What are the Heritage International School programmes and where are they located?
The International School has three programmes: the Primary Programme, the Middle Programme, and the Senior Programme. The Primary Programme comprises Nursery to grade 4. For the academic year 2022-23 Nursery to grade 4 will be in operation and thereby students will move to the next grade organically. The Primary Programme is located on the Heritage International Xperiential Learning School (HIXS) campus, DLF V, Gurugram.
The Middle Programme comprises grades 5 to 8. The Senior Programme comprises grades 9 to 12. The Middle and Senior Programmes are located on the Heritage Xperiential Learning School (HXLS) campus, Sector 62, Gurugram.
What are the curriculum and board affiliations?
We are affiliated to the International Baccalaureate (IB) and International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) boards.In the Junior Programme (Nursery to grade 4), we follow the IB Primary Years Programme curriculum framework. The middle grades follow the Cambridge Lower Secondary Programme while Grades 9 and 10 follow IGCSE. Grades 11 and 12 follow the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP)
The IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) is a curriculum framework designed for students aged 3 to 12. Informed by research on how students learn, how educators teach, and the principles and practice of effective assessment, the programme places a powerful emphasis on inquiry-based learning, students’ academic, social and emotional wellbeing, focusing on international-mindedness and strong personal values. The PYP nurtures independent learning skills, encouraging every student to take responsibility for their learning.
The programme incorporates local and global issues into the curriculum, asking students to look at six related, transdisciplinary themes and to consider the links between them. The themes include questions such as ‘who we are’, ‘where we are in place and time’, and ‘how the world works’.
For more information on IB visit www.ibo.org
IGCSE, aligning with the school’s vision, helps our students — the 21st-century citizens — think globally and act locally. The curriculum develops learners’ knowledge, understanding, and skills, and sets clear goals for students and teachers. Our faculty not only teaches the subject content in class but also facilitates the application of values both within and outside the classroom through interdisciplinary learning expedition units in grades 5-8. In grades 9 and 10, students' learning is more focused on mastery of skills within discrete subjects but with continued connections to real-world applications. The programme is committed to helping our diverse student body increase competence, expand academic horizons, and connect its learning to solving real-world problems to making our world a better place.
For more information on IGCSE visit www.cambridgeinternational.org
IB DP
The IB DP is a demanding pre-university course of study that leads to external examinations and is designed for 16 to 19 year old highly motivated students. Through the DP, schools are able to develop students who have excellent breadth and depth of knowledge and thrive physically, intellectually, emotionally, and ethically.
For more information on IB visit www.ibo.org
Can students transfer between the Heritage International and Heritage Xperiential (CBSE) schools?
Students can opt to move from CBSE to International or vice versa in the appropriate transition grade levels. However, the transfer will only be available at certain grades and will depend on the availability of seats for the specific grade.
How are assessments done?
As with any other component of learning, assessments should be authentic and meaningful for students and, most importantly, the assessment process itself should be a learning experience for every student. We believe that assessment is not merely to measure and instead should be ongoing and leads to improvements in student learning by providing necessary inputs to make informed decisions at class curriculum levels. Assessments therefore must be developmentally appropriate and designed to allow students to succeed by showing what they have learned—never designed to force them into “proving” that they have failed to learn. The process of consistent feedback helps in making assessments a more continuous and enriching process. Several tools—which include rubrics, teacher/parent observations, self and peer evaluations, and portfolios to show growth and mastery—are used to assess learning. The focus is on assessment for learning rather than on learning for assessment.
What is the school’s approach towards competitions?
In essence, the school likes to draw a clear distinction between building competence, excellence, and competition itself. We focus on building abilities and capabilities and categorically resist the “winner takes it all” mindset. The students learn from each other, learn together and explore the immense possibilities that open up on the heels of a so-called ‘failure’. More specifically, for the Primary Programme students, we do not advocate competition or comparison of any sort. For the Middle Programme, we introduce platforms for group and individual events, which are principally geared towards participation and not towards one-upmanship. In the Senior School, the focus is on specialisation and achieving excellence for which we again create opportunities for children to push themselves towards the realisation of their highest potential.
What is the approach to annual days, functions and celebrations?
We have a strong culture of celebration of events that provide platforms for different forms of student expression. While we do work hard to bring standards of excellence into everything we do, we also recognise that there is a fine line between performance and exhibitionism. Therefore, we do not endorse large performances to showcase individuals or glorify the achievements of a minor group, nor is it valid to make children miss learning time for months of practice to stage a massive show where they have minor walk-on parts. We invest the students’ time wisely in organising non-competitive festivals, which are driven purely by the motive of student learning. The events and presentations are opportunities for children to share things they do and learn as part of their daily curricular programme. One such example is our yearly art festival that is a celebration of our students’ work done during the year.
Does the school use prescribed textbooks?
We sincerely believe that the entire world should be the textbook for children. Hence, the Primary Programme children are taught through thoughtfully designed learning units, as well as carefully chosen workbooks and supplementary materials that reinforce skills and concepts. These are supported by material from class libraries, teacher-created resources, and a levelled reading programme that includes classroom libraries and book sets for the entire reading progression. In the Middle and Senior Programmes, textbooks are introduced as reference books alongside primary source documents, supplementary reading materials, research projects, and real-life examples.
What is the role of outdoor learning expeditions?
Various outdoor experiences, fieldwork, or expeditions are designed for students regularly within the interdisciplinary learning expeditions and units within disciplines they work on and are directly linked to their grade-level learning goals. In contrast to ‘school trips’, this fieldwork and outbound expeditions provide real hands-on opportunities to learn about people, places, and cultures, to see how things work, and to develop a systemic understanding of different habitats and systems, and to apply their learning in a real-world setting or to complete research that will further their learning back in the classroom.
These learning opportunities begin in the Primary Programme and continue through to grade 12 and may also include bringing in experts into the classrooms who conduct seminars and workshops. In addition, our fieldwork trips off campus includes such opportunities as service projects, community-based research and application of skills, and wilderness excursions that bring students in contact with the natural world and learning from more diverse communities.
What does inclusion mean at the school?
We believe that, as a learning community, it is our responsibility to support each of our students in reaching her own goals at her own pace and according to her own highest purpose for which her unique talents and abilities best equip her. At the same time, we expect students to respect and appreciate what is unique in each of their classmates, learning to work collaboratively to ensure that each student is supported and expected to contribute positively to the community.
Inclusion does not mean that we treat all children the same; on the contrary, supporting each child means that while we treat all children fairly, we also ensure that each child gets what she needs individually to make the most progress. We also recognise that all children do not develop at the same rate, nor do they achieve success according to one standardised definition, so we ensure personalised learning for each child, meaning each individual is challenged at the exact level she needs. We work from the fundamental belief that children reach understanding or mastery of the same concept or skill at different rates and that this is not only normal but also desirable so that all are challenged and engaged.
What is expected from parents to build an understanding of the Heritage approach and how do they support the children at home?
Parents are critically important, and their support will make all the difference. At its most fundamental level, the parent-school relationship has to be based on trust. Hence, it is imperative for parents to understand the school’s philosophy and teaching methodology.
We recognise that most adults have gone through the traditional system of education and that our approach challenges many of their mental models about education. We try to redesign the mental models and align them more to our world view by organising interaction sessions and workshops for parents. We hold around three to four workshops plus four to five individual and group interactions per year. Participation in such workshops and interactive sessions is mandatory.
Parents are also invited to contribute by volunteering for different events in school such as outbound trips, story week, classroom support, co-curricular activities, and more.
What sets Heritage Xperiential Learning School (HXLS) apart from others?
HXLS believes that the process of education is all about nurturing, in each child, a life-long love for learning. To this end, we deliberately eschew the traditional schooling and learning processes, focusing instead on individual pedagogies and narratives that are intrinsic to truly progressive schools. We actively encourage questioning of conventional mental models and assumptions. At HXLS, we believe in project-oriented classwork, hands-on experiential learning, and an integrated curriculum, which underscores the relationship and inter-dependence of diverse people, places, and ideas.
Which board is the school affiliated to and how is the curriculum framed?
Parents have the option to choose for Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE) or an International Programme Curriculum.
CBSE:HXLS is affiliated with the Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE) up to the senior secondary level (Grade 12). Our curriculum is based on the recommended curriculum set by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and it takes into account the recommendations made by the NCERT in the National Curriculum Framework (NCF 2005). It is designed by our own teachers with the guidance of experts from all around the world. You can visit the NCERT website at www.ncert.nic.in to familiarise yourself with their recommendations.
Can students transfer between the CBSE and International schools?
Students can opt to move from CBSE to International or vice versa in the appropriate transition grade levels. However, the transfer will only be available at certain grades and will depend on the availability of seats for the specific grade.
At Heritage, one has the option to choose between the International School and CBSE curriculum? What aspects should I consider before choosing a programme?
The choice of programmes depends mainly on your and your child’s individual needs however some of the aspects you could consider while choosing a programme are your child’s learning style, the curriculum philosophy and content, programme objectives, and the desired learning environment.
What are the International School programmes and where are they located?
Heritage International Xperiential School has three programmes: the Primary Programme, the Middle Programme, and the Senior Programme. The Primary Programme comprises Nursery to grade 4. For the academic year 2022-23 Nursery to grade 4 will be in operation and thereby students will move to the next grade organically. The Primary Programme is located in the Heritage International Xperiential Learning School (HIXS) campus, DLF V, Gurugram.
The Middle Programme comprises grades 5 to 8. The Senior Programme comprises grades 9 to 12. The Middle and Senior Programmes are located on the Heritage Xperiential Learning School (HXLS) campus, Sector 62, Gurugram.
What are the curriculum and board affiliations?
We are affiliated to the International Baccalaureate (IB) and International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) boards.In the Junior Programme (Nursery to grade 4), we follow the IB Primary Years Programme curriculum framework. The middle grades follow the Cambridge Lower Secondary Programme while Grades 9 and 10 follow IGCSE. Grades 11 and 12 follow the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP)
The IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) is a curriculum framework designed for students aged 3 to 12. Informed by research how students learn, how educators teach, and the principles and practice of effective assessment, the programme places a powerful emphasis on inquiry-based learning, students’ academic, social and emotional wellbeing, focusing on international-mindedness and strong personal values. The PYP nurtures independent learning skills, encouraging every student to take responsibility for their learning.
The programme incorporates local and global issues into the curriculum, asking students to look at six related, transdisciplinary themes and to consider the links between them. The themes include questions such as ‘who we are’, ‘where we are in place and time’, and ‘how the world works’.
For more information on IB visit www.ibo.org
IGCSE, aligning with the school’s vision, helps our students — the 21st-century citizens — think globally and act locally. The curriculum develops learners’ knowledge, understanding, and skills, and sets clear goals for students and teachers. Our faculty not only teaches the subject content in class but also facilitates the application of values both within and outside the classroom through interdisciplinary learning expedition units in grades 5-8. In grades 9 and 10, students learning is more focused on mastery of skills within discrete subjects but with continued connections to real-world applications. The programme is committed to helping our diverse student body increase competence, expand academic horizons, and connect its learning to solving real-world problems to making our world a better place. For more information on IGCSE
visit www.cambridgeinternational.org
IB DP The IB DP is a demanding pre-university course of study that leads to external examinations and is designed for 16 to 19 year old highly motivated students. Through the DP, schools are able to develop students who have excellent breadth and depth of knowledge and thrive physically, intellectually, emotionally, and ethically.
For more information on IB visit www.ibo.org
How are assessments done at HXLS?
As with any other component of learning, assessments should be authentic and meaningful for students and, most importantly, the assessment process itself should be a learning experience for every student. The purpose of assessment is not to merely measure, but to improve learning. We believe that assessment should be ongoing and lead to improvements in student learning, by providing necessary inputs to make informed decisions at class curriculum levels.
Assessments therefore must be developmentally appropriate and designed to allow students to succeed by showing what they have learned—never designed to force them into “proving” that they have failed to learn.
The process of consistent feedback helps in making assessments a more continuous and enriching process. Several tools—which include rubrics, teacher/parent observations, and self and peer evaluations—are used to assess learning. The focus is on assessment for learning rather than on learning for assessment.
What is the school’s approach towards competitions?
In essence, the school likes to draw a clear distinction between building competence, excellence, and competition itself. At HXLS, we focus on building abilities and capabilities and categorically resist the “winner takes it all” mindset. The students learn from each other, learn together, and explore the immense possibilities that open up on the heels of a so-called ‘failure’.
More specifically, for the Junior Programme students, we do not advocate competition or comparison of any sort. For the Middle School, we introduce platforms for group and individual events, which are principally geared towards participation and not towards one-upmanship. In the Senior School, the focus is on specialisation and achieving excellence for which we again create opportunities for children to push themselves towards the realisation of their highest potential.
What is the approach to annual days, functions, and celebrations?
We have a strong culture of celebration of events that provide platforms for different forms of student expression. While we do work hard to bring standards of excellence into anything we do, we also recognise that there is a fine line between performance and exhibitionism. Therefore, we do not endorse large performances to showcase individuals or glorify the achievements of a minor group, nor is it valid to make children miss learning time for months of practice to stage a massive show where they have minor walk-on parts. We invest the students’ time wisely in organising non-competitive festivals, which are driven purely by the motive of student learning. The events and presentations are opportunities for children to share things they do and learn as part of their daily curricular programme. One such example is our yearly art festival that is a celebration of our students’ work done during the year.
Does the school use prescribed textbooks?
We sincerely believe that the entire world should be the textbook for children. Hence, the Junior School children are taught through thoughtfully designed learning units, as well as carefully chosen workbooks and supplementary materials, that reinforce skills and concepts. These are supported by material from class libraries, teacher-created resources, and a graded reading programme that includes age-appropriate literature.
In the Middle and Senior Schools, textbooks are introduced as reference books alongside primary source documents, supplementary reading materials, research projects, and real-life examples.
What is the role of outdoor learning expeditions at HXLS?
Various outdoor experiences or expeditions are designed for students regularly within the projects and themes they work on and are directly linked to the grade-level learning goals. In contrast to ‘school trips’, these expeditions provide real hands-on opportunities to learn about people, places, and cultures, to see how things work, and to develop a systemic understanding of different habitats and systems.
These learning opportunities begin in the Junior Programme and continue through to Grade 12 and may also include experts who conduct seminars and workshops as well as trips off campus for service projects and other community-based activities, including wilderness excursions that bring students in contact with the natural world as well as diverse communities.
What does inclusion mean at HXLS?
HXLS believes that, as a learning community, it is our responsibility to support each of our students in reaching their own goals at their own pace and according to their own highest purpose for which their unique talents and abilities best equip them. At the same time, we expect students to respect and appreciate what is unique in each of their classmates, learning to work collaboratively to ensure that each student is allowed and expected to contribute positively to the community. Inclusion does not mean that we treat all children the same; on the contrary, supporting each child means that while we treat all children equally, we also recognise that neither do children develop at the same rate nor do they achieve success according to one standardised definition. We work from the fundamental belief that children reach understanding or mastery of the same concept or skill at different rates and that this is not only normal but also desirable.
What is expected from parents to build an understanding of the Heritage approach and how do they support the children at home?
Parents are critically important, and their support will make all the difference. At its most fundamental level, the parent-school relationship has to be based on trust. Hence, it is imperative for parents to understand the school’s philosophy and teaching methodology.
We recognise that most adults have gone through the traditional system of education and that our approach challenges many of their mental models about education. We try to redesign the mental models and align them more to our world view by organising interaction sessions and workshops for parents. We hold around three to four workshops plus four to five individual and group interactions per year. Participation in such workshops and interactive sessions is mandatory.
Parents are also invited to contribute by volunteering for different events in school such as outbound trips, story week, classroom support, co-curricular activities, and more.
