Northfields International High School

Northfields International High School

Motto	Virtus et Honor (latin) Strength and Honor (english)
Established	2001
Type	Private International School
Location	Main road Labourdonnais Village Mapou Mauritius
Students	approx. 280
Gender	Mixed School
Ages	11–18
Website	northfieldsonline.com

Northfields International High School (NIHS) is a privately owned English medium secondary school situated in Mapou, Pamplemousses District, in the north of Mauritius Island. From its small beginnings in 2001 NIHS now has over 280 students.^[1]^[2]

About

Northfields is one of Mauritius' leading independent international private schools. Set amidst an open and leafy campus in Labourdonnais village, Northfields is one of the best known schools in Mauritius. Northfields is well known for its family atmosphere, traditional values and emphasis on the development of the whole pupil, through rigorous academic study, exposure to the arts, extra-curricular and sporting activities.

Academic Programme

NIHS offers three stages of secondary education, namely

Junior High School- form 1 – 3
Middle Year Program (IGCSE)- from 4 - 5
Cambridge A levels or the International Bacclaureate Diploma- form lower 6 and upper 6

In the first three years students are assisted in making the quantum leap from primary school as well as being exposed to various new subjects. The middle year program is focused on ensuring the students are successful in passing their first external qualification, the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) at the end of the two-year program. This is an internationally recognised qualification. Students are required to take 8 subjects at the examination and besides the core subjects, Maths, English first language and French second language, they are also offered the sciences, social sciences, design technology, ICT and physical education. NIHS will continue to introduce subjects that are relevant to our region and in September 2010 introduced environmental management.

Cambridge A levels are an internationally accepted university entrance qualification and is offered to students who wish to specialise and who, in the opinion of the School, can achieve success in following this route. The International Baccalaureate Diploma (“IBD”) is an internationally accepted university entrance qualification and is sat at the end of the final two-year course. Students are required to take six subjects and these are selected from the eight subjects that they write at IGCSE.

Facilities

The architecture echoes that of a colonial style and incorporates the use of high ceilings and large windows. These factors coupled with the existing mature trees on site result in light, cool, breezy classrooms. Both sites for the school allow for grounds and gardens that permit a range of outdoor activities in addition to classroom learning. Northfields’ sports grounds provide excellent resources for a number of sporting activities. The school has a floodlit rugby and soccer field, a cricket pitch and a 25m swimming pool. Future plans include a multi-purpose sports hall. The campus incorporates an administration centre, a staff room, a canteen and shop, classrooms, art studio, a design technology workshop, a cookery room, library and media centre, science labs and computer suites. The school is situated on owned freehold property of about 13,000 square metres on which are 5,000 square metres of buildings.