Pre- Course Counselling
Check The minimum entry requirements for programmes offered by the school
The admissions assessment aims to gather comprehensive information about the students strengths, abilities, needs & challenges to ensure they receive the best support in an inclusive setting. We follow the steps listed below:
1. Review of documentation such as previous school reports, medical diagnosis report, psychological reports and therapists reports
2. Observation during a trial session where a student attends the programme for a stipulated time and the staff observe the student to various settings to assess their social interaction, communication skills, cognitive abilities and behaviour.
3. Interviews or discussions with the parents to discuss the short and long term objectives for their child
4. Collaboration with professional therapists and pyschologists to gather additional information and insights about the student’s needs.
Please contact us at enquiries@melis.edu.sg or call 6624 8891 if you need further assistance on the course requirements.
- MIS requires a minimum of 90% attendance each month from its international students on ICA’s Student Pass.
- For other students (e.g. PR) who do not require a student pass, the School requires a 75% attendance for the student to get the certificate upon completion of the course.
- This requirement is communicated to the student/parents during the orientation.
- MIS follows a non-exam-based model.
- Assessments at MIS are in the form of achieving learning goals in the student’s Individual Learning Plans (ILP). These are derived from a pupil’s Statement of Needs; Therapy reports and Educational Psychology reports as part of their diagnosis. ILPs are set up for individual pupils. These achieved targets are communicated to parents and students at the end of the academic year in a parent/teacher meeting and form the following year’s targets and assessments
- MIS informs parents of their child’s performance at the Parent/Teacher meeting.
- The assessment process and results are communicated to parents and their children at bi-annual Parent-Teacher conferences (PTC). These sessions allow for a formal avenue of discussion of the progress and development of individual pupils. Teachers identify learning gaps and strengths in each pupil and the steps required to progress pupils along.
- MIS assessment profile is the ILP. All learning progression is conducted through a discussion meeting with Parents, class teachers, the Principal and, where possible, a multi-professional team.
- Given the School’s nature and the education it provides to students, there is no appeal for review of assessment results in the manner that other private education institutions commonly practised.
- Pupils at MIS do not resit assessments since this is a non-exam-based model.
The refund policy is as follows. (Please refer to Clause 3 of the Student Contract sample and the Schedule E – diagram below)
Melbourne International School will notify the student in writing within three (3) working days after becoming aware of any of the following (each a “Refund Event” clause ‘a’ – ‘e’):
- a. If we cannot commence the provision of the Course on the Course Commencement Date,
- b. If we cannot complete the provision of the Course by the Course Completion Date,
- c. The Course will be terminated before the Course Completion Date,
- d. The Student does not meet the course entry requirements (if applicable) or
- e. The Immigration & Checkpoints Authority of Singapore (the “ICA”) rejects the Student’s application for the Student Pass.
The Contracting Party (Parents) will be informed in writing of alternative study arrangements within ten (10) working days, and this Contract will automatically terminate on the date that such new written contract comes into effect with a full refund for the clause ‘a’ and a pro-rata refund for clause ‘b’ & ‘c’. If no alternative study arrangements are proposed or the Contracting Party does not accept such alternative study arrangements, the Contract can be terminated by way of written notice. The Contracting Party will be entitled to a refund of the entire Course Fees and Miscellaneous Fees already paid within seven (7) working days of the termination in reference to clause ‘a’, and a pro-rata refund will be initiated for clause ‘b’ & ‘c’.
R
Refund for Withdrawal During the Cooling-Off Period:
The Contracting Party shall be entitled to terminate the Contract without any liability at any time within the Cooling-Off Period by writing to the School. All Course Fees and Miscellaneous Fees will be returned within seven (7) working days of the receipt of the written notice.
Refund for Withdrawal Outside the Cooling-Off Period:
The Contracting Party may terminate the Contract before the Course Completion Date by providing written notice. Within seven (7) working days, the Contracting Party will receive a refund (if any) as determined in accordance with Schedule D.
% of [the amount of Course fees and Miscellaneous fees paid under Schedules B and C] | If the Contracting Party’s written notice of withdrawal is received: |
[50%] | more than [3] working days before the Course Commencement Date |
[10%] | on or before, but not more than [1] working day before the Course Commencement Date |
[NIL] | after, but not more than [0] working days after the Course Commencement Date |
[NIL] | more than [0] days after the Course Commencement Date |
Once the course has started, the school is not obligated to refund course fees as the necessary provisions, such as classroom allocation, teachers, classroom resources, etc., have been made. However, refunds may be considered based on the affected family’s circumstances. In such cases, refunding such course fees, if any, will be at the discretion of the Board of Directors.
On approval of the refund, we will endeavour to make such refunds within seven (7) working days of receiving your written notice of withdrawal. However, this is sometimes not possible due to the response and follow-up actions needed from you or staff member turnover from the school. In such cases, the delay will be supported by communication between parties to expedite the withdrawal process as quickly as possible.
The following are non-refundable
- Miscellaneous Fees are paid to MIS. However, a refund will be made for the scenarios in the ‘Refund for Withdrawal Due to Non-Delivery of Course’ above.
- Third parties charges e.g. Bank charge.
- There will be no fee refund if the student has committed an offence and is expelled by the school after a due process of investigation by a Disciplinary Committee set up by the Principal.
- Registration and Enrolment Fee, subject to the discretion of the Board of Directors.
The school’s time to process refund requests shall not be more than seven working days from the student’s withdrawal/refund request to issue the refund. Prospective students are briefed on the Refund Policy during pre-course counselling and the orientation program. Full refund policy details are also available on the school’s website and in clause 3 of the student contract. The principal checks that the refund policy and procedure are correctly reflected on the website and other relevant documents.
TRANSFER, WITHDRAWAL AND DEFERMENT POLICIES
As MIS is a differently abled school, student’s class placements are determined based on their developmental ability. Generally, students are not allowed to transfer to a different class at the commencement of course.
However, there are instances where the class placement is unsuccessful. This is determined through the areas of learning that the student can achieve in that class. In such cases, the school will engage the student’s parents to discuss moving the student’s class up or down. Following this decision, an addendum to the student contract will be raised to reflect that change in class placement.
A transfer to another private education institution is regarded as a withdrawal from Melbourne International School. As Melbourne International School students are differently abled, the parent or guardian’s approval for the transfer/withdrawal will be required.
For withdrawals, the service target is to complete the process (including assessing and replying to student’s request, change of status of student’s pass, and making a refund) within 7 working days. However sometimes, this is impossible due to the response and follow up actions from family or staff members turn over from the school. In such cases, the delay will be supported by communication between parties to expedite the withdrawal process as quickly as possible.
Prospective parents are briefed on the Transfer / Withdrawal Policy during pre-course counselling and later again during the orientation program. Full details of these policies are also available on the web site.
Parents acknowledge their awareness of the transfer / withdrawal policy, and the implications of a withdrawal when they sign FRM-032 Pre- Course Counselling Acknowledgement Form.
The procedure for withdrawal is as follows:
- Parents can notify the school of their intention to withdraw their child by using the FRM-022 Withdrawal Request Form or sending an email.
- The Principal then passes the case to the Finance & HR Manager with instructions, if any, for processing.
- The Finance & HR Manager, working with the other managers, attends to the various withdrawal matters including:
- issuance of a letter to parents effecting the withdrawal
- cancellation of the student pass, if applicable
- informing the school fees protection insurers within three working days
- update FPS Data File 1
- refunding the student
- issuing the past attendance records to students that are enrolling in another course in another PEI
Where a student has withdrawn without informing the school through any written request (signed hardcopy withdrawal form or the student’s email request), we will treat this as an absence-for-an-extended-period case. After a continuous 7-day absence from class, the student’s name will be reported to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA), if applicable, and the school fees protection insurers will be informed of where student passes are concerned.
Transfer of class can only happen in an unsuccessful class placement. An unsuccessful placement is determined by the student’s ability to meet the areas of learning of that class. Teachers will monitor the student’s ability to meet the areas of learning in the first two weeks of the placement. During this time, the teachers will also assess other areas such as the behaviour or social ability of the student. If the class placement is unsuccessful, the procedure is as follows:
- Teachers will organise a meeting with parents to discuss their observations and suggestion for a transfer of class.
- Parents agree to the transfer suggestion.
- An agreement, the Principal will inform the Finance & HR Manager of the change in class placement.
- The Finance & HR manager will raise and addendum to the student contract to reflect this change.
- The addendum will be handed over to the parent for acknowledgement
MIS does not allow for the deferment of courses. These cases will be treated as an unsuccessful enrolment and parents are encouraged to re-enrol their children when ready.
A dispute or grievance may arise from any aspect of a parent or student’s interaction experience at MIS. This feedback may pertain to academic/administrative matters or are customer service related.
- MIS ensures that all feedback is acknowledged within 3 working days.
- We aim to resolve any complaints within 7 working days.
- In the event that no resolution agreement is reached within 7 days, the grievance will be referred to the Principal who will review the case to offer a second resolution option. All these proceedings would be completed within 14 days and complainants are kept informed of the status
- In the event that the matter is unable to be amicably resolved, either party may approach the SkillsFuture Singapore Agency (SSG) for further guidance. SSG may refer either party to resolve the issue via the SSG Mediation-Arbitration Scheme (Singapore Institute of Arbitrators (SIArb) or the Small Claims Tribunals (SCT)) or through their own legal counsel.