Inclusive Learning & Related Support Services

Special Needs and Inclusive Education

At the Integrated International School, we believe our sincere commitment to a culture of inclusion ensures our students with special needs reach their potential.

With our international school in Singapore with special education (SPED) support having an esteemed reputation for its welcoming and inclusive learning environment, the IIS team is dedicated to providing an enriching educational experience that accommodates every student with learning disabilities.

To do so, we provide students with tailored and personalised learning approaches and activities, integrating a range of teaching styles to ensure children with special needs seamlessly adjust to our private school environment.

IIS aims to make high-quality education accessible to children of all levels, with our personalised teaching methodology applied from our inclusive preschool in Singapore to students undergoing advanced IGCSEs and A-Levels examinations. In doing so, we’re able to provide a flexible education that adjusts to the needs of each and every student.

In addition to customised special needs programmes, our dedicated and highly experienced support team have the necessary skills to assist all of our students and foster a genuinely caring community at our private international school in Singapore.

The Benefits of Inclusive Education

1. Inclusive Learning Encourages Interactive Learning
An inclusive classroom encourages participation from all students to promote strength through unity and diversity. By facilitating inclusive learning, both disabled and non-disabled students would be able to learn from each other.
2. Reduce Stigma in an Inclusive Classroom
Stigma against race, religion, disabilities and financial upbringing can affect a student’s self-esteem and dignity. In fact, it could also affect their worldview. It’s highly tantamount to overcome stigmas in a classroom so that each student feels included, valued and special. Only then, will all students feel empowered and motivated to learn.
3. Educators can Build a Community
Encouraging participation and interactive learning while reducing social stigmas can help educators maintain a positive learning environment for all students. This would help students feel like they are truly a valued part of the school community.
4. Students Learn to Work in A Team
Today, in the workplace, the ability to work in a team is highly valued. The phrase “being a team player” typically appears on most job postings these days. In order to ensure all students are prepared with relevant academic and life skills, it is the sole responsibility of educators to make sure all learners understand the importance of teamwork.
Inclusive Learning and Preschool Education at IIS Singapore

How We Help Parents of Students with Learning Disorders

Although the Ministry of Education (MOE) provides early intervention institutions with resources to provide high-quality alternative learning opportunities, parents and students in Singapore still face various challenges. Some of these include:

  • Bullying and alienation by classmates
  • Insufficient care and attention from educators
  • Inadequate facilities

However, IIS remains dedicated to facilitating a safe and inclusive learning school environment for students with various types of learning disabilities and/or difficulties in Singapore. Our team of experienced educators and support staff are highly equipped to assist and nurture students with a range of learning disorders including autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, while we also have a zero-tolerance policy against mistreatment or bullying of students.

Our early intervention support programmes ensure students receive a holistic education in Singapore throughout their educational journey. Alongside our team’s vast experience working with students who have learning difficulties, we’re also committed to providing parents with detailed advice on effectively communicating with their children.

Accessibility and S.T.A.R.S

For students enrolled in our ‘Mainstream with Support’ programme, they’ll have streamlined access to our support services staff. In addition, our dedicated facilities ensure our students receive a high-quality education while also being included within the broader community.

Bridged by our extensive child counselling and therapeutic services, our faculty aims to support each and every student to reach their potential. To do so, we use educational techniques to appropriately challenge students based on their unique personality traits and abilities.

Our Specialised Teaching And Responsive Students (S.T.A.R.S.) approach achieves this by combining a solid academic programme with remediation of lagging skills. Our support school also offers great opportunities for students to master their own special areas of interest or talent. As a private international school in Singapore, we recognise that our cohort is a diverse one, and strive to nurture and encourage the unique gifts and abilities of each and every student that passes through our doors.

Support Options

Additional Learning Support (ALS) may be required on top of the IIS Support Approach for some students. ALS aids students in achieving success in school and beyond. We use the Response to Intervention (RTI) philosophy to identify students struggling early on and to intervene, scaffold, modify lessons and help a student before their learning gap grows detrimentally.

RTI is not a specific type of program, therapy or teaching. It is a proactive approach to helping students thrive academically and holistically. RTI helps identify what interventions are needed and can resolve academic, behavioural, developmental and/or socio-emotional difficulties.

For more information on ALS, please contact us via email or call us at 6466-4475

Together, our experienced teachers, psychologists and therapists in Singapore implement a range of empirically sound methods rather than just one set approach. This detailed strategy ensures we foster a positive relationship between our students and support school specialists, which ultimately leads to effective intervention outcomes. This involves some of the following behavioural and support measures:

  • Naturalistic Applied Behavioural Analysis
  • TEAACH
  • Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
  • Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI)
  • Sensory Breaks

Through either individual or group counselling, our professional support staff encourage students to discuss anything that’s on their mind. These counselling sessions help children identify their emotions and provide them with the tools to handle stress, grow self-awareness, utilise mindfulness techniques, and develop problem-solving skills. Taking an integrated approach to counselling, our support school offers a range of therapeutic methods such as:

  • Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
  • Expressive Therapies (i.e., art therapy, psychodrama, etc.)
  • Solution-Focused Brief Therapy
  • Growth Mindset

For complicated cases and situations, students will be referred to respective professionals at external agencies in Singapore.

A significant portion of a child’s life is about being social, learning to interact spontaneously with peers and developing complex social know-how as they mature. All of these experiences in school lead children to become socially competent and self-assured adults. With this pivotal stage of childhood development in mind, our social skills training helps students discover healthy ways to engage with their emotions and those around them. Some of the topics covered include:

  • Self-awareness and self-esteem
  • Verbal and non-verbal behaviour
  • Identifying emotions
  • Collaborative teamwork
  • Social conduct specific to developmental level
  • Conflict resolution & problem-solving

Experts in our support school will help to tailor lessons and sessions to suit the individual needs of each student. Our social skills training is guided by the latest research in child pedagogy, and is intended to help our cohort flourish in Singapore and beyond.

Our support school in Singapore offers in-depth Occupational Therapy (OT) to help children develop their sensory, physical and fine motor skills. These abilities help children strengthen movement patterns, muscle tone, body-form-spatial perception, motor planning skills, play skills and assist with processing sensory information. Additionally, OT helps with self-regulation to improve attention and impulsivity.

Through Speech Language Therapy, our expert support staff in Singapore assess and improve our students’ speech, language and oral/feeding/swallowing skills. Typically, this kind of therapy involves articulation and sound production, language and reciprocal conversation development, as well as strengthening of muscles around the mouth and jaw to improve oral-motor skills.

Student Orientation Programme:

For new students attending our support school, we provide a casual orientation programme that helps them get to know our school and its services better. This process ensures students meet with their teachers and newly assigned classmate buddies, while also covering other areas such as school policies, procedures and rules, attendance requirements and leave applications.

Teacher – Parent Meetings:

Our support school organises regular teacher-parent meetings to provide parents and/or guardians with feedback on students’ performances in school.

Tuition Referral Services:

If requested by students or their parents/guardians, IIS can provide children who need extra learning assistance with a tuition referral service. These tutors may be teachers from our support school or external options in Singapore who have been carefully vetted.

Exam Registration and Results Checking:

For all external exams, the school will help students register for their examinations. We’ll provide due notification and may assist with retrieving our students’ examination results.

Student Pass Application:

Foreign students can apply for a Student Pass to study at IIS. Please refer to the ICA website at https://www.ica.gov.sg/visitor/studentpass/peo for more information on the application procedure.

Experience IIS Firsthand

Come down for a campus tour! Witness our tailored teaching approach and inclusive learning programmes in our British curriculum.

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