“The aim of all IB programmes is to develop internationally minded people who, recognising their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world.” (www.ib.org)
Heidelberg International School offers three International Baccalaureate (IB) Programmes for students aged 4 to 18.
The IB Primary Years Programme is offered for students aged 4 to 10 at H.I.S. It focuses on the total growth of the developing child, social, physical, emotional and cultural needs in addition to academic development.
The holistic approach enables students to adapt and cope in new or unfamiliar situations, such as moving to a different country, culture and school. They are equipped with ideas, strategies and experiences, which can be applied to many situations they face as they grow and which have made them flexible in their approach to learning.
Students who have worked in the programme are able to make connections between their learning at school and apply this knowledge to the world around them. It is the development of these connections between all learning that will enable students to make sense of the world that they live in.
The curriculum framework consists of five essential elements: concepts, knowledge, skills, attitudes, action.
The knowledge component is developed through inquiries into six transdisciplinary themes of global significance, supported and balanced by six subject areas.
The curriculum framework is further structured around three interrelated questions:
∙ What do we want to learn? The written curriculum.
∙ How best will we learn? The taught curriculum.
∙ How will we know what we have learned? The assessed curriculum.
Teachers in the programme receive IB certified training through regional, inschool and online workshops. Inhouse professional development is supported by a PYP Workshop Leader on staff.
The Early Primary classes at H.I.S. are the first stage fo the IB Primary Years Programme and are appropriate for children from the age of four to six. These formative years serve as a firm foundation for learning, while encouraging the development of key communication and social skills.
Literacy and numeracy skills are developed through play-based activities, which allow children to make connections between what they already know and their discoveries about the world around them. Individual learning styles are addressed through practical experiences with everyday materials with a focus on purposeful inquiry.
The IB Primary Years Programme Exhibition is an opportunity for Grade 5 students to showcase what they have learned throughout primary school. The purpose of the Exhibition is to promote agency, creativity, collaboration and taking action.
This culminating project celebrates the unique journey each child has taken and prepares each of them for the next steps as they transition on to secondary school.
The Middle Years Programme aims to equip students aged 11 to 16 with the knowledge and skills they need to successfully find their standing in our complex and ever changing world. As young adults the students are faced with many challenges. The MYP endeavors to support the students, letting them grow to develop as balanced and knowledgeable IB learners, who have the courage and the confidence to become successful in academic disciplines as well as in all facets of life.
The MYP is an inquiry based programme of education and engages students mentally, physically and emotionally. The students are encouraged to acknowledge and accept responsibilities that will aid them in becoming successful not only in academic disciplines, but in all facets of life.
At Heidelberg International School the Middle Years Programme is a five year course of study starting in Grade 6 and continuing through Grade 10. Students take a broad and balanced range of subjects, which are studied in each year of the Programme:
∙ Arts ∙ Performing Arts, Visual Art
∙ Design ∙ Digital Design, Product Design
∙ Individuals and Societies ∙ History, Philosophy, Social Sciences
∙ Language Acquisition ∙ English, German, Spanish
∙ Language and Literature ∙ English, German
∙ Sciences ∙ Biology, Chemistry, Physics
∙ Mathematics
∙ Physical and Health Education
In addition to the taught curriculum, MYP students in Grade 10 explore an area of personal interest over an extended period, outside the classroom. This provides them with the opportunity to consolidate their learning and develop important skills they’ll need in both further education and life beyond the classroom.
The Personal Project consists of three main parts, a product, a process journal and a report. During the exploration of their interests, students create a product or outcome documenting the exploration process (using a process journal) and at the end they write a report.
The Personal Project report is assessed by the supervisor and externally moderated by the IB to ensure a globally consistent standard of excellence. Each project is awarded a final achievement grade.
Service and Action is a great chance for MYP students to develop new skills and extend their learning beyond the classroom. MYP students participate in a whole range of activities that benefit others at school and in the wider community.
Be it fundraising for a charity, organising school events or running awareness campaigns, students can choose to do individual projects or to participate in group activities. Some examples of these groups are The Environment group, Refugees and the Homeless, Model United Nations, and helping Primary students.
The whole H.I.S. school community comes together every year to take part in an annual charity run. With the Waldpiraten Run H.I.S. students, staff and parents support a recreational Camp providing therapeutic activities for children.
Life in the 21st century, in an interconnected, globalised world, requires critical-thinking skills and a sense of international-mindedness, something that International Baccalaureate Diploma students come to know and understand.
The IB Diploma Programme is designed as an academically challenging and balanced programme of education with final examinations that prepares students for success at university and life beyond.
The programme is taught over two years and has gained recognition and respect from the world’s leading universities.
For more information about the IBDP, please visit www.ibo.org/diploma.
The IBDP curriculum is made up of the Diploma core and six subject groups. Made up of three required components, the DP core aims to broaden students’ educational experience and challenges them to apply their knowledge and skills.
Theory of knowledge – reflects on the nature of knowledge
Extended Essay – independent, self-directed piece of research and essay
Creativity, activity, service (CAS) - student chosen projects related to all three concepts.
∙ Group 1 ∙ Language and Literature (English, German)
∙ Group 2 ∙ Language Acquisition (German)
∙ Group 3 ∙ History, Business Management
∙ Group 4 ∙ Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Physics
∙ Group 5 ∙ Mathematics (Analysis & Approaches, Application & Interpretation)
∙ Group 6 ∙ Visual Art
The Extended Essay is an integral part of the IB Diploma Programme and highly valued by University Admissions officers worldwide. Students engage in an independent research project and write up their findings in a 4000-word essay, complete with academic citations and references. They choose a specific area of focus, usually from within their DP subjects, but beyond the confines of the syllabus. They formulate a thought-provoking research question, commence with a literature review and then produce an academic essay with their own findings, observations and conclusions.
Students are robustly supported throughout the process by the Extended Essay Coordinator, the School Librarian and a personal Supervisor.
CAS involves students in a range of activities alongside their academic studies. It takes place outside of regular classes and is an opportunity for students to develop new skills and deepen areas of interest, while contributing what they have to offer to various communities. CAS is organised around three strands.
Creativity: Exploring and extending ideas leading to an original or interpretive product or performance, the creativity strand includes a wide range of the arts and creative thinking and planning projects.
Activity: Physical exertion contributing to a healthy lifestyle, the activity strand includes sport or physical activities.
Service: Collaborative and reciprocal engagement with the community in response to an authentic need, the service strand includes voluntary activities that have a learning benefit for the students and meet the needs of someone else in their local, national or worldwide community.
The IB Diploma Programme is a rigorous two-year curriculum leading to a set of external examinations taken by students in May of their final year at H.I.S. Those who satisfy the demands of the IB Diploma demonstrate a strong commitment to learning, both in terms of the mastery of subject content and in the development of the skills and discipline necessary for success in a competitive world.
The IB assesses student work as direct evidence of achievement against the stated goals of the Diploma Programme courses. DP assessment which includes written examinations, measures the extent to which students have mastered advanced academic skills in fulfilling these goals
As part of our preparations for success in these high-stakes IB examinations, H.I.S. provides students with opportunities to practice their study preparation and examination techniques by holding End of Year exams in Grade 10 and 11 and a week of Mock exams in January of the Grade 12 year.
Inquirers
Knowledgeable
Thinkers
Communicators
Principled
Open-Minded
Caring
Risk-Takers
Balanced
Reflective
College Counselling at H.I.S. helps students to envision their best possible career options, and to guide them through the first steps towards a successful, meaningful, and fulfilling professional life. In the years before graduation, students are equipped with skills to learn about the world of work, they are advised on how to choose the best career in view of their strengths, passions, values and aspirations. The MaiaLearning platform is in place to facilitate the students’ career choices.
Our graduates go to universities in the Netherlands, Germany, USA, Canada & the UK.
There is an agreement between the German authority called the Kultusministerkonferenz (KMK) and the IB where the KMK recognizes the IB Diploma as equal to the German national leaving certificate Abitur in providing access to universities, but only with prescribed subject and level stipulations.
If you are considering applying to German public universities it is therefore essential that you are well informed of these before making any diploma subject choices.
For more information please download the agreement statement in German or English
∙ Sofia University
∙ British Columbia Institute of Technology
∙ Simon Fraser University
∙ University British Columbia
∙ Dresden University of Technology
∙ EBS University of Business and Law
∙ Kaiserslautern University of Technology
∙ Karlshochschule International University
∙ Schiller International University
∙ SRH University
∙ Universität Bamberg
∙ Universität Heidelberg
∙ Universität Kaiserslautern
∙ Universität Mannheim
∙ Trinity College Dublin
∙ Amsterdam School of the Arts
∙ Erasmus College Rotterdam
∙ Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen
∙ University College Groningen
∙ Universiteit Leiden
∙ University of Amsterdam
∙ London Metropolitan University
∙ Manchester Metropolitan University
∙ Solent University
∙ Swansea University
∙ University of Bath
∙ University of Edinburgh
∙ University of Hull
∙ University of Strathclyde
∙ University of Sussex
∙ University of York
∙ Blackhawk Technical College
∙ Brigham Young University
∙ Chattahoochee Technical College
∙ Drexel University
∙ Georgia Southern University
∙ Georgia State University
∙ Kennesaw State University
∙ Parsons The New School of Design
∙ Provo
∙ Purdue University
∙ Salt Lake City
∙ Statesboro
∙ University of Kansas
∙ University of Utah
∙ West Lafayette
If you have any questions or require further information, I will be happy to help.
Heidelberg International School
Wieblinger Weg 7
69123 Heidelberg
Germany
Anke Schumacher
Admissions Counsellor
