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Original poster

IB schools

17 replies

cherryapple · 21/09/2008 11:29

We are thinking about sending our child to an International Baccalaureate school just wondering what other peoples thoughts are on these schools or does anybody have a child that attends one. Any opinions greatly appreciated.

OP posts:
LIZS · 21/09/2008 11:32

What age group?

kama · 21/09/2008 11:32

This reply has been deleted

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Original poster
cherryapple · 21/09/2008 11:42

My lo would start the nursery next year when she is 3. I would like to know did you find it hard? would you advise the IB? and what you thought of it. Why did you choose the IB? thankyou for your replies

OP posts:
LIZS · 21/09/2008 11:56

I felt the Primary Years progarm was a bit unstructured and vague , so overrelying on each shcool and the experince and background of the individual teachers to help the children achieve the level appropriate for the next year. Of course that may ahve ben our specific school experiecne but it was no preparation for the UK system. Think it works best at secondary level and have not ruled it out but again I'm yet to be convinced by a UK school implementing it early enough in the curriculum to match those abroad.

wheresthehamster · 21/09/2008 11:59

Round here the IB only kicks in in yr12. Previous years follow normal curriculum but more MFL enriched. E.g. a geography lesson will be taught in french from yr8.

PolinaDashkova · 21/09/2008 12:11

There is an IB website which gives you a bit of an idea about the curriculum and what to expect. Will have to google around and see if I can find it.

Atm I am considering an IB secondary for my dc but this is still way off in the future

Original poster
cherryapple · 21/09/2008 12:23

Thank you for all of your replies.

Hi Lizs, was it you who attended the IB school or your children? Did you or your children end up in the UK system? Did you think th UK system was better or just that we do UK better than IB?

Thanks again

OP posts:
LIZS · 21/09/2008 12:41

ds has experienced both . IB in at an International School in Switzerland, then private school in UK. It left gaps in his early learning(from aged 3 to 7) as one teacher came from Aus, one from Us, one from Uk, one from Canada each having differing expecations of a child at that age based on the system they had trained in. On top of this there were often new children with English as a second language who needed accommodating. 3 years on in the UK system he is still needing reinforcement of some basics (ie phonetic spelling patterns, tables/addition patterns)as these were just not covered. The IB Primary syllabus imho didn't provide enoguh structure as a reference point on its own. IB PYP is based on concepts of learning by specified themes rather than focussing on the mechanics of learning and only later on are these more formally introduced. This particular school has now introduced more formal learning with textbooks etc running alongside the IB programme. You can read more about it online here

Original poster
cherryapple · 21/09/2008 13:48

Thanks for your information Lizs

OP posts:
leothelioness · 21/09/2008 14:16

My ds is 4.5 and just started PYP at an IB school he seems to like it so far it is less structured than the uk system with much more focus on personal development and social interactions than actual academic stuff at this age. I think that the focus of the pyp program is more holistic i.e. they study themes e.g environment, seasons etc and then incorporate reading, arithmatic,and science etc within this topic. This means they develop good core skills but may have some catching up to do on some subjects if he transferred to the uk system again as the focus of the cirriculum is different.

This is my take on the IB system, however ds has only been at school for a few wekks so my views may change!

LIZS · 21/09/2008 15:04

leo ! is he really 4 1/2 already ! Does he go to same one our ds went to or another ?

Original poster
cherryapple · 21/09/2008 17:16

Hi leothelioness can I ask why you decided to send your lo to an IB school?

OP posts:
leothelioness · 22/09/2008 13:38

Liz he is 4 1/2 it amazing how quickly they grow up isn't it. He does not go to the swiss school you mentioned we are in china so he goes to an IB school here.

Cherryapple for me the IB school just felt right it is a lovely school with lots of on site facilities and the IB system just seemd to give more oportunity for him to be creative and develop at his own pace. It was very important for him to be happy and as he was moving from a montesorri. I just felt this school was a better fit than the other option of the British school that was available to me here.

LIZS · 22/09/2008 14:40

wow when did that happen ? sorry to CA for hijack !

leothelioness · 23/09/2008 01:45

LIZS sorry but I really think you are getting me mixed up with someone else. I have never actually lived in switzerland. But its very nice to 'meet' you and I have been in China for 2 years.

LIZS · 23/09/2008 08:10

oh sorry , your name is very similar

leothelioness · 23/09/2008 13:48

No worries LIZS. I have not met anyone on here with a name similar to mine yet.

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