The International Baccalaureate (IB) is delivered in nearly 2500 schools worldwide, in over 130 countries. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland, and its North American operations are run from New York. The focus of the IB is on effective learning for an increasingly complex world.
When Stratford Hall was founded, the IB Diploma’s reputation for university preparation was firmly established, and the IB Primary and IB Middle Years Programmes had just been introduced. It was clear to the school’s founders that it was the ideal curriculum framework for Stratford Hall.
Stratford Hall is committed to the IB Mission Statement:
The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.
To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programs of international education and rigorous assessment.
These programs encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.
The IB Primary Years Programme is for students from kindergarten to grade 5. It focuses on inquiry and understanding big ideas. Students are fully engaged as learners who develop excellent research and communication skills. The curriculum is organized through Units of Inquiry, which each take approximately six weeks to explore. All aspects of the British Columbia curriculum are covered. The culminating activity is an Exhibition which students present near the end of grade 5. This is an in-depth study of a topic that the students have selected.
The IB Middle Years Programme continues the inquiry approach at grade 6. Working through to grade 10, students study academic subjects that prepare them for the IB Diploma Programme. Central to this program are its Areas of Interaction, which provide focus and emphasis. These Areas are environments, health and social education, community and service, approaches to learning, and human ingenuity. In grade 10, students participate in a Personal Project as a culminating piece of work. Students cover all of the material required by the BC Ministry of Education.
The IB Diploma Programme requires that students take 6 courses, each from a specific area (Language A (English), Language B, Individuals and Society, Science, Math, and Fine Arts or elective.) All courses begin at the start of grade 11 and continue through to the end of grade 12. Three of the courses are done at Higher Level, considered at the first year university level. Students are evaluated in May of the grade 12 year by international markers. In addition to the 6 courses, students also write a 4000 word essay, participate in service, sports, and artistic endeavors, and take a non-examined course, The Theory of Knowledge.
The International Baccalaureate Diploma is the world’s most accepted high school diploma. Students who achieve the Diploma are admitted to university and often move straight into second year courses. Universities that have researched the performance of IB graduates find that they perform significantly better at university than non-IB graduates. For more information about this, please click here.
Central to all three programs is a Learner Profile. As the International Baccalaureate puts it, “If life were perfect, we would all be inquirers, thinkers, communicators and risk-takers who are balanced, caring, reflective, knowledgeable, principled and open-minded.” At Stratford Hall, we expect everyone to embrace these characteristics. This is done by engaging students in the development of their own learning community. They link their own actions to the Learner Profile and we report on how students are developing these attributes.
