“Your vocation in life is where your greatest joy meets the world’s greatest need.” - Frederick Buechner
This week, I was speaking with a student who had recently transferred to WIS from another school in town. I asked how she’s been liking WIS and what she noticed as the biggest difference, and her reply was this: “The teachers here are friendly, so at first I thought that WIS was easier. Now I see that it’s hard. But it’s also more fun. I learn about such cool things.”
This student’s response is a good description of what happens when passionate teachers utilise a curriculum frame which places knowledge, skills, and concepts within a real-life context. It’s what happens when the student is placed at the centre of their own learning and challenged to try their very best.
With the introduction of the MYP at WIS, we are now able to offer a coherent educational model from age 3 through age 18. Our MYP authorisation visit is now confirmed to take place in August 2024.
Ms Angelina Costa is the MYP Personal Project Coordinator, and Mr Adrian von Wrede-Jervis is the MYP Coordinator. Together, they will be leading our current Grade 9 students through a 7 month process of planning, application, and reflection. Here is a slide from a recent presentation they shared with the Grade 9 students and parents:
The IB Continuum of learning - from PYP to MYP to DP - offers high-quality programmes of international education that share a powerful vision. The WIS PYP culminates in the Exhibition at the end of Grade 5. Our Grade 9 students have just begun their MYP Personal Project. Our Grade 12 students have completed their DP Core and have just begun sitting their IBDP Examinations. Likewise, our Grade 10 students are well-prepared for the IGCSE Examinations now also underway.
The combination of knowledge and skills with critical thinking and real-life application is a hallmark of a WIS education. We value an education which prepares our students to thrive in today’s world - with all of its challenges. As such, we are presently exploring the introduction of the IB Career-related Programme with Pearson Business BTEC as something which may be able to run concurrently to the IBDP with effect from 2025.
IB learners strive to become inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced, and reflective. These are attributes the world will need in the middle of the 21st Century. These are the attributes we desire to see in a “WIS Kid”.
It’s hard. But it’s also fun.
Sincerely,
Ethan