Choosing a Bali international school — by child, not by brochure
The first thing to understand about Bali's international school options is that you have more good ones than the typical international relocation gives you. The second thing to understand is that this can be paralysing. Here is the version of the school landscape we wish someone had given us when we first made our own move.
Most families researching Bali schooling start with Green School, because it has the loudest brochure. Some end up there. Many don't. The right starting point is not the school's marketing — it is the child's temperament.
The five schools, briefly
Green School (Sibang Kaja, north of Canggu). The school of sustainability, bamboo, and the IB-aligned Green curriculum. Open-air classrooms in the jungle. Children spend significant time outdoors, in gardens, with mud. The marketing emphasises the unique experience; the underlying education is solid, particularly for children who learn through doing. Suits curious, physical, sensory-led children. Can be a hard fit for children who need a quiet, structured classroom to do their best work.
Canggu Community School (Berawa). The most traditional of the international schools in the south-west, running an IB programme from kindergarten through Year 13. Air-conditioned classrooms. Uniforms. A familiar school structure for families coming from international schools in Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai or London. Strong on academics, strong on transition — children moving from international schools in other cities tend to land cleanly here.
Sunrise School (Berawa). Smaller, family-run, particularly strong for early years and primary. A warm, slow-paced environment where children get noticed individually. Good for younger children; less ideal for teenagers who need a wider social pool.
ProEd Global School (Canggu). Newer, growing quickly, British curriculum (with an IGCSE pathway). Tends to suit families looking for British academic structure outside the British school system — often coming from the UK, Australia, or international schools in Asia.
BIS (Sanur and Canggu campuses). Long-established, IB-aligned. Sanur is older and traditional; Canggu has a newer feel. Often the choice of families coming from international diplomatic or NGO backgrounds.
How to think about fit
We ask three questions on the first call.
One — what kind of classroom does your child do best in?
Open and active, or structured and quiet? Children who thrive in noisy collaborative spaces will love Green School and may struggle in a CCS exam-prep classroom. Children who do their best work alone with structure will be the opposite. This is the single most predictive question of school fit.
Two — what's the transition cost?
If your child is mid-curriculum (especially mid-IB years), keeping continuity matters more than choosing the most distinctive school. CCS and BIS have the lowest IB transition friction. A child two years into a British curriculum is best served at ProEd or BIS Canggu, not Green School.
Three — what do you want to remember about the year?
Some families remember the year as the year their daughter learned to navigate her own body in mud. Others remember it as the year their son got his IB grades up because the classroom was finally quiet enough. There is no single right school in Bali. There is a right school for your specific child for this specific year.
"There is no single right school in Bali. There is a right school for your specific child for this specific year."
What we do
Before you choose, we organise informal visits to each of the schools that fit your shortlist, with both you and the children. Schools in Bali expect this; it's how families decide. We coordinate the logistics, brief the admissions teams on your situation in advance, and read the room with you after each visit. By the end of the second visit, most families know.
The job is not to find "the best school" — it is to find the one that fits the child you have, this year.
— The Annum