Middle Years Programme

The MYP Middle Years Programme

The MYP is for students aged 11-16 and at AIS implemented in Grades 7-10. The framework encourages students to make practical connections between their studies and the real world.

The MYP is a five-year programme and students who complete the MYP are well-prepared to undertake the IB Diploma Programme (DP).

At AIS the MYP curriculum framework comprises eight subject groups, providing a broad and balanced education for early adolescents. The MYP requires at least 50 hours of teaching time for each subject group, in each year of the programme. In the final two years of the programme, carefully-defined subject group flexibility allows students to meet local requirements and personal learning goals.

Early learning in the PYP is a holistic learning experience that integrates socio-emotional, physical and cognitive development. In the PYP classroom, it takes place in dynamic environments that promote play, discovery and exploration.

We choose to implement the PYP as it recognizes that learners in this age range require approaches to learning and to teaching that honor their developmental stage, and the importance of play as the vehicle for inquiry. Since experiences during the early years lay the foundation for all future learning, the PYP framework allows educators to make choices to best enable learners to flourish.

Students learn best when their learning experiences have context and are connected to their lives and their experience of the world that they have experienced. Using global contexts, MYP students develop an understanding of their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet through developmentally appropriate explorations of:
  • identities and relationships
  • personal and cultural expression
  • orientations in space and time
  • scientific and technical innovation
  • fairness and development
  • globalization and sustainability.

Conceptual understanding

Concepts are big ideas that have relevance within specific disciplines and across subject areas. AIS MYP students use concepts as a vehicle to inquire into issues and ideas of personal, local and global significance and examine knowledge holistically. The MYP prescribes sixteen key interdisciplinary concepts along with related concepts for each discipline.

Approaches to learning

A unifying thread throughout all MYP subject groups, approaches to learning (ATL) provide the foundation for independent learning and encourage the application of their knowledge and skills in unfamiliar contexts. Developing and applying these social, thinking, research, communication and self management skills helps students learn how to learn.

Service as action, through community service

Students take action when they apply what they are learning in the classroom and beyond. AIS IB learners strive to be caring members of the community who demonstrate a commitment to service—making a positive difference to the lives of others and to the environment.

Inclusion and learning diversity in AIS MYP

As part of the MYP curriculum, we at AIS address differentiation within the written, taught and assessed curriculum.