GRADE 7 TO GRADE 10

The MYP curriculum

The Middle Years Programme (MYP), for scholars aged 11 to 16 (Grade 7 to Grade 10), aims to help students develop their own personal understanding, their sense of self and their responsibility in their community. With a focus on specific subjects as well as interdisciplinary learning, students learn to inquire deeper, to draw on their creativity to interpret their findings, and to become reflective thinkers who are very conscious of the world around them.

There are eight subject groups within the MYP framework: 

Approaches to learning

There are eight subject groups within the MYP framework: Language Acquisition, Language and Literature, Individuals and Societies, Sciences, Mathematics, Arts, Physical and Health Education, and Design. Unifying these subject groups is a thread we call “Approaches to Learning” (ATL) which, by encouraging students to apply their social, thinking, research, communication and self-management skills, provides a solid foundation for independent learning.

global contexts

Students learn best when they make practical connections between their studies and the real world, so the MYP focuses on encouraging students to make these connections. The program uses Global Contexts to help students develop an understanding of their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet through explorations of:

• Identities and relationships

• Personal and cultural identity

• Orientations in space and time

• Scientific technical innovation

• Fairness and development

• Globalization and sustainability

By encouraging students to inquire into local and global issues, the MYP aims to develop internationally-minded young people who are creative, critical and reflective thinkers.

Assessment

Assessment in the MYP is criterion based, meaning that students are measured against criteria prescribed by the IB for each of the subject groups. Tasks are then designed by teachers and internally assessed according to the criteria. Teachers provide students with tasks and task-specific clarifications to help them to understand the requirements of the task.

For students, there are many advantages of criteria-based assessment:

• By reading the descriptors and clarifications, the students can focus on what is expected of them.

• When students have a more detailed understanding of what is expected of them, their performance improves.

• When a task is assessed using a rubric (a written description of what is expected of a student in order to get a specific grade), students get more specific feedback acknowledging the aspects of the task they did well on, and giving guidance for how to reach the next level.

• Criterion-based assessment acknowledges that learning is a dynamic, ongoing process and that grades reflect what students know, understand and are able to do at that specific point in time.

• Students are able to reflect more knowledgeably and set specific action goals to further their own learning.