D.0 – D.58 (D.55 retired; content moved to D.0)
Part D — Signature Core Programs (D.0–D.58)
Draft · not yet in force. Published so families and staff can read where the school is heading. It applies once it is approved and given an effective date.
- Version
- 1.0 (draft)
- Applies to
- All students K–12, all coaches and program staff, and — where stated — placement hosts and partners
- Approved by
- Head of School with Program Directors (Tier 5 charters; Tier 4/6 for operational policies within strands)
- Effective date
- [Date]
- Review cycle
- Charters annually; operational policies annually; safety-critical sections each term
- Owner
- Each strand's Program Director, under the Director of Learning; D.0 owned by the Head of School
- Related policies
- Part C Curriculum; E.4 Graduation Requirements; E.15 Timetabling; E.17 ISDP; E.18 Portfolio; F.1 Student Code; Part J Safeguarding; T House System
Contents
Each policy opens on its own. Use the contents to go straight to one.
Part D Philosophy
HIS is a sandbox, not a school — and Part D is the sandbox itself. The IB continuum (Part C) builds the knowing; Part D builds the doing: the skills, tools, experiences, health, character, crafts, work, and public attempts that turn a student into a doer. These programs are not extracurricular, enrichment, or decoration. They are core, timetabled, staffed, assessed, and required — the difference between HIS and a school with good clubs.
Every strand answers to three standards: real (authentic skills, tools, work, and audiences — no simulations where reality is available), for everyone (every strand touches every student; aid status, ability, and pathway never gate access — B.9 §5, A.16), and integrated (one student, one plan — every strand reports into the ISDP and portfolio, orchestrated by the Head Coach).
D.0Core Program Integration Policy (the sandbox's operating system)
Purpose. The single most important operational document for protecting the HIS identity. It exists so that twelve ambitious strands and two diploma pathways behave as one school rather than fourteen competing ones.
- The architecture. The HIS core comprises the IB/HCP academic programs (Part C) plus the twelve Part D strands: Life Skills, Life Tools, Life Experience, Wellbeing, Nutrition, STEM & Research, Entrepreneurship, Character & Timeless Skills, Arts & Sports Mastery, Student Athlete, Internship, and Passion & Impact Projects. All are required components of an HIS education; none may be reduced to an elective or club without Board approval.
- Timetable protection. E.15 allocates protected weekly time to Part D strands by grade band, published annually. Academic pressure is never a valid reason to cannibalize strand time; when load conflicts arise, they are resolved by the calibration rules of D.15, not by quiet erosion. The Head of School audits actual (not planned) strand hours each term.
- Staffing. Each strand has a named Program Director; strand delivery is staffed by qualified coaches and expert-track staff (M-III) — never assigned as leftover load to unwilling generalists (M.8).
- One student, one plan. Every strand writes into the same three instruments: the ISDP (E.17, goals and progress), the portfolio (E.18, evidence), and Head Coach reporting (E.16, the narrative). No strand maintains a private reporting universe; the Head Coach sees and orchestrates the whole.
- The load equation. A student's total commitment — academics, mastery training, projects, internship hours, house life, enrichment — is visible in one place (the ISDP) and governed by D.15 limits. Program Directors negotiate conflicts; the Head Coach arbitrates for the student; the Division Principal decides where directors cannot agree. The student's development wins over any program's convenience — including a program's competitive results.
- Graduation integration. E.4 graduation requirements encode the strands: mastery of an art and a sport (D.39 levels), the capstone ladder (C.38), internship completion (D.48), core program participation, and the portfolio. Transcripts and the Mastery Transcript (E.18) present Part D achievement with the same dignity as course grades.
- House integration. Houses (Part T) are a delivery vehicle for Part D: house competitions carry mastery and character; house conservation stewardship (T.5) carries impact projects; vertical house mentoring carries leadership. Strand designers use the house structure deliberately.
- Family transparency. Parents receive, at enrollment and yearly, one plain document explaining the whole core — what their child will do in each strand, why, and what it demands of the family (R.1, R.2 §3).
- The integration audit. Annually, the Head of School reports to the Board on integration health: strand hours delivered vs. planned, load data, double-reporting failures, parity across pathways and houses, and one hard question — where did we behave like fourteen schools instead of one?
D-ILife skills program
What every capable adult can do — taught, practiced, and verified, K–12.
D.1Life Skills Program Charter
- Purpose. HIS graduates run their own lives. The Life Skills Program teaches, K–12, the practical competencies of a capable adult, organized in five domains: self-management (time, habits, organization, goal-setting), financial literacy (money, saving, budgeting, credit, investment basics, taxes), communication & relationships (conversation, writing that works, negotiation, conflict resolution, collaboration, public speaking), practical living (cooking — with D-V, household maintenance, first aid and safety, navigation and travel, civic and legal literacy), and judgment (decision-making, risk assessment, media and information discernment).
- Delivery. A timetabled spiral curriculum K–12 (E.15 protected), taught by coaches and vetted practitioners (D.3), reinforced deliberately across academic subjects and strand activities — budgeting appears in ventures (D-VII), first aid in expeditions (D-III), negotiation in internships (D-XI).
- Graduation expectation. By graduation every student demonstrates the published competency set (D.2) — verified, not attended. A senior who cannot cook a meal, read a contract, budget a month, speak to a room, or dress a wound has been failed by the school, whatever their grades.
- Governance. Life Skills Director maintains the scope & sequence, reviews it annually against alumni feedback ("what did adult life demand that we didn't teach?"), and reports competency completion rates to the Head of School.
D.2Life Skills Competency Framework & Assessment Guidelines
- Each domain resolves into observable competencies by grade band, published as the Life Skills Map: what a G3, G6, G9, and G12 student can do — e.g., G3 ties knots, handles pocket money, introduces themselves; G6 cooks simple meals, plans a week, gives basic first aid; G9 budgets real money, negotiates a plan, navigates a city; G12 files the tax form, reads the lease, runs the meeting, performs CPR.
- Assessment is performance: demonstrations, real tasks, and simulations with published checklists — never written tests about skills. Competencies are recorded as achieved/not-yet in the ISDP; the portfolio holds evidence of the interesting ones.
- Re-attempts are unlimited and unpenalized (C.2 §4): the point is possession of the skill, not the speed of acquisition.
- Families are enlisted: home practice of age-appropriate skills is part of the R.2 partnership; the school teaches, the household rehearses.
D.3Life Skills Instructor Standards & External Provider Vetting Policy
- Life Skills is taught by people who possess the skills at professional standard: coaches with verified capability, expert-track staff, and external practitioners — paramedics for first aid, chefs for cooking (D-V staff), financial professionals for money, lawyers for legal literacy.
- External providers are vetted per J.4 (safeguarding), contracted with defined outcomes, always supervised by an HIS coach, and evaluated after every engagement; content is approved against D.2 before delivery — no provider sells the school its own curriculum unexamined.
- First aid, water safety, and similar safety-critical instruction uses certified instructors and recognized certification schemes, so student credentials are real (Life Tools badging, D.5).
D-IILife tools program
The instruments of modern work — mastered progressively, certified visibly.
D.4Life Tools Program Charter
- Purpose. Doers are only as good as their command of tools. The Life Tools Program builds progressive mastery, K–12, across five toolkits: digital fluency (operating systems, files, cloud, office suites, touch typing early and properly), AI literacy (capabilities, limits, prompting, verification, ethics — the K.3 rules taught as skill, not just restriction), computation & data (coding K–12 spiral, data analysis, statistics in tools, databases), research tools (search, sources, reference managers, lab information systems — with C.13/C.3), and making & design (CAD, fabrication tools, design software, media production, workshop machines — gateway to D.23 and D.6 certification).
- Delivery. Timetabled instruction plus embedded use: tools are taught in dedicated time and required in academic work — the essay uses the reference manager, the science IA uses real data tools, the venture uses real accounting software. A tool taught but never demanded is a tool untaught.
- Currency. The toolkit list is reviewed annually (C.7 horizon scan): tools are added and retired as the world moves — the program teaches current instruments and the meta-skill of learning new ones.
- Equity. Device and software access per K.2/B.9 §5: no student's toolkit depends on family purchasing power.
D.5Tools Certification & Progression Framework
- Tool mastery is certified through a published badge ladder per toolkit and grade band — from foundation badges (K–5) through practitioner (MYP) to professional-tool certifications (DP/HCP: industry-recognized certificates where they exist — cloud platforms, design suites, safety tickets for machines).
- Badges are earned by demonstration under published criteria, recorded in the ISDP, displayed in the portfolio, and honored across strands: a badge is a key — workshop machine access (D.6), lab instrument access (D.25), venture tool access (D.30), internship eligibility signals (D.48).
- External certifications are funded for aided students (B.9 §5); the school negotiates education licensing so real professional tools are the norm.
- Badging integrity: assessors follow C.3 discipline; a badge signed off without genuine demonstration is an M.4 §1 integrity matter for the signer.
D.6Workshop, Makerspace & Equipment Safety Rules
- Access to workshops, makerspaces, and their machines is certification-gated (D.5) and tier-based: supervised use → certified independent use → certified supervisor-of-peers (senior students may earn peer-supervision status; adult supervision requirements per Q.2 never lapse for minors).
- Absolute rules: PPE as posted; no lone working — ever; machines locked out when unstaffed; every incident and near-miss reported same-day (D.54 pattern); horseplay in a machine space is a Level 2–3 conduct matter (F.1 §6.10).
- These rules operate under Q.2 (primary safety authority) and beside D.25 (labs); one campus safety officer audits all three domains on one calendar.
- Safety training is curriculum, not compliance: risk assessment is taught as a life skill (D.1 judgment domain) — students learn to write the risk assessment, not just obey it.
D-IIILife experience program
Reality as curriculum: expeditions, immersions, exchanges, and work.
D.7Life Experience Program Charter
- Purpose. Some things cannot be taught in rooms. The Life Experience Program places every student, every year, K–12, in structured real-world experience of rising demand across four families: expedition (outdoor and wilderness challenge, progressing from day walks to multi-day self-supported journeys), immersion (cultural, linguistic, and community immersion at home and abroad — herder-family stays to city exchanges), service in the field (D.36-integrated real service, including house conservation fieldwork, T.5), and work exposure (visits through shadowing to the internship ladder, D-XI, which this strand feeds).
- The progression matrix publishes, per grade band, the expected experience family, duration, and challenge level — each year demonstrably more demanding in self-reliance, discomfort tolerated, and responsibility carried. G12 students should look back at a 13-year ladder of widening reality.
- Design standard. Every experience has written learning intentions, preparation, and structured reflection (D.10) — adventure tourism with no debrief is not the program.
- Universality. Every student participates; medical and support adjustments per C.4 §6 adapt the experience, not excuse it; costs for aided students per B.9 §5.
D.8Experience Risk Assessment & Approval Matrix
- Every experience is risk-assessed and approved per a published matrix binding challenge level → assessment depth → approval authority: routine local activities (coach + Program Director) → overnight and physical-challenge activities (P.5 process + Division Principal) → wilderness, water, altitude, and international experiences (full expedition protocol: qualified leaders per activity type, route plans, communications, medical support, evacuation plans — Head of School approval).
- Risk is managed toward the learning edge, not eliminated: the matrix distinguishes hazard (to be controlled) from challenge (to be preserved). A sanitized experience fails its purpose; an uncontrolled one betrays the sandbox promise. The safety floors (Part J, I.9, P.5–P.6) are absolute.
- Leaders hold current qualifications for their activity type (wilderness first aid, water rescue, mountain leadership as applicable); ratios per activity standards; weather/condition no-go criteria are written before departure and honored without machismo.
- Near-misses across the program are collected and reviewed annually — the matrix learns.
D.9Internship, Work Experience & Industry Partner Policy (strand gateway)
- Work exposure within Life Experience — visits, shadowing, short work experience — is governed here; the full internship ladder is governed by D-XI, which takes primacy for any placement of substance (D.48–D.54).
- This strand's role: K–10 exposure that feeds informed pathway choice (C.46) — every MYP student completes at least [one] structured work-exposure experience per year, drawn from the school's partner network (C.37, D.50–51 vetted).
- All contact with external adults follows J.2 §8; even a one-day visit uses vetted hosts and school supervision.
D.10Reflection, Documentation & Credit Policy
- Every experience closes with structured reflection appropriate to age — from PYP circle talk to DP/HCP written and presented analysis; reflection quality is coached (it is itself a timeless skill, D.33).
- Documentation flows to the portfolio (E.18) and, where applicable, credits CAS (C.28), Service as Action (C.22), and HCP practice hours (C.43) — one experience may credit several frameworks honestly: the coordinator of each framework guards its own bar (C.28 §2).
- The Life Experience record in the ISDP shows the 13-year ladder at a glance — which families of experience each student has met, and where their edges are.
D-IVWellbeing program
Rigor is only sustainable on a foundation of health — taught, measured, and defended.
D.11Wellbeing Program Charter
- Purpose. HIS demands much; the Wellbeing Program is the counterweight that makes the demand sustainable and the sandbox safe to fail in. It has three arms: the taught strand (K–12 wellbeing curriculum: physical health, mental health literacy, relationships, digital wellbeing, sleep, stress and recovery), the structural arm (advisory and house pastoral structures, load calibration D.15, the school calendar itself), and the clinical arm (counseling services, I.6 — delivered by professionals, governed in Part I).
- The pastoral net. Every student is known well by name and story through three overlapping structures: the Head Coach (M.25 — first owner of wellbeing), the advisory/mentoring group (M.27), and the house (T.4 vertical community). The net is designed so no student can fall between them; the DSL and counselors sit behind all three.
- Wellbeing is taught as competence, not comfort: students learn to manage energy, recover from setbacks, support peers, and seek help early — capabilities of the doer, in the D.33 skills map.
- Program Director: Director of Wellbeing, working with Division Principals, counselors, and the Nutrition Director (D-V is wellbeing's kitchen arm).
D.12Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Curriculum Policy
- A K–12 SEL scope & sequence (evidence-based framework, adapted to HIS vocabulary) runs through advisory time and the taught strand: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, responsible decision-making — mapped onto the Character Framework (D.32) so SEL and character speak one language.
- SEL is taught by trained coaches (M.7), practiced in real strand contexts (team projects, houses, expeditions), and never graded — it is formation, not performance.
- The curriculum is reviewed against wellbeing data (D.14) annually.
D.13Mindfulness, Resilience & Positive Education Guidelines
- HIS teaches a practical recovery toolkit: attention and mindfulness practices, sleep hygiene, breathing and regulation techniques, cognitive reframing, gratitude and savoring practices — offered as tools, evidence-explained, never imposed as ideology; families' cultural and religious sensibilities are respected (secular framing).
- Resilience is built the sandbox way — through supported real challenge (D-III, mastery training, ventures) with reflection — not through comfort avoidance lectures. The program's resilience claim is audited against D.14 data, not asserted.
- Coaches receive the same toolkit for themselves (M.28).
D.14Wellbeing Measurement & Student Voice Policy
- The school measures what it claims to care about: validated wellbeing surveys [twice] yearly (age-appropriate), pulse checks in advisory, and structured student voice channels (F.1/STU leadership, house forums) — because a wellbeing program flying blind is theater.
- Data governance: survey data is handled under O.1 with strict access (Wellbeing Director, counselors, Division Principals); individual red flags trigger the pastoral net (D.11 §2), not records in the academic file; aggregate results go to leadership and the Board annually.
- Response duty: every survey cycle produces a published "you said → we did/why not" response; measurement without response teaches students their voice is decoration.
- External benchmarking every [2] years against comparable schools.
D.15Workload, Sleep & Balance Guidelines (the calibration rules)
- This policy is the governor on the whole HIS engine. It publishes, per grade band: homework caps (E.2), training-load ceilings (with D.43 for athletes), project and assessment calendar rules (C.30), earliest start/latest finish for school commitments, and protected recovery: no-homework recesses, at least [one] commitment-free weekend day weekly, and sleep education targets.
- The load ledger. Each student's total load is visible in the ISDP (D.0 §5); when a student's ledger breaches guidelines, the Head Coach must act — trimming with the student and family, not merely noting.
- Escalation asymmetry: any coach may reduce a student's load unilaterally pending review; increasing beyond guidelines requires Wellbeing Director sign-off (granted for defined pushes — competition seasons, capstone finals — with recovery scheduled after).
- The calendar itself obeys wellbeing: assessment-free weeks after intensives, staggered deadlines across subjects (C.30), and a school year audited annually for cumulative load shape.
D-VHIS nutrition program
The school feeds minds with its kitchen as deliberately as with its library.
D.16Nutrition Program Charter
- Purpose. HIS runs its own proprietary nutrition program because food is infrastructure for learning, training, and health — and because a school that teaches excellence cannot serve mediocrity at noon. The program has four arms: feeding (all meals and snacks served on campus), fueling (athlete and training nutrition with D-X), teaching (food education and culinary literacy, D.20, with Life Skills), and modeling (the campus food environment itself teaches — what is sold, served, and celebrated).
- Standards ownership. A qualified school dietitian owns nutritional standards; the Nutrition Director owns the program; kitchen operations meet professional standards (D.21) and serve as a real HCP training site (D.49, C.40 culinary pathway) — the kitchen is itself part of the sandbox.
- Scope. The program governs all food on campus and school activities: dining, events, trips (expedition rations per D.8 planning), boarding if applicable, vending (none except as D.22 permits), and celebrations (D.22, R.8).
- Annual report to the Head of School: nutritional quality metrics, participation, waste, feedback, and cost honesty.
D.17Menu Design & Nutritional Standards Policy
- Menus are designed by the dietitian with the kitchen team on published standards: age-based nutritional requirements per recognized guidelines, [4–6]-week rotating menus, real cooking from whole ingredients as the default (ultra-processed items are the exception requiring justification, not the norm requiring one), and hydration always free and everywhere.
- Food is designed to be eaten: taste, variety, and cultural range (Mongolian foodways honored alongside world cuisine) are standards equal to nutrition — uneaten virtue feeds no one. Plate-waste data feeds menu review.
- Menus are published to families in advance with nutritional transparency; student food committees taste-test and advise (D.14 voice ethic).
- Sugar, caffeine, and energy-drink rules by age band are published here and enforced campus-wide.
D.18Food Sourcing, Quality & Supplier Standards Policy
- Sourcing follows published standards: quality and freshness specifications per category, local and seasonal sourcing preferred where quality allows (and used as curriculum — D.20 farm/market links), approved-supplier lists with audits (N.4 procurement discipline), and full traceability on protein and high-risk categories.
- Supplier relationships are arm's-length (N.10 applies if any related party); quality failures have a written escalation path from rejection to delisting.
- Sustainability standards (Q.5): waste reduction targets, packaging rules, and food-waste tracking with student-facing data (an impact-project vein, D.56).
D.19Special Diets, Allergy & Medical Nutrition Policy
- Every student's dietary requirements — allergy, intolerance, medical, religious, and considered family choice — are recorded at enrollment (B.3), verified where medical (I.4), visible to kitchen and supervising staff through a controlled system (O.1), and met without drama or exclusion: the allergic child eats with everyone, safely.
- Allergy management is governed clinically by I.4 (anaphylaxis plans, epinephrine, training); this policy binds the kitchen side: separation protocols, labeling of all served food, [nut-aware / allergen-controlled] campus rules as I.4 defines, and no food service without the allergy list checked.
- Trips carry the same standard (D.8 planning includes dietary logistics).
- Disordered-eating vigilance: food staff and coaches are trained to notice and refer concerns to the pastoral net (D.11 §2, I.6) — the dining hall is part of the wellbeing watch.
D.20Food Education & Culinary Literacy Curriculum Policy
- Every student learns to feed themselves and others well: a K–12 spiral within Life Skills (D.1 practical living) — food origins and growing (PYP gardens), kitchen skills by band (knife skills, methods, safety), nutrition science (with MYP/DP sciences), meal planning and budgets (D.1 financial literacy), and food culture (Mongolian and world foodways, hospitality as character).
- Taught in real kitchens under D.21 hygiene rules, by kitchen professionals and coaches together; the G6 and G12 competency checks (D.2) include cooking.
- The dining hall is a classroom: menu provenance displayed, dietitian office hours, student food committee (D.17 §3).
D.21Food Safety, Hygiene & Kitchen Operations Policy
- All kitchens operate a documented HACCP system: hazard analysis, critical control points, temperature logging, cleaning schedules, pest control, delivery inspection — audited internally [monthly] and externally [annually]; results to the Head of Operations.
- Kitchen staff hold food-safety certification by role; health screening and exclusion rules (illness reporting) are enforced without exception; student kitchen access (D.20 classes, D.49 interns, culinary HCP) operates under supervised food-safety rules with age-appropriate certification (D.5 badges).
- Incident protocol: suspected foodborne illness triggers immediate isolation of suspect food, I.5 health response, family communication (L.5 standards), and authority notification as law requires (A.14).
- This policy operates under Q.2 (primary safety authority) for occupational matters.
D.22Outside Food, Celebrations & Vending Policy
- The campus food environment is protected: no commercial vending of food or drink on campus except program-approved exceptions (student ventures may sell food only under D.30 + D.21 supervised terms); no fast-food delivery to students during the school day.
- Outside food from home is permitted within published rules: allergen rules absolute (D.19), no energy drinks or age-inappropriate caffeine (D.17 §4), shared food only if sourced per celebration rules below.
- Celebrations (birthdays, house feasts, cultural festivals — R.8): food celebrations are welcome and culturally honored, arranged through the kitchen or from an approved list, allergen-cleared in advance — celebration and safety are not rivals.
- Staff model the policy in student-facing spaces (M.4 §leading by example is policy, not preference).
D-VIStem, research & innovation program
The science-and-technology spine: real labs, real research, real publication.
D.23STEM Program Charter
- Purpose. Science and technology are HIS's declared focus. The STEM Program guarantees, K–12: laboratory science with real practical work every year (not demonstration-only science), engineering and making through the workshop ladder (D-II), computation as a core literacy (D.4), mathematics excellence as its foundation (C.48), and a genuine research pathway (D.24) for students ready to push past curriculum.
- Facilities standard. The school maintains professional-grade labs, workshops, and equipment (Q.3, OPS-03): students meet real instruments early and often; the facilities plan is reviewed against the curriculum's ambitions annually — the program defines the building, not the reverse.
- People. Expert-track scientists and engineers (M-III) are embedded in the program by design: teaching, supervising research, running journal clubs, and keeping the school's science honest and current.
- For everyone. STEM at HIS is universal literacy, not a track: every student, both pathways, works the lab and the workshop; deep specialization is open to those who choose it (C.25, C.40 technology pathway) but the spine belongs to all.
- Program Director: Director of STEM & Research; annual report to Head of School and Board (with C.47's R&D report).
D.24Student Research Program Policy
- The offer. Students ready for real inquiry conduct mentored research: school-based projects with expert-track supervisors, partnered projects with universities and institutes (D.28), and field research (with D-III logistics). Entry by readiness and commitment, from upper MYP; the EE (C.26) and capstones (C.38) plug into this machinery.
- Research ethics. An Ethics Review Panel (STEM Director, a counselor, an external member) reviews every project involving human participants, animals, personal data, or meaningful risk — before work begins. Data integrity rules (C.3 §5) apply absolutely; raw data is retained and inspectable.
- Supervision. Every project has a named supervisor (J.2 visibility rules for one-to-one work); supervisor load is workload-credited (M.8).
- Publication & competition. The program actively routes strong work outward: science fairs (D.26), national and international competitions, journals for young researchers, and conference participation — with C.3 authorship honesty (students author what students did) and D.58 public standards.
- Safety. Research in labs and field follows D.25/Q.3 and D.8 as applicable; no research safety shortcut survives ambition.
D.25Laboratory & Workshop Access, Certification & Safety Policy
- Lab access mirrors the D.6 model: certification-gated tiers — supervised class work → certified techniques (published ladder per discipline: glassware and heat, chemical handling bands, biological materials by class, instrument tickets) → independent project access (with D.24 approval) — recorded as D.5 badges.
- Absolute rules: no lone working; chemical and biological storage per Q.3 with controlled-substance logging; PPE as posted; every incident and near-miss reported same-day; safety violations suspend access pending retraining, regardless of who and how promising.
- After-hours project access (the sandbox works evenings): permitted for certified seniors under written schedule, staffed supervision, and buddy rules — never alone (J.2 §4 visibility applies to adults too).
- One safety officer audits D.6 + D.25 + Q.2–Q.3 domains on one calendar (D.6 §3); the audit includes an annual live drill (spill, injury, fire per L.2).
D.26Science Fair, STEM Competitions & Innovation Exhibition Policy
- The school runs an annual Innovation Exhibition — every research project, build, and venture shows publicly (D.58 standards) with juried awards; houses field entries (T.3 points).
- External competition entry (olympiads, science fairs, robotics, informatics — P.8) is deliberate: selection is transparent and merit-based (A.16), preparation is coached and scheduled (C.49 §3, D.15 load rules), and international representation follows P.6 trip governance.
- Results are honored like sports results and mined like data: what our students met abroad that we don't teach flows into C.7 review.
D.27Student Intellectual Property & Invention Policy
- Default: the student owns it. IP in student work — inventions, code, designs, creative works, ventures — belongs to the student, as principle and as incentive. The school claims no automatic rights in student creations.
- Qualified exceptions, always written in advance: projects on partner problems may carry negotiated terms (C.37 §2 — disclosed before the student opts in); research within a supervisor's ongoing program follows agreed authorship/IP terms set at project start (D.24); ventures using significant school investment may carry agreed revenue terms (D.30).
- The school provides IP literacy (D.1 legal literacy, D.30): students learn what patents, copyright, licenses, and NDAs are before they sign anything; no student signs partner IP terms without school and parent review (minors — D.52 legal frame).
- Where a student invention has commercial promise, the school helps — advisors, prior-art searching, filing support through partners — on terms that keep the student's ownership central (a founder's school does not farm its founders).
- Staff IP in teaching materials and research follows M.23; joint student–staff work carries written terms per D.24 §2.
D.28University, Industry & Research Institution Partnership Policy
- The STEM program maintains a deliberate partner portfolio — universities, institutes, industry labs, and sister companies (D.50 governance) — for research supervision, facility access, mentorship, data, and pathways.
- Every partnership has a written agreement covering: scope, student safeguarding (J.2 §8 — non-negotiable clause), data protection (O.6), IP terms (D.27 pattern), publication rights, and review dates; partnerships are reviewed annually for actual student benefit — logos on a wall are not a partnership.
- Partner scientists working with students are vetted or supervised per J.4; off-campus placements in partner facilities follow the D-XI ladder rules.
- Partnership development is a named responsibility of the STEM Director and expert-track staff (their networks are part of what HIS hired — M.19).
D-VIIEntrepreneurship program
Action in its purest form: students create real value for real customers.
D.29Entrepreneurship Program Charter
- Purpose. Entrepreneurship is the doer's discipline of turning problems into value, and HIS teaches it by practice on a K–12 ladder: market days (PYP: make, price, sell, count — with D.1 money literacy), student enterprises (MYP: term-length real micro-businesses in teams, real customers, real accounts), incubated ventures (DP/HCP: sustained ventures with mentorship, possibly continuing past graduation), and the venture strand of capstones and passion projects (C.38, D.56).
- Learning frame. Every venture cycle teaches the same spine: find a real problem → talk to real customers → build → sell → account honestly → reflect (the C.34 attempt cycle in commercial form). Failure of an honest venture is curriculum, not embarrassment (F.1 §7.1) — the debrief of a failed venture is among the most valuable classes HIS teaches.
- People. Taught and mentored by coaches with venture experience, expert-track entrepreneurs (M-III), sister-company operators, and vetted external mentors (D.31 rules).
- Program Director: Director of Entrepreneurship; integrates with HCP business pathway (C.40) and the case library (C.36 — HIS ventures become HIS cases).
D.30Student Enterprise & Incubator Policy
- Real, and governed. Student businesses on campus are real businesses in a protected frame: every enterprise registers with the program — concept, team, adult mentor, and a simple written plan — before trading; trading without registration is a conduct matter (the sandbox has a door).
- Money rules (absolute): every enterprise keeps books (real accounting per D.4 tools); cash handling per published controls; enterprise funds flow through program-controlled accounts (no cash boxes in lockers); accounts are reviewable at any time; profit distribution follows the published scheme — [enterprise reinvestment / team share / program fund contribution] — set at registration.
- Legal frame. Students are minors: contracts, licenses, and liabilities sit with the school's enterprise framework or a parent/guardian structure as the program defines with legal advice (A.14, D.52 pattern); the school's insurance position is documented (FIN-03/N.3); ventures needing structures beyond the frame (external investment, incorporation) go to D.31 §3 gates.
- Boundaries. Enterprises follow all school policy — food sales under D.21/D.22, campus selling only in program windows and venues, marketing honesty (a student who oversells learns why that matters now, not in court later), no ventures in prohibited categories (published list: age-restricted goods, gambling-like mechanics, academic work products — C.3).
- Incubation. Selected ventures receive the incubator tier: workspace, seed budget, expert mentor allocation, and demo-day access (D.31) — selection by published criteria, fairness-audited (A.16).
- IP per D.27; ventures continuing past graduation exit the school frame through a published handover (alumni ventures remain house stories — T.6).
D.31Pitch Events, Demo Days & External Investor/Mentor Interaction Guidelines
- The program runs public pitch events and demo days (D.58 standards): real audiences, real questions, house and family presence, external professionals as judges and mentors.
- Safeguarding frame for external contact (the sandbox's door policy): all external mentors, judges, and investors interact with students through program-organized settings (J.2 §8 — visible venues, school supervision, school channels); no external adult takes a student relationship private; contact details flow through the program.
- Investment gates. External money into a student venture is exceptional and gated: written proposal → program and legal review → parent/guardian decision with independent advice encouraged → Head of School sign-off. No student signs an investment instrument inside school processes without that chain (D.27 §3). The default answer to "can I invest in this 15-year-old's company" is not yet — mentor first.
- Prize money and winnings follow D.30 §2 money rules; media coverage of ventures follows K.10/D.58.
D-VIIICharacter & timeless skills program
The part of the graduate that outlives every technology shift.
D.32Character Education Framework
- The framework. HIS names its virtues and builds them deliberately. The framework defines [six–eight] core traits — working set: integrity, courage, perseverance (grit), self-discipline, compassion, humility, responsibility, curiosity — each with observable behaviors by grade band, in one vocabulary shared with the IB Learner Profile (C.9) and SEL curriculum (D.12).
- How character is built (the program's theory, stated so it can be audited): named and taught explicitly (assemblies, advisory, literature and cases across subjects) → practiced under real conditions (mastery grind, expedition discomfort, venture failure, internship responsibility, house duty — Part D is the character gym) → modeled by adults (M.4; students learn integrity from watching coaches under pressure) → reflected on (ISDP, D.10) → recognized (D.35).
- Anchored in Wisdom and Action: knowledge without character is dangerous, and HIS says so out loud; the framework is the school's answer to what kind of person should hold capability.
- Owned by the Director of Wellbeing & Character with Division Principals; reviewed annually against D.34 evidence and alumni testimony.
D.33Timeless Skills & Traits Framework
- Beside the virtues sit the timeless skills — capabilities valuable in any century: clear thinking and sound judgment, learning how to learn, communication that moves people, collaboration and leadership, negotiation, resilience and adaptability, focus and deep work, taste (the trained judgment of quality).
- Each skill has a K–12 progression in the unified skills map (C.8 §2 — ATL + timeless skills as one document), is taught explicitly where teachable, practiced in strand contexts everywhere, and evidenced in the portfolio.
- The map answers "where is this taught and practiced?" for every skill — a skill with no home in the timetable is an aspiration, not a program, and the annual review hunts for those.
D.34Character Assessment & Reporting Policy
- Character is evidenced, not graded: no character marks or rankings — instead, narrative reporting by the Head Coach (E.16) grounded in observed behaviors, student self-assessment and reflection in the ISDP, and portfolio evidence (what the student did when it was hard).
- Reporting discipline: narratives cite behavior, not personality ("stayed to reset the lab after the failed run" — not "is a good kid"); coaches are trained in observation-based writing (M.7); double-blindness is checked — the quiet student's character must be seen as reliably as the loud one's (A.16 lens).
- Transcript presence. The Mastery Transcript (E.18) carries character evidence — projects completed under adversity, service depth, leadership held — as verifiable record, not adjectives. University and employer references draw on it honestly (M.4 §1).
- Character concerns route through the pastoral net (D.11 §2) and, where conduct, F.1 — assessment never becomes surveillance; the distinction is audited by the Wellbeing Director.
D.35Character Recognition, Awards & Rites of Passage Policy
- Recognition honors the framework's traits, deliberately catching the unglamorous: the term-level character commendations (coach-nominated, citing behavior), house character points (T.3 — character scores beside sport), and the school's highest honors, awarded at graduation for sustained character, not charisma.
- Rites of passage mark the ladder: house induction (B.12 §4), the G5 Exhibition, MYP transition ceremonies, the first-internship send-off, the G12 capstone presentation, and graduation itself — each designed with weight (the school does ceremony seriously; belonging is built in moments).
- Awards integrity: criteria published, committees documented, fairness audited (A.16); recognition inflation is resisted — an honor everyone gets honors no one.
D.36Service & Citizenship Requirement Policy
- Service at HIS is the practice of responsibility: graduated expectations K–12 (class and campus duty → community service → sustained impact commitment), integrated with Service as Action (C.22), CAS (C.28), house stewardship (T.5), and impact projects (D.56) under one ethic: real needs, real contact, real reflection — never hours theater (C.22 §1).
- Every student's service record lives in the ISDP; depth is valued over breadth (a two-year commitment to one community beats twelve certificates).
- Citizenship is taught alongside: civic literacy (D.1), how institutions work, how change is made responsibly — the doer as citizen, not merely careerist.
D-IXArts & sports mastery program
Every student masters at least one art and at least one sport. Mastery, not exposure.
D.37Arts Mastery Requirement Policy
- The requirement. Every student, K–12, pursues progressive mastery of at least one art form — music (instrument or voice), dance, theatre, visual arts, film and media arts, creative writing, or another approved discipline — as a graduation requirement (E.4), in both pathways, without exception (adjustment, not waiver — C.4 §6).
- Structure. PYP: broad structured exposure across art forms with foundational skills; by [G4–G5]: students declare a primary art and enter its progression track; MYP onward: scheduled training in the primary art ([X] hours weekly within and beyond timetable), with performance/exhibition milestones each year; DP/HCP: continued progression, integrated with CAS (C.28) and, for arts-pathway students, the HCP (C.40).
- Provision. Specialist arts coaches (including expert-track artists, M-III), professional facilities (Q.12), instrument/equipment access regardless of family means (B.9 §5), and external conservatory/teacher recognition where families use them (D.40 §2 — external training counts, verified).
- The public requirement. Mastery is proven in front of people: every student performs or exhibits at least [once] yearly from MYP — recitals, productions, exhibitions, house arts competitions (T.3) — under D.58 standards scaled to age.
- Progression and level certification per D.39; switching disciplines per D.41.
D.38Sports Mastery Requirement Policy
- The requirement. Every student, K–12, pursues progressive mastery of at least one sport — from the school's published offering (built on its full indoor and outdoor facilities, Q.10) — as a graduation requirement (E.4), both pathways, without exception (adjustment, not waiver: the school finds the sport each body can master — C.4 §6; para-sport provision is provision, not accommodation).
- Structure. PYP: physical literacy foundation (run, throw, swim, balance — swimming competence is a mandatory life-safety component, D.1) plus broad sport sampling; by [G5–G6]: students declare a primary sport and enter its progression track; MYP onward: scheduled training ([X] hours weekly), seasonal competition appropriate to level (house leagues at minimum — T.3); DP/HCP: continued progression; competitive-tier athletes graduate into D-X.
- Provision. Qualified sports coaches per discipline (including expert-track athletes), safe training per J.10/D.45 standards (scaled to this universal tier), and facilities scheduling that honors the universal program before external rental (Q.10 priority order).
- The competitive floor. Every student competes at some level every year from MYP — house leagues exist precisely so that competition belongs to everyone, not only teams (T.3); learning to win and lose in public is a character requirement wearing sports kit (D.32 §2).
- Progression and certification per D.39; switching per D.41; training load inside D.15 ledger always.
D.39Mastery Assessment & Level Certification Policy
- The mastery ladder. One school-wide level architecture for every art and sport: Foundation → Bronze → Silver → Gold → Master (working names), each defined per discipline by published, observable standards — what a Silver pianist, Silver swimmer, Gold painter, Gold midfielder demonstrably does.
- Certification is juried: level awards are decided by panels (discipline coaches + at least one external or expert-track assessor from Silver upward), on performance/exhibition/competition evidence — never attendance. Levels are recorded in the ISDP, evidenced in the portfolio, and carried on the Mastery Transcript (E.18).
- Graduation floor: at least [Silver] in the primary art and primary sport by graduation (E.4) — set high enough to mean mastery, calibrated per discipline so it is demanding and achievable from any starting point given the years HIS provides. Students arriving late (B.7) receive adjusted trajectories with the same floor where years allow, or documented best-progress standing where they do not.
- External equivalencies are mapped (federation grades, ABRSM and equivalents, belt systems): external achievement converts to HIS levels transparently (D.40 §2).
- Standards are moderated across disciplines annually — a Gold in cello and a Gold in judo must weigh the same.
D.40Talent Development & Elite Performer Accommodation Policy
- When mastery becomes excellence, the school scales with the student: performance plans inside the ISDP for high performers — schedule accommodation (E.15 flexibility, E.12 make-up rules), training upgrades, competition calendars (P.8, P.6 travel), and coordination with D-X for athletes and C.40 pathways for pre-professional artists.
- External training integration: conservatory teachers, club programs, and national squads are recognized partners — training verified, loads coordinated through the D.15 ledger (double training invisible to the school is how young talents break), safeguarding checks on external settings per J.10 §external clubs.
- Accommodation is earned by standing and reviewed termly; academics hold their floor (C.48 is non-negotiable for the prodigy too — the school's promise to talent includes the parts of the future the talent can't see yet).
- Costs of elite development beyond the standard program are shared per published rules, with B.9 §5 protecting aided students' access to their earned level.
D.41Change of Discipline & Multi-Discipline Policy
- Switching is allowed and governed — persistence is the point of mastery, but a wrong fit discovered honestly is not a failure: switches of primary art or sport are permitted at published windows ([end of each year] through MYP; by petition in DP/HCP), after a structured conversation (student, Head Coach, both discipline coaches) that distinguishes plateau frustration (usually: stay, adjust coaching) from genuine misfit (switch, with a transition plan).
- Progress transfers where transferable (Foundation levels, athleticism, musicianship); the graduation floor (D.39 §3) is recalculated honestly against remaining years — late switches carry real cost, and students decide knowing it.
- Multi-discipline students (a second art or sport at progression level) are welcome within the D.15 load ledger; the primary discipline is always named (the floor applies to it).
- Switch patterns are monitored: a discipline losing students hemorrhages information — exit conversations feed coaching review (M.6), not blame.
D-XStudent athlete program
The competitive tier above universal mastery: serious sport, protected childhoods.
D.42Student Athlete Program Charter
- Purpose. For students whose sport rises to competitive seriousness, the Student Athlete Program provides what serious sport demands — structured training, qualified coaching, competition, sports science — inside what childhood demands: education, health, and a future beyond sport.
- Entry and standing. Entry by identification (coach nomination, trials, external club standing), published criteria per sport, and family conference: the program is a commitment, not an honor roll. Standing is reviewed [seasonally] on published terms — performance, training conduct (J.10, F.1), academic floor (D.44), and load health (D.43); exit from the program returns the student to universal mastery (D.38) with dignity, never as disgrace.
- Squad structure. Published per sport: development squads (MYP) and performance squads (DP/HCP), each with named coaches, seasonal plans, and competition calendars (P.8, P.6 travel governance).
- Relationship to D-IX: the athlete's sport is their primary sport; D.39 levels continue to apply; the program adds intensity, never replaces the frame.
- Program Director: Director of Athletics; annual report covering performance, welfare data (injuries per D.45, load per D.43), academic standing, and destinations.
D.43Training Load & Periodization Policy
- Every athlete trains on a written periodized plan: age-banded weekly load ceilings (published per sport against long-term athlete development models), mandatory rest ([1] full rest day weekly minimum; off-season rest blocks), and growth-phase load management (growth-spurt monitoring reduces load — young skeletons outrank medal tables).
- One ledger. All training counts — school squads, external clubs, national teams (D.40 §2): total load lives in the D.15 ledger; the athletics staff coordinate with external coaches, and undisclosed double training is treated as the safety issue it is.
- Load breaches are acted on, not noted (D.15 §2 pattern): the sports science lead may unilaterally reduce; increases beyond ceiling require sign-off (D.15 §3 asymmetry).
- Early specialization is resisted per published age rules: multi-sport participation is protected through [MYP] unless a sport's development model genuinely requires earlier focus — decided case-by-case with the family, on evidence.
D.44Academic-Athletic Balance Policy
- The floor. Athletes hold the same academic requirements as everyone: C.48 excellence expectations, pathway requirements, capstones. The program flexes scheduling, never standards: E.15 flexible timetabling, E.12 make-up rules for competition absence, assessment rescheduling per C.30 process, travel study plans for away competition (P.6).
- Eligibility. Squad participation requires academic good standing (published floor tied to E.5 intervention status): a struggling athlete gets support first (E.5), reduced competition load second, and benching only as the documented last lever — the incentive design keeps sport as motivation, not hostage.
- The Head Coach (grade) and sport coach coordinate through the ISDP monthly during season; the family sees one integrated picture, not two competing schools.
- Dual-career counseling (E.10, D.47) begins at program entry: every athlete plans for two futures from day one.
D.45Sports Science, Medicine & Injury Management Policy
- Program athletes receive: pre-participation screening, access to physiotherapy and sports medicine (school-provided or contracted per I.1 governance), injury surveillance (all injuries logged and analyzed by sport and cause), and evidence-based recovery protocols.
- Return-to-play is medical, not motivational: graduated return protocols per injury type; concussion strictly per I.8 (no same-day return, medical clearance, graduated stages); no coach, parent, or student overrides a medical hold — attempting to is a J.10 conduct matter.
- Athlete nutrition runs with D-V (fueling arm): performance nutrition plans, safe supplement policy ([default: food-first; supplements only by dietitian sign-off]; banned-substance education per F.6/WADA awareness at competitive levels), and disordered-eating vigilance with teeth (D.19 §4, J.10 body-talk rules).
- Growth and maturation are monitored (D.43 §1); female-athlete and adolescent-specific health risks are screened for by professionals, handled clinically (I.6/I.1), never coached around.
D.46Competition, Travel & External Club Policy
- Representing HIS takes precedence at published windows (school competition calendar); conflicts with external club fixtures are resolved by published priority rules agreed with families at program entry — ambushed loyalty conflicts are a planning failure, and the plan is the fix.
- Competition travel follows P.6 governance fully (approvals, ratios, supervision, J.2 §7 trip rules); international competition adds D.8-tier planning; missed school follows D.44 §1 machinery.
- External clubs and national duty are partners, coordinated formally: load sharing (D.43 §2), safeguarding assurance for external environments (J.10), and a single named coordinator per athlete. National-team calls are honored and celebrated; the school manages the cost to the student visibly.
- Conduct anywhere in competition — including bench, stands, and transport — is F.1 §5 territory; sideline conduct of HIS parents is R.2 §Commitment 4 territory, enforced.
D.47Dual-Career Athlete Pathway Policy
- Athletes aiming at professional or collegiate sport plan a dual career formally: the HCP sport pathway (C.40) or DP with D.40 accommodation, recruitment support (E.10: video, transcripts, eligibility regimes — NCAA-type registries where relevant), and agent/scout interaction rules (all contact through the program, J.2 §8 pattern, D.31 §3 gates for any commercial deal).
- The second future is mandatory: every athlete's ISDP carries a beyond-sport thread — pathway credentials, portfolio, mastery art (D.37 still applies) — because most athletic careers end at [25], and HIS's promise is for the fifty years after.
- Transition support: deselection, injury endings, and post-sport pivots are handled with counseling (I.6) and pathway replanning — the program's duty of care runs through the exit.
- Alumni athletes are tracked and engaged (T.6, R.10): their trajectories are the program's honest scoreboard.
D-XIHIS internship program
The three-tier doer ladder: on-campus → sister companies → external companies.
D.48Internship Program Charter
- Purpose. HIS students do real work before they graduate — because doers are made in workplaces, not just classrooms. The program runs a progressive three-tier ladder: Tier 1, on-campus roles (from [G7]); Tier 2, sister-company placements (from [G9]); Tier 3, external company internships (from [G10]) — each tier raising independence, stakes, and distance from the school's direct supervision.
- The graduation requirement (E.4): every student completes at least [Tier 1 + one higher tier / X total placement-hours] before graduation; HCP students exceed this through C.43 professional practice hours (which run on this ladder).
- Progression gates: advancement to each tier requires completion of the prior tier, workplace-readiness training (D.1 skills: communication, confidentiality, conduct; D.53 learning-agreement literacy), Head Coach sign-off (readiness and load per D.15), and the tier's legal preconditions (D.52).
- Placement matching balances student pathway interest (C.46), the placement's learning value (D.53), and equal access (A.16 — audited annually: aided students, both genders, all houses reach Tier 3 at comparable rates; sister-company access per D.50 §2 transparency).
- Program Director: Director of Internships & Partnerships; the register of hosts, placements, incidents, and outcomes reports annually to the Head of School and (D.50 matters) the Board.
D.49On-Campus Internship Policy (Tier 1)
- The school is the first workplace: published student roles across school operations — nutrition kitchen (under D.21 rules), IT helpdesk, library, media and events, lab and workshop technician assistants (certified per D.25/D.6), junior coaching and peer tutoring (under staff supervision, J.2 frame), front office and admin.
- Every role has a role description (duties, skills, supervisor), application and selection process (real applications — CV and interview practice is part of the point, D.1), defined term, hour caps (within D.15 ledger; [X] hours weekly maximum), and end-of-term evaluation (D.53 pattern, scaled).
- Boundary with staff work: student roles supplement, never replace, paid staff (a matter of both labor ethics and program integrity); students never supervise safety-critical functions, handle confidential records beyond their clearance (O.3), or work unsupervised with younger students beyond M.27-framed peer-mentoring structures.
- Tier 1 completion certifies workplace basics — punctuality, instruction-taking, service attitude — evidenced in the ISDP for Tier 2 progression.
D.50Sister Company Placement Policy (Tier 2)
- The asset, governed. Sister companies give HIS students what few schools can offer — early access to real industry. Because the relationship is related-party, it is governed with double care: placements operate under a master placement agreement per company (safeguarding terms per J.2 §8, mentor vetting and training, supervision standards, D.52 legal compliance, insurance, incident protocol per D.54) reviewed annually; the financial/governance side of the relationship sits under N.10, and the Board sees both annually.
- Equal access. Sister-company placements are allocated by the same published matching process as all placements (D.48 §4) — never by family connection to the companies (R.2 §Commitment 5; B.4 §4 pattern). Access rates are part of the D.48 §4 audit.
- Mentor standards. Each placed student has a named, vetted company mentor (trained on the placement version of J.2 — §12 acknowledgment) and a named school supervisor who visits [per schedule] and is the student's first call (D.54).
- Learning integrity. Placements deliver the D.53 learning agreement, not corporate childcare or free labor (C.43 §4 audit applies); rotation design exposes students to real functions — operations, engineering, kitchens, studios, commerce — matched to pathway interest.
- Company confidentiality is honored (students sign age-appropriate confidentiality undertakings, explained per D.27 §3 literacy); company IP terms per D.27 §2, disclosed before placement acceptance.
D.51External Company Internship Policy (Tier 3)
- External internships are the ladder's summit: real companies, real teams, the school at arm's length. Hosts are recruited from the partner network (C.37, D.28) and vetted before first placement: site risk assessment (D.54), safeguarding terms and named mentor (J.2 §8), legal compliance capacity (D.52), insurance verification, and reference where new; host standing is reviewed after every placement cycle.
- Every placement carries a signed tripartite agreement (school–host–family): duties and learning goals (D.53), hours and supervision, safeguarding and communication rules, confidentiality and IP terms (D.27), termination rights (any party may end a placement that fails its terms; the school ends any placement on safeguarding concern immediately and unilaterally).
- School supervision: named supervisor, scheduled check-ins with student and mentor, at least [one] site visit per placement, same-day escalation path (D.54).
- International or residential placements (where offered, DP/HCP) add P.6/D.8-tier governance and guardianship arrangements (B.8 §2 pattern).
- Host relationships are stewarded honestly in both directions: hosts get prepared students and honest evaluations; students get real work and honest references; a host misusing students — or a student embarrassing the school's trust — exits the program through documented process.
D.52Internship Legal Compliance Policy
- The law is the floor everywhere: minimum working ages, permitted work types and prohibited hazardous tasks by age, hour and time-of-day limits, and required permits or authority notifications are mapped per national labor and education law (A.14) with legal advice, published as the program's compliance matrix, and updated on legal change. No placement operates outside the matrix — including at sister companies, where informality would be easiest and is most dangerous.
- Compensation vs. credit: the published policy defines when placements are unpaid learning placements (with defined learning-hour protections against labor substitution) vs. paid work (following wage law), and how each interacts with academic credit (D.53) — families see the terms before signing (D.51 §2).
- Working-condition rules ride with the student: rest breaks, safe-task limits, and the D.36/C.36 pattern of raising concerns; students are taught their rights as workers as part of workplace-readiness (D.48 §3 — labor literacy is a life skill, D.1).
- Compliance is audited annually per tier; violations pause the host relationship pending remediation.
D.53Internship Learning, Assessment & Credit Policy
- Every placement above casual exposure runs on a learning agreement: named learning goals (skills, knowledge, character exposures), duties that serve them, mentor and supervisor roles, evidence to be produced, and the credit frame (HCP practice hours C.43, CAS C.28, Service C.22, Life Experience D.10 — each framework's coordinator guards its own bar).
- Assessment triangulates: workplace mentor evaluation (structured instrument, trained per D.50 §3), school supervisor assessment, and the student's own evidenced reflection (D.10 discipline) — landing in the ISDP and portfolio (E.18; strong placements become Mastery Transcript entries).
- Placement quality is scored from the same data (learning delivered vs. agreed) — feeding host review (D.51 §5, C.43 §4).
- A failed placement — wrong fit, host failure, student unreadiness — is debriefed under the sandbox rule (F.1 §7.1): honest attempts are learning; concealment and conduct failures are the only real failures.
D.54Internship Health, Safety & Incident Policy
- Before: every host site carries a current risk assessment (school-conducted for Tier 3 first placements; host-provided and school-verified thereafter; D.50 master agreements for Tier 2); students receive site-specific safety induction before starting; medical and emergency information travels per O.1-controlled protocol; insurance coverage is verified per placement (FIN-03/N.3).
- During: the student carries the escalation card — named school supervisor (first call), program emergency line, and the unambiguous instruction: any safety or treatment concern, call same-day; no concern is too small (J.9 low-level ethic extended to workplaces).
- Incidents: any injury, near-miss, safeguarding concern, or treatment issue at a placement is reported same-day to the school (host obligation per agreements; student instruction per §2); the school responds per severity — I.9 medical, J.1 safeguarding (immediate placement suspension pending review), D.51 §2 termination rights; families are informed per L.5 communication standards.
- Incident data across the program is reviewed [termly]: patterns by host, tier, and task type feed the compliance matrix (D.52), host review (D.51 §5), and the annual report (D.48 §5).
D-XIIPassion & impact projects program
Student work that reaches the public: the sandbox's proof of reality.
D.56Passion & Impact Projects Charter
- Purpose. Beyond the capstone ladder (C.38), every HIS student builds a personal body of real work through two project types: passion projects (talent-driven: the album, the game, the novel, the robot, the restaurant pop-up — chosen because the student burns to make it) and impact projects (problem-driven: a real problem, in the school, city, or world, attacked with the intent of measurable improvement — house conservation projects T.5 are a flagship channel).
- Expectations by band: every student completes at least [one] mentored project per [division] beyond the capstones — individual or team — with impact projects required at least once in MYP and once in DP/HCP; the ISDP tracks each student's project thread; the portfolio holds the work (E.18).
- The public-reach requirement: an impact project is not complete until it has touched its real audience — deployed, delivered, published, or presented to the people it serves (D.58 governs the how). Passion projects are strongly steered public but may culminate privately where the work's nature warrants (a novel draft is a body of work; publication is a choice).
- Failure protection at full strength: projects are the purest sandbox — ambitious projects that fail honestly are celebrated learning (F.1 §7.1), documented in the portfolio as attempted (the Mastery Transcript records real attempts with honest outcomes — E.18; an honest failure documented well outweighs a safe success).
- Program Director: Director of Projects (or Director of Learning designate), with the mentor corps (D.57).
D.57Project Mentorship, Resourcing & Approval Policy
- Approval is a gate for support, not a wall against ideas: students propose projects on the published lightweight format (what, why, for whom, what's needed, what could go wrong); approval by the program (with ethics review per D.24 §2 where triggered — human participants, animals, data, meaningful risk; safety review per D.6/D.25/D.8 where triggered) — the default answer to a lawful, feasible proposal is yes, with conditions as needed.
- Mentorship: every approved project has a named mentor — coach, expert-track staff (mentoring is contracted M-III work), or vetted external professional (J.2 §8 frame) — with meeting cadence scaled to project risk and ambition; mentor loads are workload-credited (M.8).
- Resources: the program operates a published project fund and resource access ladder (facilities booking via D.5/D.25 certification, materials budgets by tier, B.9 §5 protecting aided students' ambitions); resource allocation criteria are published and fairness-audited (A.16); ventures route through D.30 for money handling.
- Partner and community involvement in projects follows C.37 rules (agreements, data, IP per D.27, safeguarding); projects inside sister companies follow D.50 governance.
- Load honesty: projects live in the D.15 ledger like everything else; the Head Coach guards against the beloved project devouring the student.
D.58Public Reach & Launch Policy
- The quality bar: work goes public when it is ready — the program maintains published readiness standards per medium (performance, publication, product, deployment, exhibition): factual claims verified (C.3 integrity extends to public work), craft at the student's certified level, and review sign-off by the mentor and program. The bar protects both the audience and the student — launching unready work teaches cynicism, not courage.
- Consent and privacy: every public appearance of a student or their work runs on K.10 consents (the primary authority — J.2/R.9 defer); students may decline personal publicity without penalty (the work can lead; the child need not); family consent per age; data of third parties in project work is handled per O.1/O.6.
- Channels: the school provides real channels — the Innovation Exhibition (D.26), performances and shows (D.37 §4), demo days (D.31), school publications and media (R.9 supervised), community deployment through partners (C.37) — and supports student-initiated channels (stores, platforms, submissions) with guidance on terms, IP (D.27), and safety (J.8 online rules).
- Media and representation: students speaking publicly about their work follow F.1 §5 (public work conduct); school-amplified coverage follows R.9; commercial launches follow D.30/D.31 gates.
- After launch: impact projects report outcomes honestly (what changed, measured how — including null results); public work joins the portfolio and, where strong, the school's public record — with the student's ownership intact (D.27 §1) and their name on their work, always.
Part D is reviewed annually: each strand by its Program Director; the integration whole (D.0) by the Head of School, reported to the Board (D.0 §9). Bracketed values are set at first adoption. Safety-critical sections (D.6, D.8, D.19, D.21, D.25, D.43, D.45, D.54) are additionally reviewed each term. The version on the school policy platform is authoritative. Where a translation is provided, the English version prevails.