Middle Years Programme MYP
The Middle Years Programme (MYP) holistic curriculum framework that is designed to transition 11 to 16 year old students from the transdisciplinary Primary Years Programme to the Diploma Programme.
The MYP emphasizes disciplinary knowledge and conceptual understanding, whilst developing interdisciplinary skills. The MYP:
• Fosters the IB’s overarching principle of international-mindedness.
• Reinforces the need for students to exemplify the Learner Profile.
• Emphasizes interdisciplinary skills through approaches to learning (ATL).
• Is concerned with the social-emotional development and wellbeing of adolescents.
• Is inquiry-based and concept-driven.
• Places principled action and community service at the core of students’ lives and empowers them to become lifelong participants in actively changing their community.
• Requires students to undertake the study of at least two languages.
MYP Learning Model and Subject Areas
Students must study in each broad discipline for a minimum of 50 hours per year.
Approaches To Learning
Through approaches to learning (ATL) in IB programmes, students develop skills that have relevance across the curriculum that help them “learn how to learn”. ATL skills can be learned and taught, improved with practice and developed incrementally. They provide a solid foundation for learning independently and with others. ATL skills help students prepare for, and demonstrate learning through, meaningful assessment.
• Communication skills
• Social skills: collaboration
• Self-management skills: organization, affective, reflection
• Research skills: information literacy and media literacy
• Thinking skills: critical thinking, creative thinking and transfer
Assessment
Each subject in the MYP is assessed on four criteria. Students build skills and understanding through Formative assessment.
Summative assessment is a culmination of student’s learning over the course of a unit of study.
The Community Project (MYP3), Personal Project (MYP5) and eAssessment (MYP5) are keystone assessment tasks within the MYP.
Assessment in the MYP aims to:
• support and encourage student learning by providing feedback on the learning process
• inform, enhance and improve the teaching process
• provide opportunity for students to exhibit transfer of skills across disciplines, such as in the personal project and interdisciplinary unit assessments
• promote positive student attitudes towards learning
• promote a deep understanding of subject content by supporting students in their inquiries set in real - world contexts
• promote the development of critical-thinking and creative-thinking skills
• reflect the international-mindedness of the programme by allowing assessments to be set in a variety of cultural and linguistic contexts
• support the holistic nature of the programme by including in its model principles that take account of the development of the whole student.
The MYP Certificate
The MYP Certificate is a qualification awarded to eligible MYP 5 students that can be used for enrollment in further study and employment.
Onscreen tests
MYP 5 students complete the MYP eAssessment, which comprises onscreen tests in five subjects:
Language & Literature
Individuals & Societies
Sciences
Mathematics
Interdisciplinary Studies
ePortfolios
ePortfolios are submitted in at least two subjects (Language Acquisition, and a choice of Design, PHE or the Arts), and Personal Project. Each component is graded on the MYP 7 point scale. To obtain the MYP Certificate, MYP 5 students must achieve a minimum of 28 points (out of a maximum of 56), a minimum of 3 in every subject and complete all CAIS Service as Action requirements.
MYP eAssessment
MYP eAssessment Subjects
Service as Action
Principled action, service learning and community service are key components of all IB programmes. More information can be found under the Service learning tab.
MYP eAssessment
The IB has developed the award-winning eAssessments to confirm the concept-based and skills driven approach of the MYP. CAIS has been a pioneer of the initiative and has enrolled MYP 5 students every year since it's inception in 2016.
The onscreen tests all last two hours and provide interactive questions that assess students' analytical and creative skills. For ePortfolio subjects, a summative assessment for each criteria is submitted to the IB.
Both onscreen tests and ePortfolios are strongly based on the chosen Global Context for that year. The Interdisciplinary examination is the only exam for this age group that assesses students' abilities to make connections between different areas of knowledge. They are challenging and stimulating tasks for MYP 5 students.
The Personal Project, long been a capstone task for MYP students, has been incorporated into the eAssessment range. Successful students are awarded the MYP Certificate.
The Community Project (MYP3)
The community project focuses on community and service, encouraging MYP3 students to explore their right and responsibility to implement service as action in the community. As a consolidation of learning, the community project engages students in a sustained, in-depth inquiry leading to service as action in the community.
The Personal Project (MYP5)
The personal project is a key component of MYP students' studies. It encourages students to practise and strengthen their ATL skills, consolidate prior and subject-specific learning and develop an area of personal interest. Personal projects revolve around a challenge that motivates and interests individual students.