IB MYP: Grade 6 to Grade 10

Students in Grades 9 and 10 will follow the IB MYP program as the bedrock of their studies. While the IB MYP program commences in Grade 6 in the Middle School students joining ISS at any point up to the start of grade 9 are normally eligible for the full IB MYP Certificate and all students who have been in the program for the whole of Grade 10 receive a record of achievement from the IBO.

The Structure of the IB Middle Years Program

The MYP is a course of study designed to meet the educational needs of students aged between 11 and 16 years. It aims to provide a broad, traditional foundation of knowledge whilst increasing the student’s awareness of the relationships between all subjects and areas of learning. Students are encouraged to question and evaluate information critically, to seek out and explore the links between subjects, and to develop an awareness of their place in the world. As such intercultural awareness and communication skills are seen as essential elements to education in the modern world, and are held as fundamental to the MYP’s philosophy.

The MYP also promotes a holistic view of learning. It requires an approach to teaching and learning which includes and extends traditional school subjects. The Areas of Interaction provide the MYP’s main focus for developing links between the disciplines, so that students will learn to see knowledge as an interrelated whole.

The five Areas of Interaction are …

• Approaches to learning (learning skills to create more effective learners)
• Community & Service (understanding and helping our local and global communities)
• Health and Social Education (building an informed healthy next generation)
• Environment (understanding the reasons, consequences and impacts of humans on our planet)
• Homo Faber (looking at the impact of the creative genius of humankind)

These are taught through the medium of traditional subjects so as to highlight the integration of these concepts across all disciplines. The subjects taught come under eight subject groups.

The objectives of each subject group are skills-based and broad enough to allow for a variety of teaching and learning approaches. Students involved in the MYP are eligible to receive a detailed portfolio recording all their successes at school, including a Record of Achievement showing their attainment levels in each subject. Students’ who complete all parts of the MYP experience including Community Service and the Personal Project, as well as success within their courses, are eligible for the full MYP Certificate awarded by the International Baccalaureate Organization. 

For more information about the IB Middle Years Programme, please click here.

For more information about the IB Middle Years Programme at ISS, please contact Liz Carrick, IB MYP Coordinator: ecarrick@iss.edu.sg