Aim:
•To have a basic understanding of the philosophy and
framework of the curriculum
The IB framework
 Aims related to IBMYP and subject area
– these must be at the forefront of all planning. This is
the purpose of the curriculum.
 Learner profile – these are part of the SoW aims and
lesson objectives
 Key concepts - Intercultural awareness; Holistic
learning; Communication
 AoI focus – these provide the main focus for
developing the connections between the disciplines,
so that students will learn to see knowledge as an
interrelated, coherent whole.
Relationship of principles to
curriculum
IB mission statement
MYP fundamental concepts
and AoI
IB learner profile
written
assessed
curriculum
taught
‘Developing the capacity for lifelong learning, expert
thinking, problem solving, effective communication
and collaborative work in diverse human groups and
working for and towards a sustainable future’
Oaktree International School aims
 To provide a broad and in-depth course of studies that will develop
understanding, skills and knowledge across all major disciplines, combined with
increasing specialization in each of them.
 To develop and encourage critical thinking, active enquiry, learning autonomy
and a love for knowledge
 To provide an environment for risk taking, creativity, original thinking, and
individual research
 To promote teamwork, shared endeavour and a capacity for self-evaluation
 To stress that learning confers ethical responsibilities
 To encourage personal responsibility combined with active engagement and
service to others
IB learners strive to be
 Inquirers
 Knowledgeable
 Thinkers
 Communicators
 Principled
 Open minded
 Caring
 Risk takers
 Balanced
 Reflective
Fundamental concepts
These concepts are based on:
 Intercultural awareness
 Holistic learning
 Communication
Areas of Interaction (AoI)
-
Students are required to experience and explore each
of the five areas of interaction in every year of the
programme:
approaches to learning (ATL),
community and service,
homo faber,
environment,
health and social education
Assessment
 Assessment is continuous
 Assessment criteria is related to the objectives of each subject
group (provided for year 6, 8, 10)
 Assessment needs to be formative
 Assessment forms must vary
 Opportunities for self and peer assessment must be provided
in SoW and lessons
 The recording and reporting of individual levels of
achievement are organized in ways that provide students
with detailed feedback on their progress
Recording and reporting
 Do record marks for specific assessments on student




summative assessment sheet
Do record specific targets to work towards
Do provide opportunities to reflect on targets and set new
ones (at least once per term)
Provide MYP grade as a best fit based on all evidence to
data (CW, HW, core assessment, class discussions etc)
Do monitor progress and develop intervention strategies
where/when necessary
(example of a summative assessment record sheet)
Recording and reporting
 Regular (termly for year 6-8 and half termly for 910?)
 Formative and clear link to AfL
 Grades should NOT be based on individual
assessments
 Grades are best fit (until final assessment of MYP
year 10)
Reports
The school will use subject-specific criteria to indicate levels of achievement and IB ICT system. At
the end of each term, students receive an interim report that has the marks related to specific
criteria or IGCSE grade descriptors and formative targets on how to improve. At the end of the year
lower school students receive a full summative report with an overall best fit IB grade. IGCSE
students and IB students receive a full summative report with grades.
Term 1:
 Interim report with effort only M1-M5
 Interim report with relevant criteria marks and target for M1-M5
Term 2:
First half term
 Academic review for M4-M5
 Interim report for M4-M5
Second half term
 Academic review for M1-M3
 Interim report for M1-M4 only
 Full report for M5 with IGCSE grades
Term 3:
 Full report M1-M4 with MYP/ IB/IGCSE grade
Other stuff
 Please do go to your MYP subject area. This will have many
examples of all of the above related to your area and
excellent forum area
 Please use the OIS google area
 Professional development
Whole school: Planning effective lessons, incorporating the
LP into lessons, AoI, AfL, starters and plenaries, Education
for sustainable development, MYP grading
IBO: On line and external, visits to other schools
 At the end of every term, I will ask for your brief unit
evaluation/reviews/reflections and you to complete a table
to just list LP and AoI for each topic for whole school
overview.
 Week without walls
Aim:
•To have a basic understanding of your subject area at
MYP and IGCSE level
MYP aims
 ‘Life in the 21st century places many changing demands
on students making the transition through adolescence.
They are at a crucial period of personal, social, physical
and intellectual development, of uncertainty and of
questioning. The International Baccalaureate® (IB)
Middle Years Programme is designed to help them find a
sense of belonging in the ever-changing and increasingly
interrelated world around them and to foster a positive
attitude to learning’
MYP framework
Aims and Objectives of subject groups
- The objectives of each subject group are skills-based
and broad enough to allow a variety of teaching and
learning approaches.
- The precise choice and organization of content is left
to schools in order to preserve flexibility.
- In some subjects the content is not specified while in
IB and IGCSE tensions?
 We need to attempt to deliver IGCSE through the MYP
framework (at least for the next two years)
 A conflict of philosophy? Possibly…
The dependent & interdependent
paradigms of learning?
A learning dependant paradigm
Learners are:
 Not engaged with the process of
curriculum co-construction.
 Passive recipients of teaching.
 Not consulted on the curriculum.
 Have limited opportunities to take
responsibility for their own learning.
 Unaware of how they learn.
 Not given opportunities to explore the
social and emotional aspects of learning.
 Limited engagement in the process of AfL
An interdependent learning paradigm.
Learners are:
 Partners in the planning of learning.
 Active participants in their learning.
 Co-researchers with their teacher’s in
learning.
 Decision makers in their learning.
 Aware of learning styles & their learning
preferences.
 Aware of personal learning & thinking
skills.
 Have dialogue regarding learning
through the process of AfL.
 Able to take full responsibility for their
own learning
So what can we do then?
 IGCSE content – yes
 BUT through active teaching and learning we can
promote our aims, the learner profile, fundamental
concepts and where/when possible the AoI
A whistle stop tour of your MYP
subject area
 Go through your MYP handbook
 Examine and note
- Key aims and objectives of the subject
- Main concepts/branches and skills of the subject
- Main elements of a successful curriculum
- Main elements of assessment (criteria and
progression)
- Link of assessment criteria and interim objectives
A whistle stop tour of your IGCSE
subject
 Go through your IGCSE syllabus
 Examine and note
- Key aims and objectives of the subject
- Main concepts/branches and skills of the subject
- Main elements of a successful curriculum
- Main elements of assessment (criteria and
progression)
- Assessment and examination papers
To do…
 MYP subject descriptor
 IGCSE subject descriptor
 Long term SoW
 Unit plan for first half term for each year group
 Medium term SoW for first half term for each year
group
Aim:
•To put principles into curriculum practice
Relationship of principles to
curriculum
IB mission statement
MYP fundamental concepts
and AoI
IB learner profile
written
assessed
curriculum
taught
Steps for subject curriculum
development (M1-M3)
Step 1: Long term plan
 Brainstorm and list key questions/topics/themes/issues
you feel will meet the aims of the overarching curriculum
and provide opportunities for students to meet your subject
area learning objectives and related assessment criteria as
well as the AoI and learner profile characteristics.
 Try and aim for one or two topics per half term
 Really think carefully about the knowledge, understanding,
skills and values you intend students need to learn
 (Use blank MYP long term plan doc and see MYP1-3
geography example)
Geography long term SoW example
Steps for subject curriculum
development (M4-M5)
IGCSE Long term plan
 Go through your syllabus content
 Map out your long term plan (finishing by Easter 2013)
Step 2: Unit planner
 Step 2: Unit planner
 Complete stage 1 of MYP unit planner for one unit of





work
Complete stage 2 of MYP unit planner (be clear about
the core assessment for the topic and related criteria)
Complete more detailed medium term SoW using
proforma
Review MYP unit planner
Implement/on going evaluation
Overall evaluation and development
(use blank unit planner and see example)
The unit planning process
IB mission statement
IB learner profile
The contexts –
provided by the
areas of interaction
MYP fundamental concepts
MYP
unit
planner
Content – the topics
we teach in our
subjects
MYP curriculum planning - the
intention
• The content of the subjects should be aligned with
the MYP objectives for each year of the programme
through vertical planning.
• The areas of interaction provide the context for
teaching and learning.
• These elements need to be at the start of curriculum
planning in the first stage of planning- see stage 1.
Stage 1 of MYP unit planning
(abridged)
Area of interaction focus
Significant concept(s)
Which area of interaction will
be our focus? Why have we
chosen this?
What are the big ideas? What
do I want my students to retain
for years into the future?
MYP unit question
How does this work in practice?
The unit planner is meant as a tool:
 Starts from an area of interaction context
 Includes the MYP objectives in stage 1 of the planner
Let’s take an example of a unit from a school that has
started to develop their MYP curriculum in the way we
just described.
How can the unit planner help to further develop this
unit?
Example from current school
curriculum
 Biology, MYP 3, Photosynthesis, 4 weeks
 Unit question:
 How do plants grow?
 Content:
Students learn about
 photosynthesis as the key process producing new plant
biomass
 carbon dioxide for photosynthesis comes from the air and
that the water is absorbed through the roots
 chlorophyll enables a plant to utilise light in
photosynthesis
 the role of the leaf in photosynthesis
Example continued
 Assessment:
 Criterion B: communication in science
 Criterion C: knowledge and understanding of science
 Criterion F: attitudes in science
 Links to the areas of interaction:
 ENVS: the effect of environment on the growth of plants
and the effects of plants on the environment
 HSE: the importance of plants for food
 ATL: problem solving, research skills, collaborative skills,
presentation skills
 HI: how can we protect or conserve plants and influence
how they grow
Using the unit planner
To make a start, schools sometimes copy and paste
the ‘old’ unit plan directly into the planner
This could form a starting point for reflection upon
the unit
What would this look like in terms of the previous
example?
“Old content” in planner
Area of interaction focus
Significant concept(s)
Which area of interaction will be our focus?
Why have we chosen this?
What are the big
ideas? What do I want
my students to retain
for years into the
future?
ENVS: the effect of environment on the
growth of plants, and the effect of plants
on the environment
HSE: the importance of plants for food
ATL: problem solving, research skills,
collaborative skills, presentation skills
HI: how can we protect or conserve
plants and influence how they grow
MYP unit question
How do plants grow?
Photosynthesis
Looking through Environments
Area of interaction focus
Significant concept(s)
Which area of interaction will
be our focus? Why have we
chosen this?
What are the big ideas? What
do I want my students to retain
for years into the future?
ENVS: the effect of the
environment on the growth of
plants and the effects of
plants on the environment
The importance of plants for
life on our planet.
MYP unit question
To what extent are humans
dependent upon plants?
Looking through Human ingenuity
Area of interaction focus
Significant concept(s)
Which area of interaction will
be our focus? Why have we
chosen this?
What are the big ideas? What
do I want my students to retain
for years into the future?
HI: how can we protect or
conserve plants and influence
how they grow
The importance of plants for
life on our planet.
MYP unit question
How do pesticides and fertilizers
affect an ecosystem?
From there....
• These two examples have different unit questions that
could lead to very different learning activities and could
address different objectives.
• The teacher will need to decide which content, skills
and objectives he/she wants to address in the unit to
determine the most suitable unit question. Numerous
assessments tasks may best reflect the complexity of
unit questions and significant concepts. The assessment
would be included in stage 1.
• Thus, the process is not linear but recursive with all
steps influencing each other
Significant concepts
As stated in MYP: From principles into practice on page
74, “the MYP unit will be guided and driven by the MYP
unit question that integrates the significant concept(s)
of the subject matter with the context provided by one
of the areas of interaction”.
The significant concepts must be rooted within the
subject group first, once the understanding of the
concept is consolidated from the disciplinary
perspective, students will be in a position to engage in
meaningful interdisciplinary understanding later.
What makes a good unit?
1. Setting the context and summative assessment(s)
 Is the unit driven by an open-ended, multifaceted unit question that
engages students?
 Are the significant concepts and unit question conceptually based?
 Does it focus on one main area of interaction and potentially leads to
interdisciplinary learning?
 Will the unit be guided and driven by the MYP unit question that
integrates the significant concept(s) of the subject matter with the context
provided by the areas of interaction?
 Do the assessments distinguish students’ engagement with the MYP unit
question and learning objectives?
 Do the assessments provide varied opportunities for the students to show
their knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes?
 Have appropriate assessment criteria been selected and aligned with
subject objectives?
What makes a good unit?
2. planning for student learning and development
 Does the unit involve students in a range of learning experiences
planned in response to the MYP unit question ?
 Does the unit plan achieve year level/subject objectives?
 Do these experiences aim to have real life applications and develop
skills for life as well as subject skills development?
 Does the unit build on the prior knowledge of the students and
how is this facilitated?
 Will the unit use a variety of resources and teaching
methodologies that meet the needs of the students?
 Will positive attitudes be constructed and encouraged?
What makes a good unit?
 Does it contribute to a coherent, school-wide
commitment to inquiry that is framed by contexts
of local and global significance?
 Is it a working, organic document rather than a
static one?
 Can the unit affect the hearts and minds of the
student?
Step 3: Medium term plan
 Complete medium term plans
(see blank table and example)
Aim:
•To put assessment principles into practice
Step 4: Draft core assessment overview
 Either complete this in red on long term SoW or
separate table
TRUE or FALSE?
The wording of the descriptors can be changed when assessing student
work in year 5.
TRUE
Task-specific clarifications to the published criteria can be used where
appropriate.
Caution!
The standard must not be altered,
nor new strands introduced.
Two examples of task-specific
clarifications
Task-specific clarifications
Humanities
Criterion B: concepts (5-6)
Application
of
concepts
is
appropriate but superficial. The
student demonstrates conceptual
awareness and understanding by
describing connections to the
subject
matter.
The
student
attempts to apply concepts to other
situations but is not always
successful.
•Your application of the concept of
‘Change’ was appropriate but
superficial.
•You
demonstrated
conceptual
awareness and understanding by
describing connections to the issue
of slavery in the American Civil War.
•You also attempted to apply the
concept of ‘Change’ to social,
economic
and
political
factors
contributing to the War but were not
always successful.
Task-specific clarifications
Sciences
Criterion A: one world (5-6)
The student explains how science is
applied to addressing a specific local
or global issue. The student
explains some of the benefits and
limitations of science in solving the
issue. The student discusses how
science and its applications interact
with some of the following factors:
social,
economic,
political,
environmental, cultural and ethical.
•You explained how genetically
modified organisms are used to
addressing the problem of global
food shortages.
•You explained some of the benefits
and limitations of GM organisms in
solving food shortages.
•You discussed how GM organisms
and their use interact with some of
the
following
factors:
social,
economic, political, environmental,
cultural and ethical.
TRUE or FALSE?
Some assessment criteria only need to be addressed in the final
year of the programme.
FALSE
All objectives must be addressed each year of the
programme and therefore the corresponding assessment
criteria are used in each year of the programme.
Holistic criteria developed to match the interim
objectives can be clarified to match specific tasks or units
of work.
Step 5 and 6: Review and develop SoW
against subject objectives and AoI
 Complete table
 Check over your overall unit planning sheets
 Complete table one to check you have provided
opportunities for students to meet subject criterion, if
not, go back and evaluate and develop
 Complete table two to check you have provided
opportunities for students to develop AoI, if not, go
back, evaluate and try and develop
(table one and two attached)
Aim:
•To understand what makes a ‘good lesson’
Lesson planning
 First be clear what your learning objectives and expected




learning outcomes for ‘different learners’ may be (subject
knowledge, understanding, skills, values and AoI and LP
objectives/outcomes)
Then decide on an appropriate range of activities/challenges
Ensure that there is a clear structure: activation/starter; main
activities/demonstration; plenary/debrief and reflection
Check that you have a range of teaching and learning activities to
meet different needs in the classroom
Check you have opportunities for AfL throughout the lesson and
you are clear on how to assess progress made
(LP example attached)
AfL
Core formative and summative assessment
 Decide on objectives and assessment criteria to be focused on (DO








ensure you focus on different criteria throughout the year)
Develop appropriate activity to assess these (DO ensure you have a
range of forms of assessment throughout the year)
Do model and scaffold learning where and when necessary
Do differentiate for different learner needs
Do provide opportunities for students to assess their own learning and
their peers
Do verify pupil assessments (formal and informal)
Do record the students mark (how many it is out of will depend on the
criteria used in the assessment)
Do provide an effort grade
Do not provide an overall grade for one piece of work
(assessment example attached, assessment record sheet attached)