NEASC External Review Visit
WIS will be hosting an External Review Visit (ERV) from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges from 26 September to 2 October to renew our cycle of accreditation following the Preparatory Visit we had last year. In the past twelve months, we have been going through the process of the Internal Reflection, where we looked at the findings from the Preparatory Visit and addressed the recommendations resulting from that visit. Teachers also worked in teams to address the 10 ACE Learning Principles to look deeply into teaching and learning at WIS:
Learning Purposes: Learning builds understandings, competencies, knowledge, and dispositions applicable across diverse situations.
Dimensions of Learning: Growth occurs through regular creative, ethical, interpersonal, technological, environmental, physical, and entrepreneurial experiences.
Evidence of Learning: Learners utilize meaningful feedback that fosters self-awareness, personal improvement, and mastery.
Learning Perspectives: Learners confront complex, real-world problems and challenges that encourage deep, critical learning.
Learner Autonomy and Engagement: Students maintain age-appropriate, goal-oriented control and make informed choices with guidance.
Research, Reflection, and Action: The community applies ongoing research, connects globally, and uses future-focused thinking.
Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Belonging: Learning environments embrace diverse backgrounds, promote equity, and ensure every student feels valued.
Governance and Leadership for Learning: Leadership structures actively support, prioritize, and drive the shared vision of high-quality learning.
Learning Space and Time: Physical and virtual environments are designed with flexibility to optimize modern learning experiences.
Learning Community Well being: The school prioritizes a healthy, safe, and emotionally secure culture for all students and staff.
These Learning Principles and the exercise of reviewing and discussing what we do, how we do things and what we do well, as well as where we can improve, give us a great opportunity to reflect on our teaching and learning. Out of these discussions came the Major Learning Plans that we are setting ourselves for the coming cycle to focus on and prioritize:
Major Learning Plan 1: Looking at a purpose-driven curriculum and learning purposes (Learning Principle 1)
Major Learning Plan 2: Actionable feedback and assessment (Learning Principle 3)
Major Learning Plan 3: Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Belonging (Learning Principle 7)
We would like the community to be as involved in this process as possible and we want our Shared Understanding of High Quality Learning to become a living statement of who we are at WIS and what our priorities for learning are:
“When we work together and independently in a safe, caring environment, we can recognise each person’s place in the story of our shared planet. Through ongoing dialogue and actionable feedback, we develop the knowledge and skills needed to create a better future.”
There are opportunities for parents to be involved in this process through two parent meetings and a community presentation at the end of the visit. Any parent who would like to attend any of these meetings should get in touch with their Grade Level Rep or Ms. Reiff (mreiff@wis.edu.na) and we will add you to the respective group to meet with the visitors or to attend their final presentation. We look forward to an active participation from our parents to give our visitors the perspective you as parents of WIS have.
Invitation for parents to attend:
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Respectfully
Maggie Reiff
Secondary Principal
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