David Williams, Head of School, The British School in Tokyo
At the British School in Tokyo (BST), we love to celebrate success and it is usually our students who do so well. This time, however, we are celebrating success as a whole school community after a team of independent inspectors confirmed that we are an “excellent” education facility, the highest mark possible.
At the end of November, a team of inspectors from the International Schools Inspectorate (ISI) spent six days at the school, looking at every aspect of BST. Their purpose was to benchmark the school and to measure us against every other British School in the world, including schools in the UK.
The ISI is a body approved by the British government for the purpose of inspecting schools in England and overseas. As such, the ISI reports to the English Department for Education (DfE) on the extent to which schools meet the relevant Standards for British Schools Overseas and the ISI Framework requirements.
During their time at the school, the Inspectors carefully scrutinised eight areas, including academic provision (curriculum, teaching and assessment); encouragement of personal, moral and cultural development; governance, leadership and management; security and safety; and involvement of parents and carers in their child’s education.
I am delighted to report that, in all eight aspects, we were found to be providing the very best that any school could deliver.
The Inspectors described BST as a dynamic, creative educational community which is successful in meeting its aims in delivering a world class British education in Tokyo to international students from more than 50 countries.
They applauded the excellent academic achievements of the pupils and how much progress they make at each level in the school. They confirmed that our teaching is lively and innovative, and promotes intellectual curiosity and enjoyment for all our students, whom they praised as being socially and morally responsible, as well as feeling included in the life of the school through our active School Council.
Secondary students at the Showa Campus
The Inspectors praised our curricular and extracurricular provision, which recognises that living in Japan offers a wealth of opportunities for all our students, who come from many cultural backgrounds. We keep our students and staff safe through the rigorous application of policies, and our trustees are well informed and very active in the life of the school, sharing their expertise with us.
Our parents and carers have shown overwhelming support for the school; our leadership and management team was rated excellent throughout the school; and inspectors applauded our clear and consistent educational direction. In short, the school was rated excellent in all facets of the report.
We knew we had something very special to offer every child who joins us, and this report has shown that we are right to be proud.
Read the full report here:
The British School in Tokyo: www.bst.ac.jp
International Schools Inspectorate: www.isi.net
