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Middle Years Programme

Service as Action (SA)

Service as Action engages students in authentic, enduring service learning experiences within the local and global community. Students are encouraged to develop their own service opportunities in areas that are of particular impoortance and interest to them. They will thoughtfully reflect on their community service experiences and self-evaluate them.

Personal Project

In year 11 students complete an MYP Personal Project. This can be on anything of interest to them, They are supported by a teacher-supervisor. The project is completed in the student’s own time between the end of Year 10 and January of Year 11. The personal project is a rich opportunity for students to complete an extended piece of work that challenges their own creativity and thinking. Creativity is encouraged by the aims and objectives of the personal project and the results are usually rewarding, and sometimes spectacular.

Diploma Programme

Creativity, Action and Service (CAS)

All IB Diploma students must engage in creative experiences, physical activity and community service beyond their academic programme. The CAS programme aims to develop students who are:

• Reflective thinkers
• Willing to accept new challenges and new roles
• Aware of themselves as members of communities with responsibilities towards each other and the environment
• Active participants in sustained, collaborative projects
• Balanced individuals who enjoy and find significance in a range of activities.*

CAS consists of:

Creativity: the Arts, and other experiences that involve creative thinking.
Action: physical exertion contributing to a healthy lifestyle.
Service: voluntary endeavour that involves learning and personal development for the student.

CAS activities should involve:
• Real, purposeful activities, with significant outcomes
• Personal challenge—tasks must extend the student
• Thoughtful consideration, such as planning, reviewing progress, reporting
• Reflection on outcomes and personal learning.

The CAS Coordinator will work individually with each diploma student to develop an individual plan.

Theory of Knowledge (TOK)

TOK is a critical thinking course based around two fundamental questions:

a. What is it that  I claim to know?
b. How valid are the methods used to establish what it is I claim to know?

TOK aims to encourage an interest in the diversity of ways of thinking as well as consideration of the responsibilities of the individual as a citizen of the world. Students will be assessed on practice oral presentations and essays, role play and on their participation in preparing for and leading debate and discussion, as well as on their final presentations and essays.

Extended Essay

The extended essay is an in-depth study of a focused topic normally chosen by a student from one of their six chosen subjects. It is intended to promote high-level research and writing skills, intellectual discovery and creativity. It provides students with an opportunity to engage in personal research in a topic of their own choice, under the guidance of a supervisor (a teacher in the school). This leads to a major piece of formally presented, structured writing.

All Diploma programme students complete an extended essay under the supervision of their supervisor. The Extended Essay, like the Personal Project, is based on a topic of the student’s choice and is completed in theirr own time.

Extra-Curricular Activities

Gardening is a popular extra-curricular activity. A special characteristic of OIS is our focus on sustainability, which we regard as an integral part of our mission as educators. As well as a demanding academic curriculum we also aim to educate our students for life, and gardening is a key part of this. We are lucky to have a large kitchen garden, and each class has a plot to tend. The students will spend time in the garden every week, and the produce is given to our local food bank. Students learn what it takes to go from seed to table, they develop patience as well as practical skills. Some students and staff have developed a particularly keen interest, and they have their own plots. During spring and summer it’s common to find students and their families in the garden at the weekend, enjoying the sunshine and a little bit of physical activity. This beautiful environment is the greatest physical asset of our school, and we never underestimate its value to our community.