International School in Bali by Gen Wright

Parents who are looking for a great school for their children, should turn their attention to Sunrise School in Bali.

This school is really a model of inspired education and strives to develop young adults who are confident, responsible and creative builders of their future. The emphasis the Sunrise School puts is on the whole child and on learning in a co-operative, community-centered environment. The school especially strives towards excellence in the creative arts and environmental science.

At the same time, Sunrise School which is the first holistic school in Bali, is a center of excellence for holistic education. This is a philosophy of education based on the premise that each person finds identity, meaning, and purpose in life through connections to the community, to the natural world, and to spiritual values such as compassion and peace.

The mission statement of the Sunrise School states that they support students to meet academic, social and emotional challenges with openness, enthusiasm and a willingness to solve problems. They also encourage students to think globally, act locally and feel totally. The school responds to the students' needs with integrity, openness, compassion , trust and faith. It also strives to maintain a balance between freedom and structure in the context of everyday experience. Most importantly, it provides a holistic learning environment that is based on one simple principle: everything in the universe is connected, in some way, to something else.

The teaching methods of the school are based on the recognition of multiple intelligences and makes every effort to approach learning through a variety of the following modalities: visual-spatial, verbal-linguistic, logical-mathematical, interpersonal, musical-rhythmic, bodily kinesthetic, intra-personal and naturalist. These teaching methods inspire students to explore and strengthen less dominant intelligences. The academic framework of the school is based on the British National Curriculum.

Students who attend the Sunrise School are taught to promote environmental awareness through hands-on projects in the community. Their creativity is nurtured here as a safe place for them to explore, experience and communicate is provided. One of the project they conceived is the play "Is It Really Rubbish?", as a way to take a simple message out into the community. The play drew attention from the Bali Hotels Associated, who then agreed to sponsor the costs of having the play performed at local schools. The play has been performed by a cross section of school students, a song was added and the students spoke in English and Indonesian. It grew in size and by now the school has two independent performing groups that can take the play all over Bali.

At present, the Sunrise School has an enrolment of 120 students. These children come from various social background. There are about 20 different nationalities.

The school has a nursery class (18 month - 3 years old), playgroup 3 (for children who are 3 by October 31st), a playgroup 4 (for children who'll be 4 by October 31st), a kindergarten, Primary school level which some of them are composite class (grades 1-2, 3-4 and 5), and a junior high school for grades 6-9.

Fees structure can be seen in sunriseschoolbali website. In their website we can get about one-time registration fee, and annual development, resource and tuition fees, their vision and mission and many things about sunrise.