An educational opportunity for students in Years 6 to 10 at St Hilda’s School

In 1999 the Middle School structure was introduced at St Hilda’s as a means of addressing the needs of students
in Years 7 to 9.

2000 was the inaugural year of the IBMYP at St Hilda’s - a programme that fitted neatly on top of our Middle School structure. The MYP reinforces Middle School philosophy and practice and provides the opportunity to make Year 10 a significant year in the School’s calendar. While remaining a preparatory year for the Senior School, Year 10 will also be the culminating year for the MYP. As a result, Year 10 students will develop new, distinctive goals for their study and personal development.

What is the IBMYP

ISAC (the International Schools Association) originally developed the Middle Years Programme (MYP). The International Baccalaureate Organisation adopted the programme in 1994. The programme’s development was guided by four main themes: intercultural understanding, communication, global interdependence and holistic education. From these themes emerged three fundamental concepts (see below).

In 1994 seventeen schools began to implement the IBMYP. Since that time this number has grown to 171 schools spanning 41 countries in North America, Europe, Latin America and the Asia Pacific. These schools include a range of private, public, national and international schools.

The rapid rise in popularity of the Middle Years Programme is due, in part, to the three fundamental concepts that underpin its philosophy and flexibility: holistic education, communication and intercultural understanding.

The first key concept that underpins the programme is holistic education (education of the whole person), which reflects a student centred approach to learning. This approach to teaching and learning is achieved through interdisciplinary projects and cross-curricular planning by teachers. The importance of communication can be seen in the emphasis on learning languages other than English while also mastering one’s first language. Finally, the programme also attempts to foster intercultural understanding by encouraging schools to develop programmes that place local circumstances within a cultural and global context.

In many respects the MYP is a new programme that is still evolving. Importantly, it is evolving within schools as they implement the programme in such a way that is relevant to their local context. The MYP is not an imposed curriculum; instead, it provides a framework to facilitate inter disciplinary teaching and learning, intercultural understanding and effective communication.

The IBMYP is designed to meet the needs of students aged between 11 and 16 years. The flexibility of the programme allows it to be taught whilst fulfilling the demands of national, regional or local legislation.

The IBMYP curriculum model reflects our Key Learning Areas, with the exception of the Areas of Interaction (AOI). The AOI provide common themes that are taught across all subject areas and help facilitate the IBMYP’s interdisciplinary approach to teaching. These themes also reinforce a child-centred approach to learning.

Through the IBMYP our students are encouraged to question and critically evaluate information, to seek out and explore the links between subjects, and to develop an awareness of their place in the world.

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The Curriculum Model

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The Areas of Interaction

Approaches to Learning (ATL)

Focuses on how a student learns and applies knowledge. The ATL objectives are to teach:

• effective study, organisational and time management skills and the ability to work independently
• help students integrate their acquired knowledge and personal experience
• facilitate students’ development of structures for exploring and expressing ideas in a coherent way
• develop students’ capacity for problem solving, decision-making and investigation
• develop student’s capacity for critical thinking

Overall, ATL aims to help students participate actively in the learning process, learn effectively and respond appropriately to tasks.

Getting Organised

Participating Actively in the Learning Process

Learning Efficiently

Responding Appropriately in Class Activities & Assessment

Conducting Investigations & Research

Community and Service

The St Hilda’s motto - ‘non nobis solum’ - emphasises the importance of helping others. Through a systematic approach to community and service in the IBMYP, we aim to increase our students’ awareness of:

• the needs of individuals and groups within local, national and global communities
• how they can be active and responsible members of these communities
• how they can respond to a social need within or outside the school community in a way that is beneficial to society
  

Homo Faber

Focuses on the creative and innovative actions of people throughout time. It aims to develop a student’s ability to appreciate the human capacity to invent, create, transform, enjoy and improve the quality of life. More specifically, Homo Faber helps students to:

• be aware of scientific and mathematical thought through time
• appreciate the human ability to create change and respond to the consequences of such change
• understand the changing perspectives of aesthetic judgments
• be aware of the ethical development of people through time

Environment (includes natural and made environments)

Focuses on the interdependence of people and nature, and the importance of sustainable development. Students should develop an:

• understanding of conservation
• acceptance of their responsibility to help maintain an environment that is fit for present and future generations

They will achieve this by:

• responding to the immediate environment through such things as field trips
• appreciating that future environments will be determined by present actions
• knowing how environments are manipulated, transformed, controlled, preserved or destroyed by people and understanding the consequences of these actions
• being able to report in different forms on specific aspects of problems such as population, pollution, and poisons
• developing positive attitudes and values and acknowledging responsibility to other people, other lands, other resources and sustainable development
  

Health and Social Education

Aims to help students prepare for a mentally and physically healthy life by encouraging students to:

• know and understand one's body, how to keep healthy and prevent disease
• speak intelligently about health needs and problems
• understand the consequences of substance abuse
• analyse values, attitudes, positive and negative influences
• accept responsibility for oneself, one's family, one's community and the environment as a whole
• know and understand specific or range of social issues
  

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The Advantages of the IBMYP for your Child

• Reinforces child-centred and inquiry based approaches to learning and teaching
• Provides continuity in curriculum focus and delivery
• Enables meaningful cross-curricular links to be made in the teaching programme
• Enhances the international and global focus of the curriculum
• Provides a purpose and focus for Year 10 study
• Caters for geographically mobile students
• Exposes students to a wide range of subjects from which they can choose for Senior studies
  

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Certification

Those students who have completed a Personal Project, and study in all 8 curriculum areas, are eligible to receive the IB validated certificate in Year 10.

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Curriculum Comparison

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MYP Coordinator

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