The International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme is an academically-challenging and balanced programme of education that works to develop students who live, learn and work in a rapidly changing world.
With a focus on independent thinking, academic rigour, community service, inter-cultural understanding and respect for others, the Programme prepares students for success at university and beyond.
Our teaching and learning philosophy is to encourage learners who are open to challenge, willing to develop their abilities and achieve their personal best, take risks and accept mistakes, make ethical decisions and enjoy learning.
This vision complements the IB Diploma programme which aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable, open-minded, reflective, caring and principled young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through effective communication, intercultural understanding and respect.
The IB Learner Profile underpins the programme and ensures the development of the whole person.
The International Baccalaureate learner profile came to existence from the IB mission statement. 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 Learner Profile has become the values that define the type of learner that IB students aim to be. IB learners are internationally minded individuals that strive to create a better world through understanding the world’s global interconnectedness and humanity. The IB Learner Profile attributes are:
If you’re still undecided about the best academic pathway to take, the IB has launched a new video series on how the Diploma Programme prepares students for university, and why universities value the experience that IB students bring along.
The extended essay of some 4,000 words offers the opportunity for IB students to investigate a topic of special interest, usually one of the student’s six Diploma Programme subjects, and acquaints them with the independent research and writing skills expected at university.
Theory of Knowledge has an emphasis on the development of critical thinking skills, encouraging students to be aware of subjective biases and to develop the ability to analyse evidence. This is a key element in encouraging students to appreciate other perspectives.
Creativity, activity, service is at the heart of the Diploma Programme, involving students in a range of activities that take place alongside their academic studies throughout the IB Diploma Programme.
The IB Dux for 2021 is Lara Johns.
Lara is an exceptional academic and she is on target for a top IB score – she has achieved the top score of 7 in 4 out of her 6 IB subjects, winning the subject prizes for Spanish and Economics and has received the IB Diploma Learner Profile award. This latter award is reflected in Lara’s genuine curiosity for learning and a great joy in exploring new ideas and perspectives. This attitude was particularly appreciated by her classmates and teachers as she drove classroom discussion and investigations to new levels.
Lara has achieved all of this alongside being House Captain of Mary Pulling, playing Premier Waterpolo and achieving her Duke of Edinburgh Gold award is something to be truly admired. Lara goes onto the next part of her journey with our best wishes as the Diocesan International Baccalaureate Diploma Dux recipient for 2021.
The 2021 award went to Lara Johns.
This award is given to a student in Year 13 who, throughout the two years of the Diploma, has consistently exhibited the attributes of the IB Learner Profile. This profile can be considered as a map of a lifelong journey in pursuit of international-mindedness. It aims to develop active, compassionate and lifelong learners, and to prepare students to make exceptional contributions both at school and beyond. The IB mission is to encourage students to be inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open- minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced, and reflective, thus educating the whole person for a life of active, responsible citizenship.
We are delighted with the achievements of our IB Diploma Programme students in 2021. Eight of our students scored 40+ and would have been recognised at the prestigious ‘Top Scholar Awards Ceremony’ this year, but unfortunately it was cancelled due to Covid restrictions. Achieving an IB Diploma score of 40 points or more places these students in the top 6% of students across the world. We are very proud of the achievements of these students and watch with interest where their studies take them in the future.