Discovery College's Middle Years Programme (MYP) written curriculum
What is a written curriculum and why do we need it? A written curriculum guides planning of courses, learning experiences and content undertaken by all MYP students at Discovery College. It describes the progression of development in skills, understanding of key content and conceptual understanding for all subjects. It is therefore a key planning document. A written curriculum ensures that regardless of what changes in content, themes and focus are made in our teaching and learning programmes, the teaching and learning of essential skills and conceptual understandings will be maintained throughout the delivery of the MYP.
How was the written curriculum developed? As an international school, our written curriculum reflects our striving for best international practice utilising the international composition of our staff. Key references for the composition of our written curriculum are:
The Mid-Continental Research for Education and Learning (McREL) standards and benchmarks. These can be viewed at http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/browse.asp
Various state and/or national curriculum documents from Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand and the UK
IB documents: previous IB Diploma examinations and examiners' reports, MYP and Diploma Subject guides, IB-moderated samples of final-year MYP work and the quarterly IB MYP and Diploma Coordinator notes.
The IB Diploma examinations (for both Higher and Standard Level subjects) will be the finishing point for the majority of our students and our written curriculum was planned backwards from this point. In addition to these final examinations, MYP and Diploma subject guides were examined carefully to to identify specific skills, attitudes, concepts and content that students would be expected to master. These were embedded in our curriculum planning. Where available, final-year MYP work which was moderated by the IB was also used to provide an additional benchmark of what students could be expected to achieve at this stage of schooling. The McREL standards and benchmarks provided an additional set of age-appropriate curriculum, as well as a structure around which Discovery College's secondary teachers constructed the written curriculum. Finally, teachers also used their knowledge and understanding of various national curriculum systems to further articulate our expectations of what students should be able to achieve in every stage of the MYP.
Why do some subjects have a curriculum set for every year of the programme, while others have a set to describe what students will do over multiple years? Some subjects, such as Mathematics and Science, tend to be quite prescriptive about what skills and understanding students will need to have an understanding of in each year of the MYP. In other subjects it is reasonable to expect students to spend more time developing essential skills and knowledge before progressing onto a more advanced written curriculum set. For instance, students studying an additional language (Language B Standard and Advanced) usually require one year to become proficient in fundamental vocabulary items, grammatical patterns, as well as basic skills in intercultural understanding; whereas it is appropriate to spend two years mastering the subsequent sets of more advanced skills, knowledge and intercultural understanding.
How often will the written curriculum be reviewed? These curriculum documents are considered to be under constant review and we will update these as we see fit. The IB formally reviews MYP and Diploma subject guides every seven years and major reviews of our written curriculum will be aligned with this. In addition to major reviews, our written curriculum will be updated in response to internal annual reviews, subject-based professional development which changes the ways in which a subject is taught, and updates from quarterly IB coordinator notes. For instance, the Language A and B courses for the IB Diploma are currently under review and the coming changes will influence our review and changes to our curriculum for these courses.
Who do I speak to if I have further questions? For general questions about Discovery College's written curriculum, please contact Adrian Gan. For subject-specific questions about written curriculum, please contact the relevant subject coordinator:
MYP 
