Looking In and Looking Up!
We are proud to have been the first Montessori school in the world to offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IDBP) – nearly 30 years ago. The introduction of this program led to the need for our community to come together to build what we call the ‘Shammai’. Named after the first two students to complete the IBDP at our school, Adam Shaman and Mai Shimizu.
Since then, Montessori schools around the world have followed suit as the IBDP is the perfect conclusion to a Montessori education, as well as a great prelude and foundation to tertiary study and the world beyond.
To continue offering the IBDP, our school must, periodically, go through an evaluation process. Indeed, in 2022, our school completed the IBDP evaluation self-study process, which is a process that occurs every five years and requires considerable time and effort from the entire school community.
Conducted by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), the evaluation is built on the premise that the IBDP, when implemented with fidelity, ultimately leads to the achievement of the International Baccalaureate mission, which aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable, and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.
The primary aim of the regular evaluation is to support schools in continuously developing their capacity to implement IBDP to have a greater impact on student outcomes through the development of teacher and leader practice. The report of our evaluation stated that during the period of review, the last five years, the School has seen an increase in student numbers and, during that time, a lot of work had been done, and considerable progress has been made in teaching and learning.
We are elated to announce that the IBO examiners concluded that the School continues its long-standing commitment to the IBDP philosophy, and the Board, staff, students, and parents show an excellent understanding of the International Baccalaureate mission, vision, and overall philosophy.
Based on the review of the IBDP documentation, and in conversations with members of the School community, our school meets all the requirements. In short, we passed with flying colours, which is a testament to our dedicated IBDP teachers and our school continued commitment to offering a superb qualification to its students.
