Rotterdam International Secondary School Reviews (11)

The school puts a great focus on a sense of community. If you as a student are willing to put your input into the class and school's values then you will have a great time. The teachers are kind and most are ready to build a great bond with you over the years that you are active in the school.

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Amazing School! The teachers are great and the students are respectful and amazing. 110% worth it! Our family moved all the way from Noord-Holland to Rotterdam, just for this school. Never have I been happier with my son's education!

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My son left RISS two years ago after taking the IGCSE. I feel that the previous review is too critical of the school. The school teachers were mostly motivated and offered great help to my son. There were also many interactive lessons which made my son better engaged in learning. However, I agree with the assessment of the two worst teachers. Yes, the head of middle years was a very stubborn and inconsiderate man. He really annoyed us during our year at the school, but he’s nothing compared to the ICT teacher. He was a complete brute without a speck of decency. He will regularly curse students, berate them for doing the right thing, and never apologize. I don’t know if he had such high intelligence or fantastic skills to excuse his abrasive behavior, but the school kept him anyway. If you’re planning to send your kid to RISS junior campus, don’t do it until the school fires that teacher for good.

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My daughter graduated from RISS two years ago so I can give you a good perspective on it. RISS is good if you’d like to spend carefree high school years, but think twice if you’re aiming for high grades. I’ll just show you what this means in terms of teachers, lessons, students and facilities. #1. Teachers. Most teachers are kind and friendly but aren’t knowledgeable. They like talking to students but most don’t have the know-how to make them succeed. Keep in mind this is what most teachers are like. There were two terrible teachers during my daughter’s time at RISS. One was the ICT teacher. He was incredibly brusque, shouting at students, kicking chairs and raving at an innocent child. The guy was an utter brute. What’s surprising is that the school never fired him. The other was the head of middle years. He was incredibly pig-headed and inconsiderate. This guy hated solving serious issues, even when they were urgent. He’s since left school. #2. Lessons. There’re good lessons in early years but they progressively deteriorate. At JC, there were a lot of hands-on learning like experiments, craft, etc. The IB teachers are unmotivated stock giving boring lectures. Some of them aren’t clever enough to answer basic questions, so I had to pull out books with my daughter. Just to add, there’re huge discrepancies in teacher quality across different subjects. Generally, geography, history, English and economics teachers do a good job while STEM teachers are a crap. #3. Students. Academically most students are mediocre. But personality-wise, they’re confident, mature for their age, and caring. RISS students are generally better at assignments than written tests. Sports, arts and music aren’t a big part of RISS culture. The students are more cooperative than competitive. #4. Facilities. There’re a library, science labs and a playground. The library has many books from university textbooks to novels. The science labs are poorly equipped for IB standard - they don’t have motion sensors, centrifuge or oscilloscope. The playground is dark, small and dull.

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Is a school where kids are independent and motivated to work towards their goals. Responsibility is fostered at attendance and work delivery. As a parent it is highly rewarding to see your child development grow. For me, independence in learning, motivation, goal setting, planning and responsibility are the keys to move forward. My daughter seems to be developing on these areas even through the Pandemic.

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In the beginning of the year everything seemed fine as the students were very friendly. The students were also diverse. The teachers however halfway throughout the year 3 out of the 9 teachers the students had were gone. For whatever reason one third of the teachers for the 7th grade were gone. Not to mention how much communication was missing from the school. All we ever got was a .PNG file detailing very vague amount of information. The school would never respond to any email reply if you had any. The school was also very keen on keeping you informed that you hadn't paid the school for a second year yet. While there was a lock down during the year the school made very little effort for the teachers to do anything. All they had to do was call, make sure everyone was on the call, then proceed to hand out 1-3 pieces of work and would call it a day. This would happen every day for every class so at they end the students would have up to 6-18 pieces of work which is a ridiculous amount. The students in grade 7 tried to at least talk to their tutor, someone watching over a large amount of children, about the amount of work they had. The tutor always said they were going to make changes but in the end there were none. The school has very little cooperation with you. The teachers are very hostile. The school costs 9 thousand a year! Please do not send your children there.

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Extreme sad experience with this school. There is no communication for parents from the school The head of middle years is completetly unproffesional even half way through the year he did not know who our son even was as he confused him with another child in the class making strong accusations. There is no concern, help or feedback to find out how your child is doing. Even though my child had to travel for over an hour and due to public transportation delays had accumelated some latenesses Again, instead of communicating with the parents they send it to the leerplicht without us even being aware so again no concern, no communicating. They have completely let my child down in every single way possible. Has been an entire waste of time and money to have my child in this school. The principle is also not helpful and as my child is not an easy learner she only recommends to have him go to another school Do not recommend this school and they are very nice and supportive when you start to make you believe your child is in good hands Well, reality shows totally different

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