The Woodford International School, also called the International School, was initiated in the mid-1950s with about a dozen students. It was expanded under Solomon Islands' National Development Plan in the 1970s with the aim to attract investment and expertise into the country. In 1979, following independence in 1978 from the British rule, with British aid, new school buildings were built. The school was known as Honiara International School in September 1989 and took the name of Woodford International School in the 1990s. It is now a fully recognised independent education authority, and the government of Solomon Islands is only involved in providing a grant to the school. Since 2007, the management has started a programme of enhancing the building and other infrastructure facilities of the school to seek recognition as an "International Baccalaureate World School".