International School of Toulouse
Encyclopedia
Colomiers
Colomiers is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France.It is the largest suburb of the city of Toulouse, and is adjacent to it on the west side...
, near Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, in south west France.
According to the school's web site, "The International School of Toulouse is owned and governed by a wholly owned subsidiary of Airbus, Airbus Mobility SAS. The stated aim is that the School should help facilitate the global mobility of its workforce by ensuring that it provides appropriate educational facilities for the children of its sponsored employees working in Toulouse. Airbus sees the IST as an element in its response to the educational needs of its employees’ children both in Toulouse and in other parts of the world where the company has a significant presence. It is also willing to offer this service to parents who do not work for the company in return for the payment of a fee which contributes towards the overall revenue of the School."
History
The school was founded in 1999 after the aeronautics industry in nearby BlagnacBlagnac
Blagnac is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France.It is the third-largest suburb of the city of Toulouse, although governed by a separate council, and is adjacent to it on the northwest side. It is a member of the Urban community of Greater Toulouse...
expanded. The school is sponsored by Airbus
Airbus
Airbus SAS is an aircraft manufacturing subsidiary of EADS, a European aerospace company. Based in Blagnac, France, surburb of Toulouse, and with significant activity across Europe, the company produces around half of the world's jet airliners....
, with the aim of facilitating the mobility of their employees from all over the world.
The students
The internationally diverse student body comes from all over the globe, including Spain, South Africa, Ireland, France, Germany, the USA, Brazil, UK, Poland and many other countries.The curriculum
With the exception of sport, French, Spanish and German lessons, the teaching is mostly in English. The school is noted for its use of information technologyInformation technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
in teaching and learning, with every student from age 9 onwards having the loan of their own laptop computer with windows 2010 intalled.
The Primary school follows the International Primary Curriculum (IPC), while the Secondary school offers students the GCSE and IGCSE
IGCSE
The International General Certificate of Secondary Education is an internationally recognised qualification for school students, typically in the 14–16 age group. It is similar to the GCSE in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Standard Grade in Scotland or Junior Certificate in the Republic of...
to the 14-16 age range, and the International Baccalaureate in the sixth form
Sixth form
In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...
for those after the age of 16.
Tuition and Fees
Although the school is intended principally to serve the educational needs of children of sponsored Airbus employees who transfer to Toulouse, other children may be accepted to the school on a tuition-paying basis, subject to available space and evaluation of their suitability. The tuition scale below compares with France's national statistics agency INSEE's figure for the average salary in Midi-PyrénéesMidi-Pyrénées
Midi-Pyrénées is the largest region of metropolitan France by area, larger than the Netherlands or Denmark.Midi-Pyrénées has no historical or geographical unity...
of €21,448 (latest figures from 2006).
The 2009-2010 school year tuition is:
€ 6,200 UK: FS1 US: Preschool FR: PS
€ 9,315 UK: FS2, Yrs 1-2 US: Preschool, K, 1 FR: MS, GS, CP
€10,610 UK: Yrs 3-6 US: 2-5 FR: CE1 - CM2
€14,990 UK: Yrs 7-9 US: 6-8 FR: 6eme - 4eme
€15,390 UK: Yrs 10-11 US: 9-10 FR: 3eme - 2nde
€17,065 UK: Yrs 12-13 US: 11-12 FR: 1ere - Terminale
A €1,000 registration fee must accompany an application and becomes non-refundable upon issuance of a letter of acceptance. There is a non-refundable €2,500 capital fee for each enrolling student. A refundable €1,000 security fee is charged to students who are issued a laptop computer.
Holiday schools
During the February, Easter and Summer holidays, the school runs an ‘English School’ programme for local non-native speakers of English. For a total of five weeks in the year, a variety of courses in English, Drama, Music, ICT, Science, Art, Film Making and Sport are available.There is also an Arsenal Soccer School in the holidays for boys and girls aged between 6 and 14.