2021 Introduction to Diploma Programme

OVERVIEW

Somerset College is an authorised IB World School, offering the PYP (Pre-Prep to Year 5), MYP (Years 6 to 10) and the IB Diploma Programme as an option to the Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) at Years 11 and 12. Somerset first offered the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IB DP) in 2000 and since that time our students have enjoyed it and many have achieved outstanding results. The IB Diploma is a global curriculum which has a reputation for focusing on holistic education, critical thinking and global perspectives. This is achieved by encouraging breadth over specialisation. All IB Diploma students develop this breadth by studying subjects from six groups outlined elsewhere in this booklet. While gaining expertise in this broad range of subjects, students also have the opportunity to specialise in subjects of their own choosing, drawing on their personal strengths, interests and aspirations. By electing which subjects to focus on at High Level (HL) or a Standard Level (SL), students are given the capacity to truly personalise their senior pathway. In addition to their six subjects, students write an Extended Essay on a topic of their own choosing. The Extended Essay is a genuine point of difference to other senior programmes, as it requires students to define a question and write a 4000-word response. The length and, particularly, the process of defining the question and responding are demands typically made in the first or second year of university, and when the time comes IB graduates often feel very at home with the process. Similarly, the Theory of Knowledge course (beginners’ epistemology) is unique to the IB and key to Diploma student’s success within the university context. Through this programme, students also extend their learning out of the classroom and into the community through the completion of the compulsory CAS (creativity, activity and service) component. Our experience in delivering the IB DP has shown it to be a most rewarding senior pathway, providing an added dimension to a student’s final two years of schooling. As stated, the IB Diploma is primarily, a pre- tertiary preparation course. Students taking this programme are attracted to studying a broad range of IB subjects, its international and national recognition and the capacity to control the subjects they will study at a high or standard level. Others are attracted by no inter-subject scaling, with all subjects considered equal in terms of rigour, standards and complexity. Somerset’s two senior pathways recognise that our young people have different interests, dreams and needs. Our final year of the Middle Years Programme (Year 10) is a focused preparation course, specifically designed to allow students to transition successfully to the Diploma or the QCE. For those seeking a university education, there is no doubt that the IB enhances the playing field in terms of coping with and staying the course of a chose degree. Research conducted by both the IB and various universities supports this notion. In recognising their preparation, Diploma students who meet course requirements are looked favourably upon by university admissions teams. Students who have completed the IB Diploma at Somerset College have gone on to study, nationally and internationally, at some of the world’s most esteemed universities.

We are delighted that each year we have students choosing to do such a rigorous course.

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