Making the most of the support on offer- January 2023
It is safe to say that I would not make it through the IB without feeling as though I could go to my teachers for help. From struggling to understand basic chemistry to having an irrational fear of politics essays in LVI, my teachers have always been there to help. I would strongly advise any IB pupils to familiarise themselves with the subject clinics: for sciences especially. If you don’t understand a topic once and then do not take the time to understand it before exams, it will be the burden of your revision. Additionally, it is really important to communicate with teachers about your workload. For example, being open with a politics teacher about how I cannot complete an essay due to a biology exam or asking for less homework in English due to other IAs being due in a week. If you don’t maintain this communication with your teachers, they cannot support you.
It is also very important to go to members of the sixth form team if anything about school is bothering you: whether it is the head of year, head of sixth form, or IB coordinator. A simple conversation about time management or stress levels can make you feel more self-assured with the intense workload of the IB. There are many times where I have felt as if the world was ending because I had three essays to write, or three sets of coursework to complete - and going to a teacher about the stress made me feel much more in control of the workload. In the IB, there will always be levels of stress, difficulty, and pressure - and it is easier to handle these moments as you get more used to the course. However, a large component of handling the stress is found within making the most of the support available from teachers.
Florence Wilkes (UVI- Class of 2023)