OUR SCHOOL – British School Timisoara

VISION, MISSION AND VALUES

Our Vision

We Provide the Foundation on Which Our Children Can Flourish
Inspiring our students to Learn and Live with Purpose

Our Mission

Building a community of learners where students are given a plethora of meaningful opportunities to Learn, Experience, Grow, Succeed and Excel in all areas of their academic and personal development

Values

We Think, We Explore and We Learn
We Listen, We Respect and We Care
We Speak Up, We Participate and We Strive

OUR AIMS

Students – We will place at the centre of all our decisions and activities children’s well-being, needs and learning. We will do our very best to support our students with their emotional, social, cultural and academic development;
Environment – We will provide an environment, which is nurturing, stimulating, positive, healthy and safe for all children, meant to ensure childrens’ curiosity and desire to learn new things are mantained and increased;
Curriculum – We will implement an internationally recognised curriculum, which is broad, balanced, competitive, stimulating and flexible;
Pastoral Care – We will put in place a pastoral care system which will ensure all children are supported and valued;
Approach – We will have a modern, positive, engaging and stimulating approach, meant to give our children the confidence to express themselves without the fear of making mistakes;
Enrichment – We will enhance our students’ learning by encouraging and supporting their participation in a wide variety of extracurricular activities;

Relationships – We will learn to live and work individually and together, cultivating strong caring relationships between students, staff and parents;
Communication – We will do our best to teach our students to interact and communicate effectively with multiple audiences in more than one language and through a variety of modes;
Service – We will engage our students in meaningful community service projects, which will lead to reflection and personal growth and will show them how they can take an active role in making their world a better place;
Improvement – We will support a process of continual improvement in our school. We will do our very best to ensure students understand that growth and progress can only happen when you are reflective, work hard and always look for ways to improve;
School / parents’ partnership – We will develop a strong partnership with our parents.

STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT PLAN

(SUMMARY)

2022 – 2024

Introduction:

Preamble: The British International School of Timisoara development plan is an ongoing action plan with specific priorities, targets and criteria for success. It’s a dynamic document elaborated by the School Leadership Team members, endorsed by the School Board and shared with the staff members.

Strategic Development Planning: It is central to the success of the 2022 – 2023 academic year and includes different starting points by valuing what is important at the moment for the school; ensures and enhance quality by focusing on priorities; it will require time, resources, commitment and in some cases training.

Vision Statement: “We Provide the Foundation of Which our Children Can Flourish”

Mission Statement: “Building a community of learners where students are given a plethora of meaningful opportunities to Learn, Experience, Grow, Succeed and Excel in all areas of their academic and personal development”

Present Position: The British International School of Timisoara enjoys premier status amongst the providers of international education in the west part of Romania. It has got a multinational teaching staff led by an experienced Senior Leadership Team that provides direction and acts as a driving engine for the school. The School Board supports the Senior Leadership Team initiatives and provides adequate funding for the further development of the school. Student numbers are rising due to the success to date and more students will be able to join in the near future when the second phase of the campus will be complete and fully operational. Good practice is evident throughout the school, although there is scope for improvement in identified areas. The school has achieved IB World School authorization, COBIS accredited status and is a Cambridge International School. The school has also achieved the national recognition and is now in the Special Register with ARACIP.

Threats and Weaknesses:

• Some systems and policies and their implementation, are still to be consistently implemented throughout the school;

• Some staff have a limited understanding of the school ethos and identity;

• Some students and their families have limited understanding of the school ethos and modus operandi;

Strengths:

• The British International School of Timisoara currently occupies the premier position as a provider of international private education in the region;
• The school is financially sound;
• There is a fundamental integrity and moral commitment when dealing with staff;
• A head-start on its possible competitors;
• Recent record of high staff retention;
• Staff wellbeing remains a priority for us with the SLT and the Wellbeing Committee is working towards maintaining a professional working climate;
• Student potential and their attitude towards school are excellent; they enjoy learning and our programs are seen as very attractive by both parents and students;
• The school offers cutting edge facilities including a generous outdoor play area, Physical Education facilities, dedicated Labs for Sciences, IT, Music, Art and Drama, designated rooms for Modern Foreign Languages and a well-equipped Lunch Room and kitchen facilities

Opportunities:

• The school has a huge opportunity to grow and stay ahead of any possible competitors;
• There is potential for future economies of scale with growing student intake and more effective employment of teaching staff in the future;
• Recent public endorsement by various news outlets to raise the profile of the school on the market;
• The local understanding of international education is rather limited and this will be to our benefit; we are in the business of changing attitude and values and the current context can enable us to do so;
• Generate a positive impact beyond the school community, by establishing links with various organizations in the region, in order to perpetuate our vision and values outside of our community;
• The opening of the school in Timisoara is seen as an opportunity for various multinational companies to relocate here, as prior to us there was no provision of international education in the region.

Key Targets:

1. Accreditations
a. ARACIP Recognition;
b. IB Diploma Programme Authorization.

2. Wellbeing
a. To promote and develop positive mental health and wellbeing for staff and students across the school;

3. Teaching and Learning
a. To provide individualised support for learning to meet the diverse needs and interest of every BIST student to ensure access to success (advance achievement for all students);
b. To provide an atmosphere that inspires creativity, innovation, and curiosity;
c. To nurture the intellectual learning community where all students are held to high expectations. To inculcate/embrace the 10 attributes of the IB Learner Profile;
d. To attract, retain and develop high quality teachers
e. To develop a campus-wide master plan and identify and prioritise all projects for the foreseeable future (incl. construction planning for the Secondary School)

4. Senior Leadership/School Board
a. To strengthen the school’s Leadership and Management. Ensure effective leadership which models the duty of care, learning, trust, and accountability, that best serves the school now and into the future. Leading starts from learning;
b. To ensure there is a clear vision and direction for the school strategic development which is shared with all members of the community
c. To ensure financial sustainability for the school

5. Middle Leadership
a. To further develop the skills and impact of middle leaders on the quality of teaching and learning;
b. To extend targeted professional development sessions to ensure middle leaders have all the necessary leadership and management skills.

6. Identity and Innovation
a. To build our reputation and be recognised as a world-class international school in Romania with a clear and compelling identity;
b. To develop a Hub of Innovation in Education that improves learning for students, teachers and parents and raises the profile of Timisoara;

7. Admissions
a. To ensure all places are filled and Increase waiting lists for all year groups.

8. Community and Internationalism
a. Foster and improve school spirit;
b. To foster an inclusive and engaged community that makes an impact locally and globally. BIST … a gate to the world!
c. To promote and develop parental involvement (via PTN) and enhance the communication channels as well as expanding community projects, links etc.

9. Communication with Parents
a. To improve communication with parents, particularly in relation to student progress and performance in school.

SCHOOL PHILOSOPHY

Education in society

We live in a world of constant and rapid change. As a society, we are facing challenges at a social, economic, environmental and political level. More importantly, we live in a world where education is one of the most important factors in finding solutions to the challenges ahead. How we raise and educate our children may be the single most important factor in the development of our planet.

Education in schools

A healthy and a prosperous society can only be built on a foundation offered by a strong and efficient educational system. From this perspective, the school plays a fundamental role in the development of our children and the consolidation and the perpetuation of strong values and principles which will define us.

Great schools understand that their role goes way beyond the process of delivering curriculum information and evaluation of knowledge; they understand that equipping students with skills and abilities for life is equally important.

Students centred schools

All children are born with a tremendous potential for development. Their curiosity and desire to learn new things every day is natural; children start school with sparkling imaginations, fertile minds, and keen desire to take risks. It is up to us to maintain and develop their talents and unlock their potential through everything we do in the school.

Values and principles

For an educational establishment to be successful in achieving its goals, it must be founded, built, and run on fundamental values like: respect, tolerance, integrity and honesty.

For a school to be successful it must promote a culture of imagination, of creativity and innovation. These features provide a strong foundation on which our teachers and children can explore, discover, learn, experiment and grow.

Teachers are the best resource of any school

At BIST we understand that a school is as good as the sum of all its components. Great teachers are at the heart of great schools. Although a rich and rewarding task, educating students caries a huge responsibility; we are after all in the field of building characters and shaping the future of our world.

Opportunities for life

All the students studying at British International School of Timisoara will be faced with vast opportunities to develop and to start connecting with the world at international level.

Students joining our school will be stepping into a world of dreams and opportunities which can grow proportionally with their desire, effort, determination and ambition.

School – parents’ partnership

Education starts at home in the family. The involvement of parents and a positive, constructive parent – school partnership is vital for a child’s education and development. It is fundamentally important that the school and the parents work together and have similar approaches when it comes to implementing our values and our educational programmes.