IB Asia Pacific Newsletter

Quarter Three, 2006

Diploma Programme

Supporting students when results are issued

The regional office received a large number of calls from anxious students and concerned parents after the May results were issued.  They asked many questions including what was the meaning of the ‘P’ code on their results, what to do regarding their University offers, how to register for retake examinations and when was the deadline; and even whether the regional office could apply for retakes for them. Of course the regional office can answer some of these questions, but it should not be necessary.  We certainly cannot register any students for retakes or apply for EURs – these are all the responsibilities of schools.

This situation arose because a number of schools around our region did not meet their responsibilities and did not provide adequate and reliable contact opportunities for their students when the results were issued.  All students and parents who contacted the regional office were advised to contact their schools as the regional office was not able to assist them.  Without exception, these students and parents had previously tried to contact their schools for help, but were unable to contact anyone because the school was closed.  This is not acceptable.

The vast majority of schools meet their obligations in this regard and ensure that all of their students know whom to contact for that all-important week after the results are released.  For reasons best known to the callers, none of them were keen to name their schools, so it is unfortunately necessary for this reminder to be a general one. 

It is the responsibility of all schools to ensure that students and parents know whom to contact at the school for at least the week after the results are released.  If the DP co-ordinator has left the school at the end of the academic year and has not made himself/herself available for the week after 5 July, the Principal or Head of school, or their designate, is required to take on this responsibility.  Whatever the arrangements, students and parents must be advised in a timely manner.

Professional development

Regional workshops are held in all sub-regions of the Asia-Pacific.  In an effort to more effectively meet the needs of schools and their teachers, a system of graduated workshops was introduced in September 2005.  Workshops for subjects with large enrolments are differentiated as: 

Level 1 - for teachers preparing to teach the subject for the first time;

Level 2 - for teachers who are in their first cycle of teaching the subject and so have not yet presented students for examinations; and

Level 3 - for teachers who have taught the course for three or more years.

Workshops have been structured this way because these timings correspond to the stages at which teachers need support.  It has also been structured this way to support schools in meeting their professional development obligations as indicated in the “General regulations for authorized schools’’ (IB).  Please note that all experienced teachers should look to upgrade their training every three to four years. 

“Level LM” is reserved for workshops of subjects that have relatively small enrolments region wide.  The “M” refers to a mixed level of experience of the participants.  As more and more schools become authorized, it is likely that subjects with this rating will be changed to L1, 2 or 3 as the circumstances require.

We are trying to publish the workshop calendar as early as possible to give schools advance notice.  This allows greater flexibility for us as well, as we are able to add workshops in response to circumstances and give schools reasonable notice.  You will have noticed also that registrations for workshops are open much earlier than in the past.  Early bird registrations usually close about three months before the workshop events and we use the early bird registrations as an indicator for duplication or for cancellation of workshops.  So early registrations are highly recommended to ensure that advertised workshops actually run.

CAS Budgets

The coordination of CAS can often involves unforeseen expenses. For example, students may need transport to take part in a CAS service activity during school time. Some service activities may also involve purchasing materials for the activity to be successful. Students working at a poorly resourced village school, for example, may wish to take coloured pencils and workbooks when they go there. Each school will need to make its own decision regarding its particular circumstances, but the bottom-line is that CAS does require a budget. The reference on page 14 of the current CAS guide is quite clear on this matter: the school must provide…the necessary funding for CAS. This funding is not merely to cover the CAS coordinator’s salary, but could/should extend to cover examples similar to those mentioned above.

Various Contacts

Co-ordinators who have difficulty accessing IBNET/IBIS or have lost their password, please contact Cardiff at andrew.skillern@ibo.org.

Co-ordinators or teachers who have difficulty with OCC accounts, please contact Cardiff at occ@ibo.org.

Please be reminded that School co-ordinators are responsible and must update names/email addresses of principals, co-ordinators, teachers in IBIS and advise IB Asia Pacific accordingly.

Five Year Review for Year 2007

The questionnaire will be sent out to the individual schools.

May session schools due for their five year review in 2007 are:

1. Beijing Huijia Private School
2. Canadian International School
3. Gandhi Memorial Int'l School
4. Garden International School
5. Good Shepherd International  School
6. International School of Tianjin (formerly TEDA)
7. International School of Ulaanbaatar
8. Li Po Chun UWC of Hong Kong
9. Mahindra UWC of India
10. Pathways World School
11. Prem Tinsulananda Int'l School
12. Taipei European School
13. German International School, Sydney (The German School Johannes Gutenberg)
14. The Regents School

November session schools due for their five year review in 2007 are:

1. Carey Baptist Grammar School
2. Copland College
3. Geelong Grammar School
4. Katoh Gakuen Gyoshu High School
5. St. Peter's College
6. Trinity Grammar School
7. Wellington Dioceson School Nga Tawa
8. Woodcroft College

Laurie Ince, DP Regional Manager

Nigel Forbes-Harper, DP Associate Regional Manager

Deirdre Chang, Personal Assistant

Email: ibapdp@ibo.org