Hi,
I think your friend should speak with the school directly. I don't know about SA curriculum so can't answer your question, also what specifically would she mean by "challenged"? again, ask her to look at the curriculum as sets of skills are developped, amongst them to be inquisitive, independent thinker, analytical etc ... whilst preserving the integrity of the student.
Again, understanding the curriculum itself is paramount if she's looking at the IB.
Hope this helps :)
<em>edited by Quizzme on 27/01/2011</em>
thanks again. the info is for a friend. another 2 questions, if you dont mind:
1. once in an IB school, how easy would it be for a child to integrate back into a US/UK/whatever curriculum school? if they moved home (s.a.), would the kids assimilate well to that country's school curriculum?
2. are kids challenged in an IB school?
sorry, i'm not a parent, my friend is & she is clueless LOL about these things but desperate as her daughter will have to change schools in september.
i'll tell her to get an EW id so she can correspond directly too.
thanks, in the meantime, for your help.
It is an IB curriculum so I would advise you read about it as it is different from others:
http://www.ibo.org/
You will notice that certain activities like sports / music are a normal part of the curriculum.
The IB fits nicely with the values & lifestyle of our household so from there we chose GWA as they focus entirely on the IB from Primary years (PYP certified) (it was our preference vs schools which do IB plus other curriculum with teachers teaching both). When I went to visit the school I had a chat with various people whether teachers or responsible for PYP or early childhood and they all delivered a consistent and same message and carried the values of IB very well.
Communication between admin/teachers/parents & students has been great so far, activities & events happening all the time either from the school initiative or Parents' association which is very active. After school activities are great with plenty of choice (the older the more choice as well ;).
Quality of the teaching from what I have experienced is excellent, my daughter is blossoming and bringing new knowledge, new ways of thinking & analyzing, new questions as well ;D She's excited to go to school every single morning.
Heads of the schools are easy to talk to and very approachable, they will share their vision for the school and progress on on-going projects, assemblies every week where you can attend etc ...
The school is also very involved with the community (as part of requirement for the IB curriculum).
Hope this helps.
Did you visit the school? how old are your children? What do you like about the IB?
thanks quizzme. general things like after school activities, are they sports / academically orientated? teachers good? what about the head of the school? why do you love the school?