Career Universities | Nexus International School (Singapore)

At Nexus, we teach our learners about the value and importance of inclusion, one of the key pillars of the Nexus Way. We recognise that all learners are different as they come from all over the world with a world’s worth of different prior experiences. At our core, we believe in supporting every individual to materialise their fullest potential.

Adaptations
for All

We are keenly aware that every action, activity and thing that staff do in school contributes to the concept of inclusion. We also try to make our environments more inclusive by increasing the participation of students to reduce their exclusion from curricula, cultures and communities. Our teachers practise inclusive pedagogy which simultaneously attends to individual differences between learners without marginalising any individual with specific needs.

We aim to ensure that our mainstream provision satisfies the according array of individual needs to the fullest extent possible, making adaptations for all. All individuals boast different strengths depending on different scenarios. There are no weaker or stronger scenarios, but simply “better for everyone” outcomes.

At Nexus, we believe in creating learning opportunities that everyone can access.

Equality Versus Equity

BML

For learners who may need some extra help with their language development, Nexus offers a Bilingual and Multilingual Language (BML) programme that will focus on helping each child communicate confidently and accurately in English during social and academic interactions.

Strengths in Multilingualism

As every individual has different strengths and needs, we devise plans to ensure that each learner can work well with the curriculum. We perceive difficulties in learning as professional challenges for teachers, rather than deficits in learners. As such, our Inclusive Support team will coordinate help and create strategies to help each learner, removing barriers that they may face.

In-Class Support from Specialists

Our highly experienced BML department comprises both a primary and secondary team. Each of our specialist teachers is skilled in their particular curriculum, subject or year group. With inclusion at the core, the BML programme at Nexus provides targeted in-class support for the learners. BML specialists strive to collaborate with mainstream teachers to co-plan, co-teach, co-assess and co-reflect. The menu of support available to the mainstream teachers facilitates teaching and learning that is tailored to each and every learner as a member of the learning community. The unity between mainstream teachers and our BML specialists is integral to the ‘wrap around programme’ we provide for all of our BML learners.

University Language Proficiency

Nexus also prepares older learners for the internationally recognised and standardised International English Language Testing System (IELTS) that can be used for college applications in English-speaking schools. Nexus offers a trial exam for Nexus learners and helps them through the application process to ensure that our learners are well-prepared.

LEARNING
SUPPORT

A Team Effort

As Nexus believes in including all our learners and providing them opportunities to participate together, we do not use pull-out support. We have a team of Learning Support integrators with specialist qualifications who support our teachers and learners alike.   Through a process of reviewing, interviewing, observing and testing, our Learning Support specialists create Collaborative Action Plans (CAP) for each learner who requires additional support. The CAP includes specific information, plans and strategies that will be tailored to assist the individual learner. Teachers receive professional learning from the Learning Support specialists and the counsellors to ensure that they can help each child mobilise their plans. These plans are fluid and constantly reviewed to ensure that it is up-to-date and suitable for our learners to succeed. The learner must also use their agency to use the plans in order to improve.

In all, this is a collaboration between learners, teachers and support staff to ensure that each child can excel in the classroom.

COUNSELLING

Good mental-wellbeing boosts quality of life for children, allowing them to function better in school, at home and within their communities. Nexus strongly believes in ensuring that all learners feel supported and safe, as we believe that this is how they will be able to attain self-actualisation. Our in-school counsellors are available to provide socio-emotional support for our learners.

Helping and Supporting Learners

Throughout a child’s development, they will encounter various social and emotional challenges. No matter how big or small an issue, our counsellors help learners who need guidance, support or a listening ear. They also teach learners healthy coping skills that can be key to weathering through tough times and troubles. Our counsellors are also keenly familiar with the specific challenges that children in international schools face and provide them with the help that they need.

Training Teachers

At Nexus, we believe in a top-down approach, where our teachers support our learners when they face challenges. To achieve this, our counsellors run professional learning sessions for our teachers to teach them how to handle learners with mental health needs. They also equip the teachers with skills to regulate themselves better so they can approach difficult situations in a calmer state; this also helps our teachers to manage their overall wellbeing.

As learners often open up more comfortably with adults who they trust, our teachers can also work together with the counsellors to find solutions to best help our learners.

360 degree Well-being Approaches

Beyond their own reaches, our counsellors are dedicated to paving new avenues for our community to support each other. They have run some parent workshop sessions that introduce strategies that parents can use to build relationships with their children and support them. They also help run CCAs where learners can engage in peer support and learn counselling skills like relational and communication skills that help them become better listeners.

INCLUSIVE SUPPORT

Adaptations for All