● IBDP Assessment procedures 2022

● IBCP Assessment procedures 2022
● IB MYP Assessment procedures 2022
● Programme standards and practices 2020
● IB Access and inclusion policy (updated September 2022)
● Flexibility in the programme of inquiry
● Inclusion Policy of Gymnasium Jovan Jovanović Zmaj
● Inclusion Policy of Gandhi Memorial Intercontinental School Jakarta
● https://blogs.ibo.org/sharingpyp/2021/06/09/differentiation-in-a-pyp-classroom/