The first assessment period of the academic year is underway for the MYP students! In keeping with the aims and ethos of the International Baccalaureate, and the latest research regarding effective assessment practices, end of unit assessments now follow a performance-based model (known as GRASP assessments) which assess not only the knowledge gained throughout a unit, but how well the students apply this knowledge to a real-life context. 

Further, we are also using the assessments to explore how well the students are acquiring the five key skill areas for IB studies known as the IB Approaches to Learning. These skill areas consist of; Communication Skills, Self-management Skills, Research Skills, Thinking Skills and Social Skills. By ensuring that our students develop these key IB skills during the MYP years, we can be confident that they are much better prepared for the rigours of their future IB Diploma Programme studies. 

For the MYP 4 Individuals and Societies assessment, we are focusing on Research Skills. Students have been tasked to create a research portfolio to be given to a documentary filmmaker concerning one ‘theatre’ of war during World War. The students are expected to not only find interesting information from reliable sources, but must show that they understand the importance of academic honesty by correctly citing their sources using the Harvard referencing style. Some great examples have already been submitted!

Over the last few weeks we have been introducing MYP students to Service as Action which is a core part of the IB Middle Years Programme. The purpose of the Service as Action programme is to encourage students to step out of their comfort zone to learn about themselves and take meaningful action to help improve the lives of others. The MYP 4 students have been leading the programme and will share their ideas for projects to the rest of the students on monday next week!

In the middle of each week MYP students have been taking time for mindfulness training. Recent research has concluded that giving learners time to be mindful, can help to increase their ability to pay attention in lessons, improve their working memory and sense of self-esteem. It has also been shown to decrease negative emotions and anxiety. Midweek Mindfulness is here to stay!

On Friday, Samantha and her Year 3/4 class talked to us about ´International Day of Peace’, which was celebrated on the 21st September all around the world. The United Nations' (UN) International Day of Peace is celebrated on September 21st each year to recognise the efforts of those who have worked hard to end conflict and promote peace. Samantha told us the story of Malala Yousafzai, the young Pakistani activist who continues to fight for the rights for female education and she is also the youngest Nobel Prize laureate.

This was followed by the continuation of our weekly IPC gratitudes, with students thanking others for acts of kindness towards them, and then ended with our stars of the week. This week they were awarded for ‘resilience’.