Southbank International School

Southbank International School is a mixed independent school located in the City of Westminster, Kensington and Hampstead, London, England. It is an international school for 3 to 18 year olds, from Early childhood to Key Stage 5. It has three campuses serving the educational needs of the international community in central London and surrounding areas.

It is an International Baccalaureate World School, authorised to deliver all three of the IB Programmes.

Southbank Hampstead and Southbank Kensington are both International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (“IB PYP”, from Early Childhood to grade 5) schools. Southbank Westminster offers the IB Middle Years Programme (grade 6 to 10) and the IB Diploma Programme (grades 11 and 12). One of the peculiarities of the Primary Years Programme at Southbank International School is that the pupils are taught to play violin or cello using an adapted “Suzuki Music Programme” from age five.

The Southbank Westminster campus occupies two sites at Portland Place and Conway Street (by Fitzroy Square).

History

Southbank International School was founded on 12 September 1979 as the American International School. It opened in September 1980 in a disused primary school on the south bank of the River Thames near Waterloo station with 80 upper school students. In line with its founding principles, the school's name was changed to Southbank American International School, following staff and pupil suggestions.

In 1982 the school moved to Eccleston Square near Victoria Station and by 1985 a secondary section was added, and the IB Diploma Programme was eventually adopted. In 1987 the School's name changed again to Southbank International School.

In January 1989 the School moved to the present Kensington campus, and with an ever-growing demand for places the Hampstead campus opened in September 1996. In June 1996 MYP authorisation was achieved and this was followed in June 2000 by PYP authorisation. Southbank International School then became the first school in the UK, and one of the first twenty schools in the world, to be authorised to offer all three IB programmes.

Demand for places continued to grow, and in September 2003 the Westminster campus opened. In December 2006 the Milton Keynes based private company Cognita became the major shareholders and Southbank International School became the first in Cognita's international division. Cognita has run into serious criticism of its management of Southbank International School with a parent group claiming it has "no serious interest in maximising the educational experience of ... children if it impacts on their bottom line". Cognita denied the allegations, claiming that its profits were in line with others in the sector.^[1]

Cognita provided funding to open a dedicated IB Diploma Programme Centre on Conway Street for Grades 11 and 12 and this operates as an annexe to the main campus on Portland Place. The Conway Street building opened in August 2007 and students from the Middle School in Hampstead (grades 6, 7 and 8) joined the Westminster campus. Hampstead then became a two class entry Primary School for 3 to 11 year olds.

Robert Booth of The Guardian wrote that in 2009 the school "was undergoing a period of turmoil" as several parents criticized the operation of the school, leading to a parental group criticizing Cognita that was established in 2011.^[2]

In August 2012 Cognita acquired the Charteris Sports Centre in London as a facility for Southbank International School which is let out to the community in non-school time.^[3]

In 2013, students from the school performed at the United States Academic Decathlon. Southbank's Grade 10-11 team came in ninth with a national Silver in Interview and two scholarships for academic excellence, whilst the Grade 6-9 team came in fifth and were awarded with ten national medals. ^[4]

The 2014 Diploma Class achieved the second highest results in the history of the school. IB Results: 1 student scored the maximum 45 out of 45 points; The average diploma score was 35.5; The world average is just over 29; 9 students out of 47 scored 40 points or higher (reached by only approximately 1.8% of candidates awarded the Diploma worldwide); 4 students gained 44 points (achieved by only about 0.4%of candidates awarded the Diploma worldwide); The pass rate for the Diploma was 100%.

In March 2014, William Vahey, a teacher who had worked at the school for several years, was found dead. He had been jailed for child sex offences in California in 1969 and it is thought he had abused students at the school.^[5][6]

School demographics

As of 2016 it had in total over 700 students in all of its campuses.^[7] As of 2014 it had 350 students from 70 countries taking classes at the Westminster campus.^[8]

Its students come from families that are generally very wealthy. Robert Booth of The Guardian wrote that a parent told him that the school "gave you a different understanding of wealth" and that a lawyer's family would be considered poor there; students included those from families of foreign affairs officials, hedge fund managers, managers of oil companies, and a manager of a football club.^[2]

See also

• International Baccalaureate Organization
• IB Primary Years Programme
• IB Middle Years Programme
• IB Diploma Programme

References

External links

• Official website
• International Baccalaureate Organization's website:
  • The Primary Years Programme
  • The Middle Years Programme
  • The Diploma Programme
• BBC: Southbank International School's performance between 2003 and 2006