We are pleased to announce that Merici College has been accepted as a candidate school* for the Middle Years Programme (MYP). This means that we will be trialling implementation of the MYP in Years 7 and 8, January 2019, while we pursue authorization as an IB World School. IB World Schools share a common philosophy- a commitment to high-quality, challenging, international education- that we believe is important for our students. This compliments our candidacy for the IB Diploma Programme which we began in March this year and are now into the authorisation process.
The Middle Years Programme aims to develop active learners and internationally minded young people who can empathize with others and pursue lives of purpose and meaning. The programme empowers students to inquire into a wide range of issues and ideas of significance locally, nationally and globally. The result is young people who are creative, critical and reflective thinkers (IB, 2018).
The MYP embodies Merici’s core philosophy and aligns well with our Principles of Powerful Learning. One of the key benefits of the MYP is that it embeds interdisciplinary learning by design as this article from the Sydney Morning Herald highlights, https://www.smh.com.au/education/how-bigpicture-thinking-and-ib-study-go-hand-in-glove-at-schools-20180715-h12pu7.html.
The work already undertaken in our integrated English/Humanities and integrated Math/Science courses in Year 7 will be complimented by the MYP, providing us the stimulus to explore other cross disciplinary links across multiple year groups. The MYP integrates well with the Australian Curriculum topics, allowing the school to meet national requirements while promoting a globally recognised standard of education through the IB.
A key element of all IB programmes is the emphasis on being a global citizen and the focus on developing students’ “international mindedness”. Our children face being sourced from a global labour pool for employment, so must remain competitive in the global market. The IB’s global focus is a real draw for supporting students to have a competitive edge in this market.
This semester, students in Years 7 to 10 have engaged with the IB Learner Profile Attributes in their Flex lessons, recognising the overlap between what we already do here at Merici College and the IB philosophy. We will be continuing to explore the key components of the IB programmes with our school community over the course of the semester.
Our teachers will be involved with whole school MYP training provided by the IB so we will be well-prepared to deliver the new curriculum; an exciting opportunity for us to engage with staff from the IB and create new learning opportunities for our students.
Research by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) has indicated that there are benefits for students studying at Diploma level who have engaged with the Middle Years Programme. In their analysis of student DP scores, students who complete the MYP, perform significantly better than non-MYP students in their final diploma score in the Asia Pacific Region (ACER, 2015).
We look forward to sharing more about our IB journey with our network of students, parents, staff and teachers as we move forward in this process.
Merici College is a candidate school* for the Middle Years Programme. This school is Only schools authorized by the IB Organization can offer any of its four academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), the Diploma Programme (DP), or the Career-related Programme (CP). Candidate status gives no guarantee that authorization will be granted.
For further information about the IB and its programmes visit http://www.ibo.org.
Reference: Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). 2015. The International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP): Comparing IB Diploma Programme outcomes of students who complete the MYP and other middle years courses of study. Bethesda, MD, USA. International Baccalaureate Organization.
