MBZ CAMPUS

Notes and next steps based on day 2 final meeting of DP consultation visit - Feb. 2013

CONSULTANTS COMMENT Mission/Vision

Mission and vision are good. However, there is an allusion to technology in the mission statement although the campus is not equipped with technology.

SOLUTION
Secondary school to be equipped with technology in order to ensure the alignment with the content of the mission statement. Action plan needs to be updated. However, since the DPC is the key leader, supported by the Quality Education Auditor, (besides, the DPC is the MYPC), the degree of preparedness couldnt lead to reliable updates as long as all stakeholders are not involved.

RESPONSIBILITY
Management

NEXT STEPS
Technology plan: computers, smartboards, wifi to be ordered and installed to ensure decent working conditions. A whole DP staff proactive involvement is required in order to carry on the authorization journey.

Action plan

Action plan is very good.

Campus Director Principals DP Coordinator Teachers

Lina GHAMRA, DP Coordinator - ENS MBZ Campus

Feb. 2013

DP coordinator

DPC is knowledgeable, experienced, supportive and nice to work with. Impossible for her to coordinate MYP & DP! Organizational chart must show the key role of the DPC. This role must be recognized by the school through a clear job description based on official IB documents. The leadership organizational chart must be clarified to show the DPC's reporting line involving all stakeholders. How come Mary Vedra who is supporting the DPC directly doesnt figure on the chart? Job description must be drawn up, approved and agreed upon. Administrators must sign it.

Separate the MYP & DPC: Management the school should appoint Campus Director one coordinator for each Principals program. Also, a job description must be provided by the school for each of the two coordinators.

Action taken in June 2013. One coordinator has been appointed for each of the two secondary school programs. DPC has already elaborated an MYPC job description as well as a DPC one. The latter is awaiting feedback.

Administrators

Campus director hands on the PYP only. Not All administrators need to Management trained in DP, thus not involved in it. be trained and involved in Campus Director Lack of coordination at the admin level. DP.
Uneven level of involvement by the different school principals. The DPC , supported by the curriculum quality advisor, is the key leader.

Teaching team

However, the curriculum quality advisor is not on the chart. Teachers are hard-working and have full potential, but most of them are not trained yet in their DP subject area yet. They see in the DP more resources for their students. They are willing to learn more and move forward. They have a strong understanding of the cultural context. They have a very good relationship with the DP coordinator.

BS administrators attended a cat. 2 DP administrators training and assistant head of GS attended 2 DP administrators trainings: cat. 1 & 2. Administrators will avoid making a trained DP teacher teach MYP only. Also, they will pay attention to this point while scheduling.

Heads need to determine Campus Director who will be teaching at DP Principal level and keep them for Heads of Schools DP, but avoid moving trained DP teachers to MYP only.

Lina GHAMRA, DP Coordinator - ENS MBZ Campus

Feb. 2013

Course outline

Too bad to train DP teachers, then move them to teach MYP only! Principals need to show more consistency in terms of staffing and scheduling. Note: there is no problem having teachers teaching MYP & DP. This happens in all schools. One teacher for TOK and French ab initio is fine. Course outlines of these subjects are solid drafts, but show the old curriculum only. Workshops attended in the past years need to be renewed. Physics course outline is a solid draft and the teacher (GS) has already attended the appropriate training in September 2012. No meeting with the BS Physics teacher who has been trained with Ibicus in September 2012 as well, but was moved to MYP general sciences by the BS head of school. Therefore, he is not involved in the DP despite his recent and valid cat. 1 training. This kind of decision must be avoided in the future. All other course outlines are too drafty and need more work to be finalized after the appropriate training.

Find appropriate new curriculum trainings for teachers in order to be able to write their course outline. - For those who have already started their course outlines: Add a major component to the teachers syllabus, such as intl mindnedness. Provide more details about resources = Which options (books) did you select and why? Comment and explain your choice. Provide further explanation related to the sequencing of the teaching. Include some local culture in course outlines.

Administrators DPC

Teacher of TOK and French ab initio has attended the appropriate trainings: Spring 2013, summer 2013. A PD plan has been elaborated by DPC and all teachers will have been trained by the end of September 2013 in order to write their course outlines before November 2013 (Nov. 10 & 11 = consultants visit).

Training

Some DP staff have been trained ; however, some others still need to complete a cat. 1 training in their subject area: either face-toface or online. DPC has a list of trained teachers
Lina GHAMRA, DP Coordinator - ENS MBZ Campus

DPC has already her PD Quality Education Auditor plan and will send the list Administrators to the management in DPC order to train as many DP

According to DPC PD plan and availability of Ibicus training in Sep. 2013, all teaching staff will be trained
Feb. 2013

to be completed with a PD plan showing when all staff will be trained. Its important to show a consistent commitment to PD while keeping invoices, list of trained staff, list of staff to be trained

staff as possible during Ibicus session in Dubai (April 2014) as well as in summer 2013.

Learner profile intl mindedness

& Some allusions to the LP at the DP level, but Infuse the LP in the Admin
apparently good understanding at the MYP level. LP booklet = a key document. Intl mindedness = Important component in the philosophy of the DP. In DP, we have a good knowledge of what is going around us. Lack of collaborative planning time although the school has apparently allocated time (Tuesday afternoon) for this. PD time on Tuesday afternoon is not used efficiently. DP collaborative planning time should take place at least 25 hours per year. Collaborative planning time is needed to develop the course outlines. IB speaks about vertical and horizontal collaboration. There is a real need for horizontal collaboration. They have full potential, but are not informed enough. They should be part of all collegial meetings. They should know about the period of internal and external DP assessments and get the calendar deadlines Drafty DPC is reviewing them. This task needs a whole school involvement. None of them have been revised by stakeholders yet. No teacher involvement in the development of school. Live them with the students. Promote intl mindedness through different activities. Use Tuesdays PD time efficiently. DPC Teachers

Collaborative planning

Campus Director Principals DP Coordinator Teachers

in their subject area by the end of Sep. 2013 in order to write their course outlines before November 2013 (Nov. 10 & 11 = consultants visit). Teachers must feed the students with the LP attributes and develop the component of the intl mindedness in the course outline. Work collaboratively on a secondary school campus PD plan for Tuesdays PD time and stick to this plan.

Councelors

Involve the councelors in Campus Director the DP weekly meetings. Principals DPC Councelors

Invite the councelors to the IB weekly meetings starting Sep. 2013 and all the way through.

Policies

Collaboratively elaborate the policies while citing the resources. Work on an IB students

Campus Director Principals DP Coordinator Teachers

DPC has organized policies committees so that DP staff work on these documents. Collegial working time must
Feb. 2013

Lina GHAMRA, DP Coordinator - ENS MBZ Campus

TOK

policies (SEN, Academic Honesty, Language and handbook. Assessment). The admissions policy is missing. The latter is the task of the administrators, not the DPC although the latter could provide her input. Teachers at the school level need to determine what is assessed. The same reporting procedures across schools are simply not done. The IB DP Guide needs to be used to develop these procedures. Among the 5 policies, 2 must be in place and 3 in progress by the time of verification. They must include statement of review The assessment policy is complicated and must include reporting. Parents and students should know about the policies Refer to notes below sent by the DP consultant in March 2013. The TOK teacher has good knowledge of the Cat. 1 TOK training to be Quality Education Auditor subject, but needs to be trained (new imperatively completed Admin curriculum). DPC

be scheduled, approved and supported by admin. Participate in elaborating an ENS IB students handbook.

TOK teacher has already attended a cat. 1 TOK workshop with Ibicus (April 2014) & is currently completing an online cat. 2 TOK workshop to deepen her understanding of the new curriculum (July 2013). She will be in charge of infusing the TOK throughout the school while working with subject teachers on the AOKs and WOKs through ETOK activities all the way through.
Feb. 2013

Lina GHAMRA, DP Coordinator - ENS MBZ Campus

Course offerings

Assessment

No decision has been made yet on course offerings. DPC has submitted her plan that needs to be supported by administrators. The school course catalog is confusing and doesnt show the future DP course offerings clearly. Some questions need to be considered: HL & SL taught in the same class or separated? If blende classrom, what is the school planning to do with the 90 hours difference between HL (240) & SL (150)? Administrators need to make decision. Such decisions will affect the staffing, number of hours, timetabling Concern = HL maths. Does the school have the right student body for this course? Wouldnt be better to go for the SL? Note that Math studies is not always recognized as a mathematics course. Imperative need to have collaboration and consistency between the two schools (BS & GS). Number of minutes = instructional minutes, not token minutes. Having one teacher teach in each of the two schools once authorized? Teachers are aware that assessment of student learning is based on the objectives and assessment criteria specific to each subject and the core. Teachers are very generally aware that this is required, but many do not have

Decide collaboratively on Campus Director course offerings. Principals Elaborate a less rigid DP DPC schedule: student A, student B rather than STEM schedule Maintain a consistency of DP subjects in each of the two schools.

Managebac to be introduced before authorization as a test environment. Collaboratively approve/disapprove DPCs plan for course offerings and plan accordingly. Decision-making: 1 teacher teaching in two schools at DP level once authorized?

Training to be completed Admin in Sep. 2013, then more DPC collaborative planning Teachers time for discussion conducive to learning.

Plan for CPD time and use it efficiently.

Lina GHAMRA, DP Coordinator - ENS MBZ Campus

Feb. 2013

sufficient understanding of subject specific assessment.

Extended essay

Very few students at the GS know about the EE. None at the BS have been informed. EE = very important for group 3 teachers. Every student does a ccombined project. Therefore an online course for EE is highly recommended.

Inform students about DP Principals in each of the two schools. DPC Look for EE workshops (Ibicus + online).

Library

No trained librarian. Its imperative to have a qualified librarian to facilitate the EE and other research for DP essays and presentations The premises at the BS are better than the ones at the GS. However, both libraries are inadequate with few books, but not DP ones. There are no periodicals, no CDs, no computers that are working... DP teachers must be involved in the selection of books (and other resources) to be ordered. Librarian must be a member of the Academic Honesty role and must provide input to the Academic Honesty policy. Books need to be organized and classified. A whole DP books section must be allocated.

Train a teacher as a Quality Education Auditor librarian as it happened at Admin the PS. DPC Work on a DP list of books and send it to the management for order. Library facilities have potential in the boys' section. although there appears to be little culture There is a lack of maintaining a supportive research and learning facility. There are plans to develop an IT area, with Internet. In the girls' section, however, there is

Organize regular students information sessions. Plan a timeline for EE. Schools could prepare a handbook about EE 40 h for EE by IB, but students spend double time. Add the EE to the assessment policy and/or academic policy The BS previous English teacher attended a DP cat. 1 Librarian training in June 2013 in Dublin. She will be working in the library in each of the two schools. DPC has already selected DP books for each subject specific area. However, she couldnt get all teachers input (only some of them participated in the selection). The list was sent to the management (Head of curriculum & Quality Education Auditor) in June2013. Awaiting the
Feb. 2013

Lina GHAMRA, DP Coordinator - ENS MBZ Campus

CAS

almost no library, only a designated area with books which have been compiled in disorder, and many of them are not even accessible. The "IB Room", designed to contained culturally sensitive works, contains practically nothing of relevance. The consultant was unable to meet a librarian in either the boys' or in the girls' sections. It does not appear that the librarian plays a significant role in the education of the students, and the one at the GS is often used to fill in administrative needs (such as receptionist or so). The sense of disorder and randomness and the absence of a librarian discourage students from considering the library to be a useful valuable learning resource. Very few students at the GS know about the Inform students about DP Administrators CAS component of the DP (30%). None at the in each of the two schools. DPC BS.

books arrivals. The librarian will be involved in the IB weekly meetings.

Adminsitrators should organize regular students DP information sessions animated by the DPC.
Feb. 2013

Lina GHAMRA, DP Coordinator - ENS MBZ Campus

CAS coordinator

CAS coordinator has just been appointed. He has full potential, but has just been informed. DPC has elaborated a CAS handbook for the campus as well as a CAS students booklet. Both are well done, but need the involvement of the CAS coordinator in this task as well as other DP staff member. Resources are cited correctly in the bibliography. DPC and CAS coordinator must work closely. CAS coordinator must report to DPC who will follow through admin.

DPC will register the CAS Quality Education Auditor coordinator in an Administrators upcoming CAS training DPC with Ibicus in Dubai (April 2013).

CAS coordinator attended a DP Cat. 1 & 2 CAS training with Ibicus in Dubai (April 2014). CAS plan to get started: DPC and CAS coordinator will establish a basic program in place (List of C, list of A, list of S). Adapt it to students interests and initiatives. In terms of scheduling, two hours in a row would probably be better than 1 hour in 2 times. Students info session involving the DPC and CAS coordinator are to be scheduled on a consistent basis. CAS supervisor: for the activities of the students CAS advisors: teachers with whom the students discuss the learning process they are going through (CAS is experiential = learning by doing) Counting hours is not spirit of CAS (better to focus on 18 months). Managebac to be introduced before authorization as a test
Feb. 2013

Lina GHAMRA, DP Coordinator - ENS MBZ Campus

environment.

School visits

No comment made.

Teaching load

Teachers are overloaded and overwhelmed What are the priorities? There are too many competing priorities such as AP, DP, MYP, and American standards There are huge demands on the teachers who are overwhelmed. The teaching load is too heavy.

Science lab

No appropriate science lab in each of the two schools. Besides, there are some dangerous leek happening quite often at the GS lab. Boys lab needs to support experiments in a safe way. It has to get in place for the future. In the GS, in the lab used for chemistry and physics, cupboards are harmful if anyone opens the door. Experimental work of students must be a focus. Its impossible with such working conditions.

DPC has arranged two conducted school visits (to be confirmed in April). ENS is a member of MEIBA for the current academic year. Dicrease the number of teaching blocks to let teachers have more collaborative planning time and work on the MYP & DP and other schools academic commitment (AP). Fix the science labs in each of the two schools. The laboratories are not ready to be used for delivery of the Group 4 courses. This is less a matter of design than of organization, of laboratory and classroom management. Considerable improvements need to be made to the repair of equipment, to its storage and to the introduction of practices designed to

Administrators DPC Teachers

Conducted school visits and networking to be consistently encouraged.

Management Administrators

No visible plan and/or actions to be taken.

Management Campus Director

Repair and renovate the science labs ASAP so that the infrastructure allows the DP to happen decently. Swap chemistry and bio lab at GS could be a short-term solution.

Lina GHAMRA, DP Coordinator - ENS MBZ Campus

Feb. 2013

support a safe and orderly learning laboratory environment in which students are actively engaged. The consultant was unable to visit any suitable laboratory. Art facilities in the girls' school are rudimentary, with insufficient space and resources (water) available either for teaching and learning, or for providing the students with a suitable workspace. Have two technicians in the science labs (Dr Kens suggestion).

Art room

Tiny art room at the GS with no running water. The art rooms in each of the two schools are not well-equipped for the DP Programme. Having grade 9 and 12 students in one class is simply inappropriate. Impossible to do portfolios and other requird assessments in these circumstances.

Mother tongue

If students wont drop Management visual arts (gr 6), an imperative solution to improve the art rooms must be undertaken for a decent arts teaching and learning working conditions. No comment made, but the following positive N/A N/A feedback about the student body: having students for many years is an asset.

N/A

N/A

Lina GHAMRA, DP Coordinator - ENS MBZ Campus

Feb. 2013

Standards

No comment made

N/A

Management Administrators DPC Teachers

Grading

IB grading is not in practise and most of the Inform the staff about IB staff are not aware of it Power school is so far grading system so that all not adapted. Grading needs to be addressed. stakeholders get a clear idea about the general IB assessment picture.

Management Campus Director Principals DPC

Technology

None of the two schools are equipped despite School has to be equipped Management an allusion to technology in the mission with technology.

When developing syllabi for each subject, use DP aims and objectives as the default curriculum that all students will follow. Non-IB students learning expectations (gr 11 & 12) will be aligned from there. This task makes sense since IB has currently a commitment to the American Common Core. Convert Powerschool to an appropriate IB grading. Think how to fit the IB scale (1-7) to percentages. Universities will be reviewing transcripts and consider the percentages students receive when making decisions. Students and parents are concerned about the low marks. Suggest weighting (quality points) of DP grades to address the issue of low grades in rigorous courses. Are there conversion tables that can be obtained to provide recommended weights? The school needs to get video cameras, cameras,
Feb. 2013

Lina GHAMRA, DP Coordinator - ENS MBZ Campus

statement. Same comment mentioned above.

scanners and photocopy machines as well as a strong internet connection. The new Art assessments have changed from an onsite examiner who used to come to assess students work. Four pieces of artwork should be uploaded for each student. This task will require additional equipment. Students oral exams in other subject areas also need to be uploaded. Lina : Check appropriate information while loging in to the OCC ! Campus Director Principals DPC Councelors Teachers Students info sessions must be organized with a focus on the 10 graders.

Students

Parents

Some of the GS students are informed since DPC will meet with DPC has already met with some 10 graders. students more often to Very few at the BS are aware. sell the DP. Principals will help in organizing a schedule so that DPC can intervene in classes in each of the two schools (starting from grade 8 or 9). N/A for the moment. DPC will meet with parents to explain the goal of the school and purpose of the DP.

Campus Director Principals DPC

Organize information sessions for parents and increase the communication with them.

Lina GHAMRA, DP Coordinator - ENS MBZ Campus

Feb. 2013