Middle Years Programme (MYP) – Age 11-16

The IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) is designed for students aged 11 to 16. It provides a framework of learning which encourages students to become creative, critical and reflective thinkers. The MYP emphasises intellectual challenge, encouraging students to make connections between their studies in traditional subjects and to the real world. It fosters the development of skills for communication, intercultural understanding and global engagement, qualities that are essential for life in the 21st century.

The MYP is flexible enough to accommodate the demands of most national or local curriculums. It builds upon the knowledge, skills and attitudes developed in the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) and prepares students to meet the academic challenges of the IB Diploma Programme and the IB Career-related Certificate.

The IB Middle Years Programme (MYP)

• Addresses students’ intellectual, social, emotional and physical well-being.
• Enables students to understand and manage the complexities of our world, and provides them with the skills and attitudes they need in order to take responsible action for the future.
• Ensures breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding through the study of eight subject areas.
• Requires the study of at least two languages to support students in understanding their own culture and that of others.
• Provides the opportunity for students to undertake an independent project into an area of interest.

The MYP Programme consists of eight subject groups integrated through five interactive areas providing global contexts for learning. Students are required to study two at least two languages (as part of their multilingual profile), humanities, sciences, mathematics, arts, physical education and technology. In their final year, students will also undertake an independent ‘personal project’ to demonstrate the development of their skills and understanding.

The MYP’s core features five contexts for learning that provide powerful opportunities to engage in the study of issues that affect students today. Using a common language, teachers organize the curriculum through the following areas of interaction:

• Approaches to learning represents learning skills that students will develop and apply during the programme and beyond.
• Community and service considers how students can learn about their place within communities and be motivated to act in new contexts.
• Health and social education is designed to help students identify and develop skills that will enable them to function as effective members of societies. They also learn about how they are changing and how to make informed decisions that relate to their welfare.
• Environments explores how humans interact with the world at large and the parts we play in our virtual, natural and built environments.
• Human ingenuity deals with the way in which human minds have influenced the world and considers the consequences of human thought and action.