As an International School we feel responsible for leading the way forward in terms of diversity and acceptance. Social Reform includes targets that aims to improve how our school functions, creating a sense of school community and educating our students about topical issues.
Target 1: PSHCE Reform
Scale: Large
About:
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A complete change to the PSHCE program including the following:
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Women & Equality
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How are Women Disadvantaged?
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Stereotype of Men
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Trans-Radical Feminism
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What is Sexism?
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Equality vs Equity
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LGBTQIA+
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Coming Out
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Exploration of Gender
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Difference Between Sex & Gender
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Queer Culture
Mental Health
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Depression
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Anxiety
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Suicide
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What to Do For A Friend
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What to do For Yourself
Politics & Debate
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Logical Fallacies
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Being Knowledgeable
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Not Being Afraid To Say I Don’t Know
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Left Vs Right
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Socialism vs Communism
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Capitalism
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Voting
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Systems of Rules (Monarchy, Autocracies etc...=)​
Drugs
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All of Them
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Legal Highs
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Festivals
Alcohol & Tobacco Smoking
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Consumption in Moderation
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Addiction
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Being realistic
Sex
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Pregnancy
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Condoms
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Options for Females / Males
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Abortions
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Sex for LGBTQIA+ People (focusing on all especially Gay, Lesbian, Transexual and Asexual)
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Aromantics
Relations
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Friends
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Close Relations
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Abusive
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Family
Driving
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Offer to Students​
Student Support
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Dyslexia
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Dysbraxia
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Dyscalculus
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Revision Technique
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Creating a Timetable
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Eating
Identity
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Nationality
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Culture
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Upbringing
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The Western/Eastern Ideals
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Patriotism (when is it appropriate)
Basic Human Rights
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Right to free speech
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Laws in your country - law to protect French citizens
Racism
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Black Culture
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Racism in Our Society
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Slave Trade / European Purge of Africa
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Different types of Race
Slurs / Vulgarism
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Swearing (International)
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Gestures
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Inappropriate Terms of Address
Religion
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Principles of Varied Religions
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Extreme Religions
Finance & Mortgages
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How to get a loan
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Credit Interest
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Mortgages
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Student Finance
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Gambling
Health
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Eating Disorders
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Body Confidence
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Disorders
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Getting Medical Help In Europe / America / Eastern Example - How to find out
Technology & Online Safety
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Social Media
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Posting
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Hackers
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Protection
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Illegal Streaming
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Illegal Downloads
STRATEGY OF IMPLEMENTATION:
This program can be implemented very quickly and our ideal turn around would be by the start of the 2021-2022 academic year. One thing the new system must emphasize, is being realistic. The program exists to educate young people and to ensure they are safe and knowledge of real world issues/topics. They should come out of the program knowing how to participate safely, and how that may be dangerous or beneficial.
School / Business who has implemented this scheme:
Estimated Cost:
None, unless we buy in the program. However, buying a program would be a limited solution. The best idea is talking to the teachers, parents and students, who know what they want to be taught.
Target 2: REDECORATE THE SCHOOL
Scale: Large
ABOUT:
We understand that we may not be able to decorate the outside for security reasons, so we propose redecorating the square outside space by the auditorium. This will help brighten up what is currently, a very grey area. We would also propose a redecoration of our school in the main secondary corridors, moving away from the old yellow colours which are not pleasant on the eye. Redecorating the school would create a more appealing working environment and would bring us to standard with other international schools.
STRATEGY OF IMPLEMENTATION:
We suggest that the school uses some, but total student input. For example, colouring the main walls white would be done by a company but additional decorations along the walls could be done by students/teachers and organised by an IB student for a CAS Project.
School / Business who has implemented this scheme:
Estimated Cost:
The bulk of the cost would be for hiring an external painting company for main redecoration. However, mural decoration costs would be lower as there would be no labour costs. The paint used in mural decorations could be funded by collections / raising money in a CAS event.
Target 3: IMPROVING THE DRESS Code
Scale: SMALL
ABOUT:
Compared to many schools, IST is unique in the fact there is not a formal dress code. Yet, there are still flaws. We ask IST to fully embrace what is started by making the following changes. Firstly, we strongly discourage any rules against dying hair. A school environment is arguably one of the safest environments a child may ever encounter, it is important that our school embraces individuality and self-expression by allowing students to explore their appearance. Secondly, we ask for formal explanation of the 'covering up' rule, where students are encouraged to not wear clothing that reveals thighs or shoulders. We suggest that the shoulder rule is removed and rules regarding low shorts/skirts are amended to include a specific measurement so it can be formally dealt with.
In Primary Years we encourage the use of uniform but would suggest that there is a transition to more "proper" uniform, perhaps in school colors, that is formal whilst promoting identity.
STRATEGY OF IMPLEMENTATION:
We think that the IST "image" is very important. It should be "proper" whilst encouraging self-expression. Amendments to this rule need to come from the administration but should be educated by the voices of the students, teacher and families. Future amendments need to consider how the rules would be enforced as the current system only penalizes certain individuals and rules regarding low shorts/skirts are difficult for teachers to enforce for obvious reasons.
Estimated Cost:
None, unless a formal uniform is introduced and the school were to pay/subsidise it.
Target 4: Reforming the House System
Scale: MEDIUM
ABOUT:
The House System is an important part of our school community that helps create a sense of identity and teaches the importance of team efforts. Yet, there is the potential to do so much more with them. We would really love to push the sense of identity at IST by encouraging more events to happen and using a house system to encourage that.
STRATEGY OF IMPLEMENTATION:
IA committee team would have to be formed out of selected Primary & Secondary Teachers as well as students. Some of the discussions point we would suggest are:
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Renaming the house teams (as Red, Yellow, Blue & Green are not particularly inventive), perhaps use something about Toulouse, Airbus or previous principals?
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Other team events other than sports day. In some schools charitable work can be done in the house teams and at the end of the year the winning house teams gets a prize. One idea for the younger years could be participation in CAS activities: this would encourage younger years to join in and would help the CAS groups grow.
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Having House Meetings. Other schools have both a teacher and IB student who are "Head of the House", we could hold meetings twice every term during IB Core / PSHCE to organize activities.
School / Business who has implemented this scheme:
ESTIMATED COST:
No cost would be required for setting up the houses, unless house badges / trophies were bought. Future events may have costs but these would be supported by CAS funds or the Friends of IST
Target 5: ReCONSTRUCTING THE STUDENT council
Scale: Small
ABOUT:
The Student Council has been a way for the students voices to be heard, but it is evident that this system is failing. The student voice is critical so that there is constant improvement of our school and it is critical that this system is one that works. The student council itself recognized two key difficulties: that Student Council members had no commitment to the work meaning nothing happened and having multiple "layers" of admin to talk to which made it more difficult to implement ideas.
STRATEGY OF IMPLEMENTATION:
There are three key ways we have identified to restore the student council.
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IDEA 1
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The first way is to have what we call "Student Electives" this would be a group of five IB students (perhaps CAS Leaders?) who form the Student Council. Each of the five electives would have a role such as: Elected President, Elected Secretary, Elected Representative of Grade 6-8, Elected Representative of Grade 9-12, Elected Representative of Staff. Each role would have different requirements but in principal, they Elected Presidents manages the group, the Elected Secretary would act as a manager and the other three would be responsible for talking to their school sections to find out what ideas they have. These roles would be delegated by the CAS Co-Ordinator or Principal. This would be considered CAS for the IB students and would create a level of commitment meaning work would be done.
In order to make progress they would require a meeting with the Principal / Head of Secondary every three weeks. This plan only considers Secondary but there are possibilities of including the Primary years too.
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IDEA 2
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We utilize the House System where Heads Of The Houses (staff and IB students) meet every two weeks for a meeting. The Heads Of The Houses would have the opportunity to discuss with their house team and gather ideas during House Meetings, this system could cover the entire school including both Primary and Secondary. The group would then report directly to the Principal.
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IDEA 3
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We introduce a Student President. Candidates would be required to release a short video/list of their ideas if they were President and the Secondary Students could vote for their favourite candidate. The Student President would then be responsible for forming a team of five students (them included) and leading the Student Committee, taking actions are reporting directly to the Head of Secondary / Principal. The Committee would be expected to take regular action and if they failed to they would be replaced by the next most popular candidate. Elections would happen every academic year.
ESTIMATED COST:
No cost required unless badges are made.
Target 6: OFFERING MORE LANGUAGES
Scale: Large
ABOUT:
IST has always had a strong tie to Europe because of its link to Airbus. For this reason, English, French, Spanish & German are the most common languages. But IST is more than that, we are an international school. So, for this reason we would love to see the school take up more languages such as Italian, Japanese, Mandarin or Korean which are all languages the students have a great interest in learning.
STRATEGY OF IMPLEMENTATION:
We recommend that the school start a basic implementation by offering such languages for Grade 6-8. This may also lessen the pressure on the French & Spanish departments as numbers in those classes continue to grow. Some teachers already speak Italian and so a basic course in this subject is not unrealistic. However, there are no teachers who currently speak either Japanese, Mandarin or Korean so if these subject were taught, new staff would have to be brought in. Ideally, we would like the school expand these languages to iGCSE and IB level in the future, but we appreciate that the school may have to take small steps at first.
School / Business who has implemented this scheme:
Most International Schools
ESTIMATED COST:
The school could either move staff about or would have to hire additional staff who would need a salary. Additional training may be needed and budgets for the creation of a new department.