Wellington Today Wellington Today 2017 en | Page 28

WELLINGTON TODAY 2017
WELLINGTON COLLEGE CHINA
OUR
CURRICULUM
INTERNATIONAL GENERAL CERTIFICATE OF
SECONDARY EDUCATION IGCSE
The International General Certificate of Secondary Education
(IGCSE) offers pupils in Year 10 and Year 11 at Wellington
College International Tianjin and Shanghai access to a qualification
that is recognised internationally as an excellent foundational
programme for studying A-Level and for university entry.
IGCSE builds on existing knowledge and provides an
opportunity to engage with a curriculum that is delivered
and assessed through practical application of knowledge
and learning. Throughout the IGCSE programme, students
will experience learning structured around the Wellington
Aptitudes so that pupils develop as scholars and life-long learners
as well as high performers in specific subjects. The IGCSE
curriculum accentuates personal enquiry, independent study,
internationalism, and social responsibility. While the courses
within each field are taught separately by subject-specialist
teachers, all are designed to emphasise the links between them
and between learning and its real-world context.
At Wellington College International Shanghai and Tianjin,
students will study IGCSE through the respected Cambridge
International Examinations, a department with Cambridge
University, UK.
INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE
IGCSE assessment takes place at the end of the course and
can include written, oral, coursework and practical assessment.
This broadens opportunities for students to demonstrate their
learning, particularly when their first language is not English. In
many subjects there is a choice between core and extended
curricula, making Cambridge IGCSE suitable for a wide range
of abilities.
Grades are benchmarked using eight internationally recognised
grades, A* to G, which have clear guidelines to explain the
standard of achievement for each grade.
Cambridge IGCSE examination sessions occur twice a year, in
June and November. Results are issued in August and January.
The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is
the world’s leading international post-16 qualification,recognized
across the globe for its breadth and rigour. Established some
40 years ago in Switzerland, it provides not just a thorough and
broad subject-based education, but sets an ambitious agenda by
promoting a truly global outlook, and encouraging pupils to be
active in seeking a better world. The IBDP also requires pupils to
learn as much from what they do outside the classroom as inside
it, and as such, it ties in neatly with the Wellington Aptitudes
approach. Universities from around the world love the IBDP
for the way it requires pupils to work, think and research, which
prepares them for the demands of higher education.
Uniting all aspects of the Diploma Programme is the IB Learner
Profile. Diploma pupils should be inquiring, knowledgeable
thinkers, and effective communicators; in addition, they should be
principled and open-minded, caring and reflective, with balance
in what they do, and a sense of risk-taking. Pupils must study six
subjects, one from each of the groups in the second ring of the
diagram, unless they elect not to study a subject in the Arts, in
which case they can study an extra subject in Science, Languages
or Individuals and Societies.
All IBDP pupils must also undertake the Core, comprised of:
– The Extended Essay is a 4000 word research essay, chosen from
one of the pupil’s six subject areas. Pupils have a staff supervisor
with whom they meet regularly.
– The Theory of Knowledge (ToK) is a course that examines the
very nature of knowledge, and how we know what we know.
– Creativity, Action, Service (CAS) is the learning that takes place
outside the classroom. It covers extra-curricular activities, from
sports, to music, to acting, to expeditions, to charitable work and
helping others.
All these are also what Wellington pupils do as part of our
Wellington Aptitudes focus. Learning the IB Diploma way is
the same as learning the Wellington way – education is truly
broad and rounded, challenging, reflective and, in the end,
transformative.
Cambridge IGCSE is the world’s most popular international
qualification for 14 to 16 year olds. It is recognised by leading
universities and employers worldwide, and is an international
passport to progression and success. Developed over 25 years
ago, it is tried, tested and trusted by schools worldwide.
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