The Core: ToK, EE, CAS
The IB is more than six academic subjects, and all students will be involved in the Core aspects of the programme. The Extended Essay, the Creativity Activity Service experiences and projects and the Theory of Knowledge course - please follow the above links to see more information and what makes our programmes unique.
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Alongside the above elements the core also involves a commitment to the following:
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The IB Learner profile a set of characteristics that we believe each student should exhibit to become global citizens.
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The school is committed to an innovative and specific way of teaching and a focus on student learning that involves inquiry based learning and an understanding of what good teaching and learning is with a focus on metacognition.
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As a school we are committed to this and so have placed within our current Programme Development Plan as one of three areas of focus.
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Internationalism also some times defined as Intercultural understanding is the final area at the core of our programmes.
The Extended Essay
All full IB Diploma students must take the Extended Essay. IB Courses students are given the opportunity to take the Extended Essay if they show an interest and want to produce an extended study in a particular area.
The Extended Essay is an in-depth focused study of a topic chosen from one of the six subjects studied for the IB Diploma. It promotes academic reading and writing skills and provides students with the opportunity to in research into a topic of their own choosing.
It is written in the style of an academic essay and is "a major piece of formally presented, structured writing, in which ideas and findings are communicated in a reasoned, coherent manner."
It should be a maximum of 4000 words, along with approximately 500 words of written reflections. It should represent about 40 hours work and require 3 to 5 hours of supervision, including 3 mandatory supervision sessions.
Theory of Knowledge
All full IB Diploma students must take the Theory of Knowledge course. IB Courses students are given the opportunity to take the Theory of Knowledge course if they show an interest and want to pursue developing their critical thinking throughout the two years.
The course centres on the exploration of knowledge questions, a key tool for both teachers and students. These are contestable questions about knowledge itself, such as: “What counts as good evidence for a claim?”, “Are some types of knowledge less open to interpretation than others?”, or “What constraints should there be on the pursuit of knowledge?”. While these questions may initially seem slightly intimidating, they become much more accessible when considered with reference to specific examples within the TOK course.
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Although TOK doesn’t have a concrete syllabus, which is examined at the end of the course, it still has a clear structure, and set of aims. At theory of knowledge we try to tie TOK to the ‘4Cs’ of education – critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity. And we explore the core theme, optional themes, and areas of knowledge via 6 Big Questions.
Creativity, Action and Service
All full IB Diploma, IB Courses and High School Diploma students must be involved in the CAS experiences and projects over the last two years of their Senior School programme.
Creativity, activity, service (CAS) is one of the three essential elements that every student must complete as part of the Diploma Programme (DP).
Studied throughout all three programmes, CAS involves students in a range of activities alongside their academic studies.
It is not formally assessed. However, students reflect on their CAS experiences, and provide evidence of achieving the seven learning outcomes for CAS.
The IB ToK & EE matrix
Table showing how the grade achieved for the extended essay and the grade achieved for theory of knowledge are combined to determine points awarded.
This summarises "The diploma points matrix" in the International Baccalaureate Organisation's Diploma Programme Guides.
The grade for theory of knowledge uses the combined marks for the presentation (up to 20 marks) and TOK essay (up to 40 marks).
If any component is not submitted or receives an E, no diploma will be awarded.