CPD days at SIS

Over the last month we have had two Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Days for our teachers at school and I thought I would share with you what we have been doing.

In September of this year we have a verification visit from the International Baccalaureate. This will be to authorize our school as a Middle Years Programme (MYP) school.

Over the last two CPD days our teachers have been working on various aspects of planning for this change. The work being done by all department has to be documented and submitted as evidence to ensure we have the best possible curriculum for our students.

Most departments have spent the two days looking at finalizing all the units of work from Years 7,8 and is some cases 9. Reflection has taken place of what has been taught to date to improve on this and to work on assessments.

In Mathematics, the department focused on concepts’ coverage and progression and Attitudes to Learning, they also looked at assessments and progression of assessments from year to year. There was also a sharing of possible activities to ensure consistency in the type of learning that students are exposed to.

In some subjects there have been changes to courses that are offered and at the IBDP, Year 12 & 13, Level there are new French, Spanish and Chinese Lang B curriculums which will begin next academic year so again time has been spent analyzing the requirements of the exam board and then ensuring that we are prepared for the new course and meeting the changes.

Also, we have been doing further review and development on different GCSE curriculum.  With the introduction of the new grading system in many subjects, we have to examine our grade boundaries and ensure we are able to maintain our high standards of results.