School policies
A summary of the rules that govern daily life at IAS: attendance, devices, behaviour, academic integrity, language, safeguarding, pastoral care, student movement and additional educational needs. The full documents are held by the school office and by the Community site.
Attendance
Being here.
- The expectation
- Students are expected to attend school every day.
- Reporting an absence
- Parents notify the school before or on the morning of the first day of absence, by email to [email protected]. An absence cannot be excused after the fact.
- How it is recorded
- All attendance is recorded through the Vulcan eRegister, which parents can see.
- Below 80 per cent
- The homeroom teacher makes contact, arranges a meeting, and a plan is put in place together with the family.
- Below 70 per cent
- A student may not be promoted to the next grade level.
- Unavoidable long absence
- Families can apply for a Special Circumstances Agreement before the threshold is reached.
Devices
Phones are handed in, not carried.
The mobile technology policy was revised in July 2026. Phones are now deposited at the start of the day rather than kept in a pocket, and the rule still changes by age, because what works for a teenager does not work for a seven year old.
- Kindergarten to Grade 5, Dembego 12
- No electronic devices in the building.
- Grades 6 to 10, Dembego 18
- Phones, smartwatches and recording devices are switched off on arrival and handed in at the lobby cabinets, where each student has a numbered place. They stay there until the end of the day, which covers every break, lunch, physical education and school trips. Deposit runs 08:10 to 08:25 and collection from 15:10.
- Grades 11 and 12
- The same rule on use applies through the day. Classrooms have phone pockets at the front, so devices are out of reach during lessons rather than held centrally.
- Grades 9 to 12, bring your own laptop
- Students bring a laptop running Windows or macOS for lessons that need one, and teachers say in advance when it is needed. A phone is not a substitute.
- Reaching your child during the day
- Please call the office rather than your child. Dembego 18 on +48 22 649 14 40 extension 2, or +48 507 052 402. A student who needs to reach you asks a teacher or uses the office phone.
- Medical needs
- A device required for a documented medical condition, continuous glucose monitoring for example, is allowed with written approval from the Principal.
- Students learning English
- Students in the EAL programme use electronic dictionaries during lessons. In official school examinations only paper dictionaries are permitted.
- If a device disrupts a lesson
- The teacher takes it and deposits it in the storage area, and the student collects it from the office at the end of the day. The first two instances are recorded. A third moves to the behaviour policy, which brings in homeroom teachers and then administrators and parents.
- In exams
- Any electronic device during an examination, other than a calculator where one is allowed, is treated as cheating. It goes straight to Stage 3 and a meeting with the school administration.
Behaviour
Three stages, in that order.
The behaviour policy is grounded in the IB Learner Profile and uses a Positive Behaviour Support approach, including regular Morning Meetings in the younger grades. The aim is to guide a student back on track through conversation before formal consequences are reached.
The classroom teacher
The teacher addresses the situation directly with the student, at the point it happens.
The homeroom teacher
Additional support, communication with parents, and a written plan for improvement.
The administration
A Behaviour Improvement Plan, in school suspension, or in serious cases further consequences up to and including expulsion.
Academic integrity
Whose work it is.
- The pledge
- From Grade 6 onward, students and parents sign an Academic Integrity Pledge.
- Referencing
- MLA style is used across Middle and High School.
- Checking
- Turnitin is used on external assessment work.
- Artificial intelligence
- Students are expected to use AI ethically, transparently and within the boundaries their teachers set. Misuse of AI is treated as academic misconduct. How AI is taught here.
Language
Which language, and for whom.
- Instruction
- English is the primary language of instruction.
- Polish Language and Literature
- Followed by Polish nationals and by students with two or more years of Polish education. An additional modern language is chosen alongside it.
- EAL
- English as an Additional Language support for students still developing their English.
- PAL
- Polish as an Additional Language, for students who arrive without Polish.
- Grading during language development
- In the early phases, students receive narrative feedback rather than formal grades, so they can build confidence and fluency first.
- Mother tongue
- Students are actively encouraged to maintain and develop the language they speak at home.
Safeguarding and care
Keeping children safe.
The framework
Safeguarding policy complies with Polish law and is guided by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Checks on adults
All staff, interns and volunteers undergo criminal record and background checks before working with students.
Two homeroom teachers
Every student has two, one from the Polish programme and one from the international programme, alongside access to the School Counsellor.
Health on site
A school nurse is on campus during the school day. Medical and wellbeing.
Pastoral care is built on three elements: individual casework when a student needs support, a pastoral curriculum that develops social and emotional skills, and pastoral oversight that watches attendance, wellbeing and engagement as one picture.
Movement and safety
Where students may go, by year group.
- Kindergarten to Grade 4
- Supervised by staff at all times, on the Dembego 12 campus.
- Grades 5 and 6
- Under staff supervision at Dembego 18, and may not leave the building without a staff member.
- Grades 7 to 10
- On campus from arrival to dismissal. With written parental consent, they may visit nearby shops during the lunch break.
- Grades 11 and 12
- May move between designated teaching spaces and, with parental consent, visit shops at lunch.
- Building access
- Both buildings operate a buzzer entry system between 08:40 and 15:00.
Additional educational needs
When a child needs more.
- The team
- A pedagogue, a psychologist, a pedagogical therapist and a speech therapist.
- When a concern is raised
- The specialists assess the student and, where needed, coordinate a referral to the local Poradnia Psychologiczno-Pedagogiczna.
- A formal orzeczenie
- Students holding one receive an individualised educational plan, the IPET, and may have co-teaching support in the classroom.
- Language programmes
- EAL and PAL run alongside, for students building English or Polish.
Grading
How work is marked.
IAS reports on a six point scale with an equivalent letter grade.
| Grade | Letter | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | A+ | Outstanding |
| 5 | A | Excellent |
| 4.5 | B+ | Well above average |
| 4 | B | Above average |
| 3.5 | C+ | Slightly above average |
| 3 | C | Average |
| 2 | D | Below average |
| 1 | F | Failure |
The percentage band attached to each grade is set out in the full assessment policy, which the school office issues on request.
The full documents
This page is a summary, not the policy.
The complete and most current policy documents are held for parents and students behind a passcode on the IAS Community site, and the office will provide login details. For anything not covered here, ask your child’s homeroom teacher.
