Ntare Louisenlund School defines learning as a lifelong process of growth and discovery, encompassing the acquisition of knowledge and skills, the fostering of creativity, and the formation of character and personality. Learning is grounded in a cycle of inquiry, action, and reflection, which awakens an individual’s curiosity, activates cognition, and broadens understanding and competencies. Involving the whole person, such competencies include, not only critical thinking, research skills, and laboratory skills, but also physical, social, communication, and self-management skills. Though occurring on an individual level and grounded in personal experience, effective learning takes place within a strong community and through a variety of collaborative processes. It entails both the development of conceptual understanding, applicable in a variety of contexts, and key competencies which enable the individual to become an internationally minded, caring, and balanced member of society. Fundamental aspects of the learning process involve pursuing and achieving goals through persistent hard work, making use of one’s potential, and taking on responsibility, both for oneself and for others. Ntare Louisenlund recognizes and affirms the social and emotional dimension of learning as being equal to and inextricably linked with the individual’s academic formation.

• active, student-centered learning
• a personalized learning programme for each individual student
• individual mentoring and a personalized learner portfolio 
• a range of co-curricular activities to help educate the whole person
• teamwork and collaboration to develop student´s social and communication skills
• developing 21st century skills
• excellence in STEM education

Effective and meaningful teaching and learning must always focus on the learner and the learner’s experience of the world around them. Such experiences of learning take place both at the individual level and through collaborative undertakings within and beyond the learning community. Ntare Louisenlund’s vision for education in the 21st century views students as the principal actors in their learning process who must take responsibility for their own academic and personal development. Additionally, we affirm the notion that the development of knowledge, understanding, and key competencies cannot occur in isolation but requires collaboration within the group and responsibility for one another.  

At Ntare Louisenlund, learning is personalized, differentiated to meet the needs and interests of each individual learner. Moreover, both the curricular design and the students’ informed choices ensure that content has a relevance to the learner’s local and regional context, cultural background, and broader global context. Through guided, self-directed learning, students become more independent and able to solve problems, initiate projects, and act creatively together with their peers. Through active experimentation and real-world laboratory experience, students develop their competence as capable STEM researchers.

In all learning experiences, a balance between the individual and the collaborative dimensions of learning is key. Find out more about the Louisenlund pedagogy in Ntare Louisenlund.

Under the international curricular requirements, co-curricular experiences and the requirement to take part in them follow the IB’s CAS principle (creativity, action, service).

As an appropriate physical exercise programme makes a significant contribution to the healthy development of young people, all students are required to take part in at least two sports activities in addition to our daily fitness warm-up. One team sport (basketball, volleyball, soccer, handball, hockey, swimming) will be compulsory for developing students’ team competence. The sports programme will be integrated in daily school life. All students will receive swimming lessons within the first two years of enrolment.

All students will be required to take part in service learning, such as our first responder guild, lifeguarding, support for local primary schools in the area, Ntare Louisenlund Rwanda AG (merchandising), and the like.
Students may choose at least two other activities to create their own personal learning story. One of these is to be creative in nature. Examples include pottery, sewing, woodworking, theatre, choir, orchestra, jazz band, design, etc.  Other activities are debating, foreign languages, etc.

Throughout the six-year programme, the students will be required to learn German as a foreign language until they have reached at least level B1. After that, German lessons will be voluntary.

The weekend activities consist of themed weekends from various learning areas (e.g. energy supplies of the future, music workshops, basketball cup, business plan weekend, etc.). Free weekends will be used for recreation, for personal activities or preparing for assessments.