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Celebrating IB World School anniversaries (part two)

Shanghai United International School, China and Elverum videregående skole, Norway reflect on being part of the IB community as they mark 10-and five-year milestones.

In the second part of our IB anniversary blog series, we spoke to two schools who have joined the IB in the past decade. Shanghai United International School in China became an IB World School in 2010 and offers the Diploma Programme (DP) and Primary Years Programme (PYP). While Elverum videregående skole in Norway joined the IB in 2015, offering the DP.

10 years
Shanghai United International School, Hongqiao-Gubei Campuses, China

Shanghai United International School, Hongqiao-Gubei Campuses, China

David Walsh, Principal: “Without question, our school takes strength and has success from applying the key features of the IB educational philosophy. Inclusivity and the fact that every student matters and takes value from an IB education is important to us”.

“Our school has developed over the past 10 years from 12 DP graduates in 2012 to last year 120 graduates. We currently have 970 pupils doing the PYP and we have 220 DP students, which we project will increase to around 400 in the next few years”.

“In our high school section, we currently only offer the DP and we include students across the 20 to 45 point range. We are not interested in ‘creaming off’ just the very best academically and limiting access to the DP in order to be able to quote 41 or 42 average point scores in our marketing. IB characteristics and concepts such as holistic development, challenge, risk-taking, inclusivity and reflection play a key role in the characteristics of our school and its continual development and success”.

“We believe our students have benefited from our IB programmes to develop into true independent, international-minded and inquiring learners. We run these programmes because they fit with our values and concept of holistic and effective education”.

“The IB provides some great and valuable training and development opportunities for teachers and the facility to network with like-minded educators. We have also developed a substantial core of IB workshop leaders, which benefits our whole school as well as contributing to the career development of individual teachers”.

“Our relationship with the IB and our commitment to the values and ethos of an IB education has been strong and remains so. We are particularly happy that the IB is receptive to feedback and suggestions from schools regarding future developments with programmes. For example, we are currently reflecting on issues pertaining to how the DP assessment structure and its points awarding framework supports the stated aims of the IB. We currently prepare and enter over 80% of our Chinese nationals for English A courses and they reach correspondingly high and challenging attainment levels, yet we also reflect that a higher points score would be likely if we put all these students on an English B course or indeed on an abinitio language course. Should higher attainment levels garner the recognition of higher points scores, or should we be looking at maximizing students’ points scores by reducing challenges and attainment levels? The answer to that for us remains clear and we are happy that the IB is prepared to listen and reflect on our thoughts regarding such. We look forward to further discussions”.

Memorable highlight
“To see teachers taking their learning and expertise to the next skill level by presenting at workshops and breakout sessions at world conferences. It is truly satisfying to witness the professional development gained over time based on classroom practice and dedication.”

“We believe our students have benefited from our IB programmes to develop into true independent, international-minded and inquiring learners. We run these programmes because they fit with our values and concept of holistic and effective education”.

Five years
Elverum videregående skole, Norway

Elverum videregående skole, Norway

Mikael Sjöholm, Chairman, Association of Norwegian IB Schools (NIBS), Head of Faculty/Avdelingsleder, DP coordinator: “On our fifth anniversary as an IB World School, we are proud advocates of the IB philosophy of education where we strive to nurture global citizens, who are reflective, independent and caring”.

“The decision to run the DP was in response to the recognition that it is an excellent preparation for lifelong learning and to provide students with an alternative that provides a springboard to higher education on a global stage”.

“The IB philosophy has helped to foster an educational culture within the DP and the school at large, which places an emphasis on a journey of learning together where we all grow as individuals by acknowledging and considering different perspectives. In the past five years, the school has also benefited from an increased international network and profile as well as an integration of an educational philosophy with a global perspective”.

“There is more of a sustained focus on nurturing students, where activities that happen outside the classroom such as creativity, activity, service (CAS), are seen as being just as important as the learning that occurs within the classroom”.

“Students who have completed the IB programme at our school are equipped with critical thinking skills in all their academic subjects. The fact that the IB places the student at the centre of the learning process is consistent with the philosophy of the school of what education should be”.

“The IB has stimulated lots of cross-curricular collaboration between our teachers and emphasized the importance of ongoing reflection. Moreover, through approaches to teaching and learning, teachers have been given pedagogical support to reflect upon how they organize the curriculum.”

Memorable highlight
“Annually our DP graduates are invited to return to the school to share their experiences of life after the IB. The school community is filled with a sense of pride when each year, IB graduates explain to current students that no matter the challenges they have met on the next stage of their development, they feel that the IB has given them the skills and confidence to tackle these challenges head-on.”

“Students who have completed the IB programme at our school are equipped with critical thinking skills in all their academic subjects. The fact that the IB places the student at the centre of the learning process is consistent with the philosophy of the school of what education should be”.

If you are an IB World School or an IB student and you wish to share your story with us, please write to us at communications@ibo.org. We appreciate your ongoing support and invite you to connect with us on LinkedInTwitter,  Instagram and now YouTube!

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