The International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme is a two year, standardized curriculum and system of assessment intended for students heading to university. This internationally recognized program emphasizes critical thinking, intercultural understanding and exposure to a variety of points of view. It is designed for motivated students who enjoy academic challenges and wish to become involved in the community. There are currently over 3500 schools in over 144 countries which offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme.
Operating now for over forty years, the IB Diploma Programme is highly regarded at universities all over the world. The comprehensive program emphasizes academic excellence and fosters personal development by encouraging community service and participation in creative and physically active pursuits. Assessment in the IB program includes standardized exams written and graded by trained teachers from many countries as well as work marked by the students’ own teachers, but moderated by international markers.
Halifax West received authorization from the IBO in 2007 to offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma. A student in the IB Diploma Programme at Halifax West will take IB courses in Grades 11 and 12, instead of courses from the Nova Scotia curriculum (PSP). A student intending to enroll in IB Diploma courses in Grade 11 and 12 would prepare by taking the Halifax West Pre-IB Program in their Grade 10 year.
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.
http://www.ibo.org/en/about-the-ib/mission/
IB Learner Profile
The IB Learner Profile describes the characteristics that IB hopes students will acquire during their studies in the IB Diploma Programme (through academic courses, extracurricular/CAS activities, school activities, Extended Essays, TOK and every day interactions). The aim of the IB Diploma Program is to develop internationally minded people who strive to be: inquirers, knowledgeable, critical thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced, reflective.
http://www.ibo.org/benefits/learner-profile/
Benefits of the IB Diploma
The IB Diploma Programme is a comprehensive international curriculum with an emphasis on critical thinking, intercultural understanding, citizenry and extracurricular activities. Students are exposed to a broad range of subjects, but study subjects in great depth. The ultimate benefit of this program is that IB graduates are literate, articulate, adaptable, confident young adults with expertise in at least two languages and a global understanding of issues.
In addition to just wanting to participate in this excellent program, many students take the IB Diploma to improve their chances of university admission. Graduates of the IB Diploma Programme consistently perform well at university. Because of this, the IB Diploma graduates are increasingly sought out by universities in Canada, the United States, and further abroad. At some universities, graduates with an IB Diploma may receive preferred entrance status, scholarships and advanced credit or transfer credits for IB courses in which sufficiently high results were achieved. Many Canadian universities have entrance scholarships created specifically to attract IB Diploma graduates.
For more information on the benefits please visit benefits of IB.
IB and French Immersion
It is possible to earn both an IB Diploma and a Nova Scotia French Immersion certificate.
French Immersion students in the Grade 10 Diploma Preparation program at Halifax West take four immersion credits (français 10I, sciences 10I, histoire 10I, and one of arts dramatiques 10I, mode de vie actif or biologie 11I). In the IB Diploma program French Immersion students take IB French HL and IB History SL in French. Students who take these two IB courses and the French Immersion Diploma Preparation program will have completed the requirements to earn the Nova Scotia French Immersion certificate. Students will also earn a Bilingual IB Diploma!
Is the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme for You?
Are you a motivated, mature, academically able student interested in going to university?
Are you willing and able to accept academic challenges?
Are you a competent reader?
Do you have (or are willing to acquire) effective communication skills, analytical/critical thinking skills, good time and stress management skills?
Do you participate in school and community activities?
If you answered yes to these questions, then the IB programme is for you!
Any committed, conscientious student should be successful in the IB Diploma Programme. The IB program is not meant just for the academically elite students. Any motivated student capable of being successful in regular high school academic courses should also be able to cope with the IB diploma, provided they are willing to put in the extra time and effort required.
We encourage you to seek advice from your teachers, counselors and parents before deciding on pursuing the IB Diploma Preparation Program at Halifax West.
Where do I Sign Up?
Grade 9 students start the registration process in December of their Grade 9 year. As part of the registration process, information sessions for students and parents will be held to describe the both the IB Diploma and Grade 10 Diploma Preparation programs to our incoming students. A student who wishes to enroll in the Grade 10 Halifax West Pre-IB Program will complete the Pre-IB selection form. These forms are available from their junior high guidance counselor if a student is currently attending Fairview, Clayton Park, Park West or Brookside Junior Highs. For students who are not coming from one of these feeder schools, the Halifax West Pre-IB registration form will be given to them after registering at Halifax West.
Contact
For further information, please contact:
Joanne DesRoches
IB Coordinator
Halifax West High School
283 Thomas Raddall Drive
Halifax, Nova Scotia
B3S 1R1
jdesroches@hrce.ca
457-8900 x 5601285
Information is also available on the website of the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO):
And the Nova Scotia Department of Education website: