Earlier this academic year we started a review of our guiding statements. This was initiated from ideas that came from reflective statements generated as part of the Council of International Schools Preparatory Evaluation from stakeholder groups including Parents, Students, Staff and the School Council.
Our Guiding Statements need to be at the heart of everything we do, so it is important that they are understood and respected by all of our community. While our Vision Statement & Guiding Principles and the IB Mission, Core Values and Learner Profiles continue to enjoy strong support from all groups (between 95-100% support in the recent CIS Community Survey), the review highlighted that the Powerful Learning Statement was not widely known and nor was it best placed as one of our Guiding Statements. The feedback also suggested that International Mindedness was not as explicit as it could be. To address this, it has been proposed that the DC Powerful Learning Statement be moved to the Teaching & Learning Policy, and replaced in our Guiding Statements with the DC International Mindedness Statement. This would mean that our Guiding Statements would comprise of the:
- DC Vision Statement & Guiding Principles
- DC International Mindedness Statement
- IB Mission, Core Values and Learner Profiles
We are now seeking parent feedback on this proposed change, with the simplified version below. We have already gathered feedback from staff and will also be asking for comment from our students in the near future. If you would like to provide feedback on these changes please click on this link.
DC Vision Statement & Guiding Principles
Grow. Be passionate about being the best we can be.
Discover. Find wonder in the world around us.
Dream. Dare to make a difference for yourself, humanity and our planet.
DC International Mindedness Statement
International Mindedness is a commitment to celebrating our diversity where people know themselves and others, and demonstrate empathy by thinking globally and acting ethically. The three core components of international mindedness at DC are:
- Global engagement – developing global and local awareness, perspectives and action, to empower learners committed to service in the community
- Interculturalism – recognising and reflecting on one’s own perspectives, the perspectives of others, and the shared patterns and systems of being
- Multilingualism – the ability to communicate in a variety of ways in more than one language
As an IB world school, these statements have been developed by our community, and are always underpinned by the IB Mission, Core Values and Learner Profile.