Secondary School

The IB's Middle Years Programme (MYP) is the ISHCMC curriculum framework for Grades 6-10. Students follow courses in eight subject areas and learn via interdisciplinary units in each grade. Students also learn via Service & Action as an integral part of the programme. The MYP is recognised by Ofqual (the official regulator of examinations in England) as a high quality programme in education alongside equivalents like the IGCSE.

A significant part of the final two years of the MYP is the Personal Project, a self-directed inquiry conducted over nine months on a topic of their choice. The students' reflective reports that draw on their process journals throughout the Project are externally moderated. From the 79 Grade 10 students in 2016-17, the average score was 5.03 on a 1-7 grade scale.

Holistic Education: The IB MYP is based around traditional school subjects, but rejects the fragmentation that results when people assume that subjects have no relation to each other. Students are encouraged to look at learning in an interdisciplinary way; approaching issues and solving problems with skills, knowledge, and understandings obtained from a variety of subjects and experiences.

Intercultural Awareness: The aim is to show respect for cultural differences while promoting what are seen to be universal human values, thus fostering understanding among young people, enabling future generations to live more peacefully and productively than we do today. Part of the IBO mission is to help students “understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.” This understanding can help students find solutions for issues arising from the differences between people in our globalized world.

Communication: The IB MYP stresses the importance of clarity of expression, of listening to others, and of appreciating different cultures and ways of thinking. Students are required to learn a second language, and in cases where students are attending school in a language other than their mother tongue, the development of the mother tongue is encouraged and supported in school. Communication between students is encouraged and developed, so that students, rather than the teacher, are the centre of the classroom. The enhanced ability to communicate with their peers on academic matters increases student success by bringing students’ social awareness into their learning, and bringing learning into students’ social lives.

All students participating in Grade 10 at ISHCMC receive an IB MYP Record of Achievement. This is an official record, issued by the IBO and is recognized around the world, of subjects taken and the student’s level of achievement in each subject.

The rigorous pre-university International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IB DP) is a two year course offered to motivated students in Grades 11 and 12. Internationally recognized external examinations are taken at the completion of Grade 12, providing students with qualifications that fulfil the requirements of national or state education systems. It is the premier tertiary entry qualification globally, with excellent recognition by universities in almost 200 countries. The IB Diploma incorporates the best elements of national systems without being based on any one.

Students study six courses. These include two languages (groups 1 and 2), one course from individuals and societies (group 3), one experimental science (group 4), one mathematics course (group 5), and one course chosen from the arts (group 6) or another subject from groups 1 to 5.

See below for the ISHCMC IB DP Extended Essays Abstracts from our Graduating Class of 2018.

The IB DP is a challenging, broad and balanced two-year programme of international education for students aged 16 to 19. Students are required to study six subjects and a curriculum core concurrently. The program is designed to equip students with the basic academic skills needed for university study, further education and their chosen profession, as well as developing the values and life skills needed to live a fulfilled and purposeful life. The driving force behind the Diploma is a philosophy about the nature of education that is expressed in the IB's mission statement, learner profile and approaches to learning.

A distinguishing characteristic of the IB DP is a focus on the whole educational experience of each student. The curriculum framework and its supporting structures and principles are designed to ensure that each student is exposed to a broad and balanced curriculum.

The IB DP has become a leading, internationally recognised pre-university qualification. A student who satisfies the requirements for the diploma has demonstrated independent study skills, developed a broad range of academic skills, studied at least three disciplines in depth, engaged with interdisciplinary ideas, reflected on the nature of human knowledge in an international context and taken part in social, physical and creative pursuits beyond the classroom. The concept of educating the whole person distinguishes the IB DP from many other upper secondary programmes (16 - 18 year olds) and provides an excellent preparation for university study.