General
International School Eindhoven: More than a school
The International School Eindhoven (ISE) is situated in the world’s most dynamic innovation hub for design, science and technology, in the Brainport region of Eindhoven in the southern part of the Netherlands. For international families, who work and live in different places around the world, it is so much more than just a school. On our beautiful (green) campus we provide, as an IB World School, excellent primary and secondary education, parent workshops, language lessons and so much more!
Our aim is to ensure that each and every ISE student is known, cared for, and challenged. We know that moving into a new country, region and community can be challenging. As a school that serves families coming from over 55 different countries, we recognize that we must also provide more than just an ‘education’ in its traditional sense.
This is an exciting job and we are pleased to show you how we do this through different stories. In the previous edition of Howdo magazine teachers and children spoke of their experiences with ISE. It was lovely to hear their comments such as: “for me this is more than a job, it feels like home” and “there is no I in ISE, we are a group.”
This time we asked one of the parents, Hanneke Bastiaensen, what the slogan “More than a school” means to her.
“After 19 years of working and living in Belgium, China, France, Germany and Switzerland we came to Eindhoven with three children, our thirteen-year-old twin boys and our 9-year-old youngest son. Not knowing how long we would stay, we chose the ISE as a school for our boys. This school offers the IB-program and that helps the children with a smooth transaction to new situations in the education program. As a parent I can trust on the quality, as it is comparable education throughout the world. Another factor to choose the ISE was the small classes and of course the beautiful green campus!
In the beginning I felt alone but fortunately that did not last long. Class parents welcome new families and help them with any initial questions they may have. They help with any language barriers when necessary. Soon I met people from the parents’ committee and I was asked to join them which led onto accepting the role as chairperson. At that time my social life started. I met other parents and teachers and felt connected. I started to help at school and the children joined the extracurricular school activities. This opened a social life for me and the rest of the family.
The parents’ committee is very active. We organize coffee mornings, events for the whole family, workshops amongst many other big and small gatherings. We are famous for our winter fair and the international fair at the end of the school year. The students, the parents and school all participate in organizing these events together. We also raise funds for the school as to be used for sponsoring charities, sports events, social, academic, cultural and prizes for the students.
What I can say to other parents is that ISE is not just an education institute. It is a safe, homely place, a starting point to explore Eindhoven and the Netherlands for the whole family.
Discover our beautiful campus on the Oirschotsedijk:
