The Middle Years Programme (MYP)
The Middle Years Programme (MYP)

Da Vinci's International Primary School is a candidate school* for the International Baccalaureate (IB) MYP (Middle Years Programme) and pursuing authorization as an IB World School.

IB World Schools share a common philosophy - a commitment to improve the teaching and learning of a diverse and inclusive community of students by delivering challenging, high quality programmes of international education that share a powerful vision**.

* Only schools authorized by the IB Organization can offer any of its four academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), the Diploma Programme (DP), or the Career-related Programme (CP). Candidate status gives no guarantee that authorization will be granted. For further information about the IB and its programmes visit http://www.ibo.org.

**Mission Statement from the IB
The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment. These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.

The Middle Years Programme (MYP) is a part of the International Baccalaureate® (IB) programme which focuses on students’ skills and takes a holistic approach to teaching and learning. The MYP is not a curriculum which instructs teachers what to teach, it is rather a framework which instructs teachers how to teach and assess their students; this means that we teach the Polish curriculum to the standards and requirements of the MYP.

Subjects in the MYP are divided into 8 subject groups:

  1. Language and literature (Polish, English, Russian, Spanish and French are currently offered)
  2. Language acquisition (Polish, English and German are currently offered)
  3. Individuals and societies (Geography, History, Social Studies)
  4. Sciences (Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Science)
  5. Mathematics
  6. Arts (Music, Visual Arts are currently offered)
  7. Physical and health education
  8. Design

Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills are skills which we practice during our lessons and help our students learn. Our assessment tasks and projects outside of lessons are structured around these skills. The 5 ATL skills are:

  • Thinking
  • Communication
  • Social
  • Self-management
  • Research
Service as action

Service as Action is an integral part of the IB where students have the opportunity to make a positive contribution to their community and beyond. Through Service as Action students gain new skills, build friendships and learn the importance of helping others and the environment.

At Da Vinci’s International Primary School, students in grades 6 and 7 take part in school-led Service as Action activities. These can range from fundraising for an animal shelter, creating educational videos to painting a mural. In grade 8, students take the lead and carry out the Community Project where they decide how they would like to help a community.

Taking part in Service as Action means students undertake new and exciting challenges, become aware of their own strengths, and use them meaningfully to help others. We are proud to say that at our school students have the chance to experience Service as Action.

Community Project

The Community Project is an important and valuable part of the MYP curriculum. It is a fantastic opportunity for students in MYP Year 3 to explore how their knowledge and their actions can affect change within a community. Throughout the process of the community project, students will choose a community they would like to help, develop awareness of its needs through investigation and address those needs through service.

Helping at the local food bank, creating an educational picture book, campaigning for fair-trade awareness, organising a fundraiser for an animal shelter; these are some examples of service that students can carry out as a part of their project. The community project process as a whole - investigation, planning, action and reflection - is expected to take around 15 hours for students to complete over the course of Year 3 and is graded. 

Throughout the process, students are guided by a project supervisor, who is there to meet with students and provide them with support. The Community Project is a chance for students to develop compassion as well as resilience so that they are prepared to take on challenges throughout their academic journey.

We are currently a candidate school for the Middle Years Programme, years 1-3 (Polish grades 6-8). 

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.

Albert Einstein