Nagoya International School

Nagoya International School places well-being at the core of learning, with well-being defined as the emotional, physical, mental, social, and environmental health of the whole school community and used as a lens for policies and practice. The school fosters belonging through a network of relationships and engagement with local and global contexts, guided by the UNCRC and IB philosophy. The Student Services team supports social and emotional needs and uses a Team Around the Child approach to plan interventions across three levels (Monitor, Support, Intensive) in collaboration with teachers and families.

NIS provides inclusive SEN support via its Student Services with three levels of provision: Monitor, Support, and Intensive, designed to address cognition and learning, communication and interaction, sensory and/or physical needs, and social, emotional and mental health. The levels include collaboration among classroom teachers, support staff, and, when needed, external professionals, particularly at Intensive level. The school describes its provision as integrated within the mainstream school rather than as a dedicated specialist SEN institution, with individualized plans developed to maximize curriculum access.

All NIS teachers are language teachers, and the EAL team supports students in English language acquisition while helping to lead language development in the classroom. The program uses a two-tier model (Support and Intensive) with a mix of push-in and pull-out delivery, tailored to Primary (grades 1–5) and Secondary (grades 6–12) needs. Primary and Secondary EAL programs focus on academic language development, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and writing, to maximize access to the wider curriculum.

Well-being at NIS is a whole-school focus, recognizing emotional, physical, mental, social, and environmental health and aiming to foster belonging and rights in line with UNCRC and IB values. The Student Services team provides counseling and health support addressing academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs, offering a safe space for students to discuss worries and coordinating with families and external professionals as appropriate. Counseling and health provisions include both academic college counseling and social, emotional, and mental health counseling as part of the broader well-being framework.

Nagoya International School operates a safeguarding policy aligned with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and as a JCIS member, affirming a duty of care to safeguard student welfare. All staff are bound by a safeguarding code to support healthy relationships and student independence, with procedures in place for reporting concerns and coordinating with families and external bodies as needed. The policy outlines safeguarding roles, boundaries, power dynamics, and accountability to ensure the emotional and physical safety of students across school activities.