Academic Programmes

RISS is excited to announce the curriculum leaders who will be responsible for assisting the leadership team in implementing our new vision, mission and core values as well as delivering our strategic plan within a curriculum department across all grade levels.

Language, Culture & Heritage

The language department is excited about this school year!  Not only are we committed to teaching your son or daughter the thrilling aspect of learning a new language (and in some cases, improving their heritage language), we are committed to making their learning experience fun, inviting and authentic. Students will also be exposed to learning new cultures through interaction with their International schoolmates and teachers. Students will be given the chance to showcase their heritage languages during International Language Day in February and using their new-found language skills during Language Village in May.  Our curriculum is based on inquiry-based learning (piquing a child’s natural curiosity), fun and with students’ individual needs being taken into consideration.  We offer the following language choices, EAL (English as Another Language), Dutch, French, German, Spanish and Chinese.  We have a large staff that are highly qualified and are more than excited to see your son and/or daughter become the inner-linguists that they are. Welcome to our school.

English Language, Literature & Society

Every day, people all over the world use language to communicate. They have conversations, study, write messages and follow the news. In the Curriculum Area of English Language, Literature and Society, we try to find, define and explore our place in the world so we can maintain successful relationships with many different people and take responsibility for our actions. We do this by reading, writing, listening and speaking in order to think, express ourselves, reflect and be creative. We analyse a variety of texts from different times and different places, and we respond in thoughtful, respectful, courageous and creative ways. In this way, we learn about our similarities and differences, and we develop the skills to communicate effectively. Since students at RISS are from many different language areas and cultural backgrounds, world literature and multilingualism are at the core of what we do. In order to meet the needs and interests of our students in the IBDP, RISS now offers the English A: Language and Literature course (SL and HL) in addition to English A: Literature (SL and HL). The English Department is passionate about developing literacy, academic and life skills through collaboration with our colleagues from the other Curriculum Areas.

Humanities & Learning Technology

The Humanities & Learning Technology (HLT) department is excited to continue building upon our cross-curricular approach while focussing on developing an innovative, student-centred curriculum. The HLT department incorporates experiential learning into the curriculums to ensure students are able to understand the world they live in. The subjects encourage students to explore their local environment of Rotterdam to aid their understanding of the topics they study.  The department also makes use of technology to help develop interactive lessons, with simulations and activities which aim to engage students in a practical manner. 

This year the department has added BTEC business to a growing list of subject choices. The focus is on ensuring students learn a range of crucial transferable skills which open up a wide range of possible career paths. 

In the HLT department, it is a priority to back up our school’s mission statement when we say: ‘Our mission is for every student to enjoy their youth'.

Mathematics

The new mathematics curriculum that we cover equips RISS students with the necessary mathematical knowledge and skills for reasoning, problem solving, communication, and most importantly provides them with confidence and incentive to continue learning on their own. Our new curriculum is interdisciplinary and based on rich problem solving situations drawn from science, technology and social studies. RISS students have the opportunity to prepare and participate in international math competitions in both junior and senior years, and in addition, we provide extensive extra support for underachieving students. We address the diverse needs in our math classrooms in order to build confidence and develop the skills needed for the future. RISS students also develop abilities to use sophisticated technology effectively in their learning.

Science

Enquiring and seeking answers is at the heart of what takes place in Science. Throughout their years at RISS, students are developing the skills of the scientific method, becoming more autonomous at every stage the further they progress through the years. Students are encouraged to ask questions and formulate investigations, derived from their everyday life experience and inspired by what they learn in class. Wherever possible, practical experiments are designed and observations are being done to find answers to these questions. The new, well-equipped labs allow for this hands-on approach and the Science department is very excited to be able to use these to continue the development and implementation of our inquiry-based curriculum. 

Students learn how to interpret their collected data, which often need to be processed before conclusions can be drawn. An evaluation of the method and reflection on the results are important parts of the process. These reflections allow students to connect and extend their findings to broader issues of our time both at local, national and international levels.

Sport Science

At RISS we firmly believe that Physical Education plays both an active and meaningful role in inspiring our students in their pursuit of learning. Our curriculum is designed to provide our students with opportunities that will help to serve them both during their time at school and in their lives after.
We provide our students with a diverse curriculum so that students can engage with physical education in a way that will benefit them. We provide the students with both competitive and non-competitive situations while offering programs such as IGCSE Physical Education that promotes the knowledge of the human anatomy and physiology while also celebrating the individuals talent in the practical components. Sport and exercise play a significant role in the development of a child mainly in part due to the benefits of exercise and healthy eating but it also the other areas such as the promotion of values that are just as important. Values are an integral part of our community as they are the building blocks that we use to nourish the development of curriculum programs that help to guide our school's vision of educating for self-awareness, curiosity and integrity in a changing world. 

The Arts

The visual and performing arts curriculum area lends itself to offering students a platform to develop and express themselves artistically on many levels. Research has shown the growing importance of creativity for the development of 21st century skills; the ability to innovate, problem solve, collaborate and express ideas visually is becoming increasingly more important in our fast changing world, where visual art, drama and music are all tools to express one’s feelings and share them with the people around them.

Through our skills based Drama programme we aim to teach our students to not only make and present Drama but also to appreciate and appraise it. Drama offers students an opportunity to discover the nature of this art form and the realisation that they are creative beings who can use this form to explore issues and emotions. It also offers them the ability to analyse and interact in ways which benefit them in all areas of school and beyond.

The Music department has developed an important role in the past few years among the school, bringing to the students a full scope of music education: creating (composing), performing and improvising. Students actively learn music through singing, playing an instrument and using new technologies in a group. They develop their intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligences according to our core values, balancing the joy of making music with the respect and self-discipline that are carried with it. For those students who want to take a further step in music, the music department prepare them and support them to take part of outside competitions and examinations like AMIS or ABRSM.