IB Programme

IB Programme.

More than 4,000 schools so far have chosen to teach International Baccalaureate® (IB) programmes, with their unique academic rigour and their emphasis on students’ personal development. Those schools employ over 70,000 educators, teaching more than one million students worldwide.

International Baccalaureate® (IB) programmes aim to do more than other curricula by developing inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who are motivated to succeed.

International Baccalaureate® (IB) programmes strive to develop students who will build a better world through intercultural understanding and respect.

IB programme frameworks can operate effectively with national curricula at all ages; more than 50% of IB World Schools are state-funded.

The IB’s programmes are different from other curricula because they:

  • encourage students of all ages to think critically and challenge assumptions
  • develop independently of government and national systems, incorporating quality practice from research and our global community of schools
  • encourage students of all ages to consider both local and global contexts
  • develop multilingual students.

In order to teach IB programmes, schools must be authorized. Every school authorized to offer IB programmes is known as an IB World School.

Mission IB

The Mission

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 programmes of international education and rigorous assessment.

These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.

PYP Programme

The IB Primary Years Programme 

• addresses students’ academic, social and emotional well-being
• encourages students to develop independence and to take responsibility for their own learning
• supports students’ efforts to gain understanding of the world and to function comfortably within it
• helps students establish personal values as a foundation upon which international-mindedness will develop and flourish

IB World School

The International Baccalaureate® (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP)

Primary Years Programme (PYP) was introduced in 1997.

The PYP is taught to students aged 3-12.

Through its inquiry-led, transdisciplinary framework, the PYP challenges students to think for themselves and take responsibility for their learning as they explore local and global issues and opportunities in real-life contexts.

Taught in over 109 countries around the world, the PYP curriculum framework is uniquely adaptable to state and national standards. Guided by six transdisciplinary themes of global significance, students deepen their learning by developing their conceptual understandings; strengthening their knowledge and skills across and beyond subject areas.

PYP IB Programme
  • Our school is an educational environment for the children’s academic, social and emotional wellbeing.
  • Education process is focused on a student.
  • We create positive attitude to the studies and social activities.
  • We focus on the students’ motivation to develop independence and responsibility for their studies.
  1. Research approach.
  2. Transdisciplinary approach.
  3. Basic elements of our study programme are: knowledge, concepts, skills and actions.
  4. Efficient assessment strategy.

Every year our students make researches in six interdisciplinary topics:

  1. Who we are
  2. Where we are in place and time
  3. How the world works
  4. How we organize ourselves
  5. How we express ourselves
  6. Sharing the planet

• Who we are
Inquiry into the nature of the self; beliefs and values; person, physical, mental, social and spiritual health; human relationships including families, friends, communities, and cultures; rights and responsibilities; what it means to be human

• Where we are in place and time
Inquiry into orientation in place and time; personal histories; homes and journeys; the discoveries, explorations and migrations of humankind; the relationship between and the interconnectedness of individuals and civilizations, from local and global perspectives

• How we express ourselves
Inquiry into the ways in which we discover and express ideas, feelings, nature, culture, beliefs and values; the ways in which we reflect on, extend and enjoy our creativity; our appreciation of the aesthetic

• How the world works
Inquiry into the natural world and its laws, the interaction between the natural world (physical and biological) and human societies; how humans use their understanding of scientific principles; the impact of scientific and technological advances on society and on the environment.
• How we organize ourselves
Inquiry into the interconnectedness of human-made systems and communities; the structure and function of organizations; societal decision-making; economic activities and their impact on humankind and the environment

• Sharing the planet
Inquiry into rights and responsibilities in the struggle to share finite resources with other people and other living things; communities and the relationship within and between them; access to equal opportunities; peace and conflict resolution.

IB Diploma Programme

An International Baccalaureate Education

 “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 programmes of international education and rigorous assessment.

These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.

Jeffrey R Beard

 Director General IBO

The IB Diploma Programme at International School of Samara (ISS)

 A full description of the programme is available online at www.ibo.org/diploma although it can be summarised as ‘an academically challenging and balanced programme of education with final examinations that prepares students, aged 16 to 19, for success at university and life beyond. It has been designed to address the intellectual, social, emotional and physical well-being of students. The programme, has gained recognition and respect from the world’s leading universities’.

(International Baccalaureate, 2014)

 

The IB Diploma Programme model perhaps best illustrates the nature and requirements of  the programme.

 

IB DP is a prestigious honors program that provides a challenging, university-level curriculum to motivated students. The program began in the late 1960’s as a means of standardizing curriculum for students attending international schools and has since grown into the most distinguished honors program in the world. In July of 2017, International School of Samara has received the official authorization to host the IB Diploma Program, joining a family of more than 3000 International Baccalaureate Schools worldwide.

 

There are significant curricular differences between the IB program and other types of honors programs. The variety of IB courses available for schools to offer give students, parents, and teachers greater flexibility in tailoring the program to meet each student’s individual needs and interests. IB classes promote project-based learning, allowing students to demonstrate their knowledge of a subject through creative activities and academic writing that encourages critical thought and articulate expression. Students’ success in the program is assessed against rigorous international standards, and a successfully completed course can be transferable for university credit.

IB Diploma Subject Offered at International school of Samara

All students must follow six subjects, one from five of the six groups in the programme model above, plus a subject for the sixth subject, The Arts, or a second subject from Sciences, Individuals and Societies, Language Acquisition or Studies in Language and Literature. Students must also take at least three subjects at higher level (HL) and three subjects at standard level (SL).

 

Group 1: Native languages –Russian literature A1

Group 2: Foreign languages – English B, French B

Group 3: Social sciences – Economics, Business and Management

Group 4: Experimental Sciences – Physics, Geography, Biology, Chemistry

Group 5: Mathematics, Computer Science

Group 6: Fine Arts and Electives

 

In addition to the study of six subjects, all students must complete the IB Diploma Core.

The Core of the IB Diploma

The IB Diploma is not six independent subjects and it is the Core of the IB Diploma which makes it a programme. Through these three areas, unique to the IB Diploma, students can make connection and links between subjects and experience a broad based, conceptual and connected education.

‘The Extended Essay asks students to engage in independent research through an in-depth study of a question relating to one of the DP subjects they are studying’ (International Baccalaureate, 2014a) This 4000-word essay is completed over approximately six months during the two years of the IB Diploma Programme.

‘Theory of Knowledge (TOK) develops a coherent approach to learning that unifies the academic disciplines. In this course on critical thinking, students inquire into the nature of knowing and deepen their understanding of knowledge as a human construction.

Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) involves students in a range of activities alongside their academic studies throughout the Diploma Programme. Creativity encourages students to engage in the arts and creative thinking. Activity seeks to develop a healthy lifestyle through physical activity. Service with the community offers a vehicle for a new learning with academic value. The three strands of CAS enhance students’ personal and interpersonal development through experiential learning and enable journeys of self-discovery’.

IB Diploma Programme Admission Policy at International school of Samara

Students who wish to enroll in the IB Diploma Programme at the International School of Samara need to meet the requirements as outlined below:

  1. Required documents: completed application form, a copy of student’s official school reports, Certificate of Attendance and Enrollment issued by a previous school from the last two school years, a copy of any detailed specialist reports if Special Educational Needs are identified in the application.
  2. Entrance requirements: all interested students of 8th forms, including current ISS students are required to have Excellent grade in English and Excellent or Good grades in other school subjects to enter the full Diploma Programme. They also have to submit 3 written recommendation letters from their subject teachers regarding students’ perspectives to enroll in the full Diploma programme and pass oral interview with IB DP management team. ISS may require a student to undertake an entrance tests in Mathematics and English if they are unsure of a student’s ability to access Pre-IB DP course in 9th form and enter full DP program later in 10-11 forms. Such tests are administered at the school in the second part of June. It is also possible to make individual arrangements with students who come to Samara in August.