| Middle Years Program
KIS Middle School is accredited by the Secondary Schools Commission, Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges, Philadelphia as part of the US accredited KIS High School Diploma program. The International Baccalaureate (IBO) Middle Years Program (MYP) was trialed in the Middle School across grades 6 - 10 during 2006 and full authorization was granted in December 2006.
MYP is a philosophy and a framework of curriculum content delivery reinforcing the holistic approach and intercultural awareness of the existing international Middle School curriculum at KIS. In addition to the eight subject groups of the MYP curriculum model, KIS also offers Health and RE courses. These are compulsory requirements for the KIS HS Diploma which starts in Grade 9. KIS focus is student centered and the learning process encourages 'hands on' experience. Classes are intentionally small (maximum class size is 25 but average class size is much smaller). Enrichment and extension programs are also provided in:
- Intramural sports programs
- Life skills (personal health and development programs)
- Religious and values education
- Outdoor and environmental education
Middle School Curricular Innovation
Following a 30 year successful track record with the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program, KIS started discussions in 2004 regarding the introduction of the linking IB Middle Years Program. In 2005 KIS was approved by the IBO for the MYP 'consideration phase' and received final authorization in December 2006. For further details visit: http://www.ibo.org/myp/
What is the MYP?
The MYP or Middle Years program is part of the International Baccalaureate 3-tier program of education, going from the PYP or Primary Years Program through the MYP to the DP or Diploma Program. Sitting in the middle, the MYP caters for students aged 11-16 who are in an important age of transition and developmental.
At KIS, MYP means Grades 6 -10. The MYP is designed to help students develop the knowledge, attitudes and skills they need, to participate actively and responsibly in a changing and increasingly interrelated world. Thus, the MYP is designed to teach students to become independent learners who can recognize relationships between school subjects and the world outside and who can adapt to new situations and combine relevant knowledge, practical and social intelligence to solve authentic problems alone or in groups.
The Middle Years Program aims to enable students to:
- build upon their spirit of discovery to develop an understanding and enjoyment of the process of learning, independently and in cooperation with others
- acquire knowledge and understanding and prepare for further learning
- recognize the extent to which knowledge is interrelated
- learn to communicate effectively in a variety of ways
- develop a sense of personal and cultural identity and a respect for themselves and for others
- acquire insights into local and global concerns affecting health, the community and the environment and develop a sense of individual and collective responsibility and citizenship
The MYP fits perfectly with the mission of KIS as they both aim to develop internationally minded, independent learners.
There are three fundamental concepts upon which the MYP is based:
1. Holistic learning - Students are encouraged to consciously learn how to learn and the use of five areas of interaction which facilitate students to see connections between subject areas.
2. Intercultural awareness - This concept aims to develop students' attitudes, knowledge and skills as they learn about their own and other cultures, encouraging students to consider multiple perspectives, fostering tolerance and respect and developing empathy and understanding to accept the rights of others to be different.
3. Communication - Language acquisition is crucial for participation in the MYP with support given to maintenance of a student's mother tongue; both verbal and non-verbal forms of communication are essential in order to realize the aims of the program and are fundamental to learning, with most subject areas containing this as an explicit component in their assessment.
For further information on KIS curriculum please click on the relevant links below:
KIS Academic Philosophy & Policy
KIS MYP guide to assessment
KIS MYP Coordinator
We are now into our second semester with the Middle Years (grades 6 to 10) split between two campuses and, happily, we are slowly ironing out the wrinkles and debugging the program. Students are getting more used to the new routines and, more importantly, the expectations of the MYP in terms of criterion-based assessment and teaching done in the context of the Areas of Interaction. The grade 10 students have come back with their Personal Projects completed and are now in the throes of producing their written reports. The Personal Project fair is the highlight of the MYP calendar and will take place in February. We are very much looking forward to seeing the results of nearly ten months of hard work, creativity and inspiration! MYP teachers are busy putting together their samples of assessed student work to be sent off in February for monitoring; this is a way for us to check that grading is being done in a fair and consistent way compared to MYP school across the region. We are also busily uploading our MYP Unit Plans into the new Atlas Rubicon curriculum mapping software; this will allow us to analyse the teaching and learning both horizontally across a Grade level and vertically up and down all Grade levels. We'll now be well placed to ensure that Areas of Interaction are being used widely and effectively as well as seeing links across the curriculum for the planning of Interdisciplinary Units. It's all hands on deck and every nose to the grindstone in the MYP! Come and visit us and have some fun!
Graham Lambert
MYP Coordinator
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