Wheatley is an IB World School

About the International Baccalaureate (IB)

Mission Statement: The International Baccalaureate Organization aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.

To this end the IBO works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programming of international education and rigorous assessment.

These programmes encourage students across the world to become active compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.

The International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program:

The Middle Years Program (MYP) is based on the premise that education can foster understanding among young people around the world, enabling future generations to live more peacefully and productively than we do today. Intercultural awareness is central in the MYP.

The programme’s focus is the student and takes into consideration their stage of development. This is a critical period of personal, social and intellectual development because they are making the transition from early puberty to mid adolescence.

At this stage of their development,students require a programme that provides them with discipline, skills and challenging standards, but also with creativity and flexibility. It is also important that students develop a personal value system with which they may guide their own lives. Through the learner profile, the MYP aims to develop students who are thoughtful and compassionate members of local communities and of the larger world.

The MYP presents knowledge as an integrated whole. Students acquire knowledge and skills through a careful study of eight disciplines:

1. Language A (English)
2. Language B (French)
3. Humanities (History/Geography)
4. Mathematics
5. Technology
6. Sciences
7. Arts
8. Physical Education.

The interrelatedness of subjects is highlighted but at the same time the programme recognizes the importance of respecting the integrity of each discipline.

There are common interactive themes in subject groups that develop naturally through them, without becoming subjects in their own right. There are referred to as the “Five Areas of Interactions”.

These are:

1. Approaches to learning
2. Community and Service
3. Health and Social Education
4. Environments
5. Human Ingenuity.

These themes are designed to make students increasingly aware of the authentic connections between the subject content and the real world. They are intended to help students develop an understanding of broader and more complex global issues.

For more information on the International Baccalaureate visit:
www.ibo.org