IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) 

Welcome to the European Section Middle School!

The European Section Middle School curriculum runs from grades 6 through to 10, during which time our students follow the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (IB MYP). Within the Middle School, the language of instruction is English and our Middle School students (Grades 6 - 10) study English and German language plus a third language which in 2017/18 includes: French, Spanish, Mandarin, Dutch or Danish.

We believe that young people learn best through a curriculum that offers them meaningful opportunities to inquire into local and global issues that are relevant and important to them. To this end, the MYP at GESS has been designed as a coherent and comprehensive curriculum that provides academic challenge and develops the life skills of students from the ages of 11 to 16. These years are a critical period in the development of young people. At a time when students are establishing their identity and building their self-esteem, the MYP at GESS can motivate students and help them to achieve success in school and in life beyond the classroom. There is a focus on inquiry based learning and higher-order thinking skills that gives students the opportunities to explore their concerns and growing awareness of themselves and the world in ways that develop sound judgment. Our curriculum is planned to support students to take an increasing level of responsibility for their learning and actions as members of the various communities to which they belong.

GESS is very much a community school, where collaboration between parents and school is highly valued. Our maximum class sizes of 24 students allow for a personal and supportive relationship between students, teachers and parents. Each student is supported in their learning by highly qualified and experienced international teaching staff who are themselves lifelong learners committed to a balanced approach to education.

There are many reasons we are proud of our Middle School. Of particular importance to us are:

• Our strong commitment to education for life, both through the community action programme, special projects, and our Personal, Social and Health curriculum.
• Our commitment to maintaining a small community feel; where every student has a strong connection with their teachers, and where we can focus on inquiry-based learning to develop each and every student’s skill set.
• The diverse international background and experiences which our teaching faculty brings to the student's education.
• Parental involvement, through our association, board and parent committee. Parents are able to get involved with school life in multiple ways and, as such, we extend our community feel to our parents as well as our students. This is especially valuable for families who are new to Singapore.

In 2017 only Grades 6, 8 and 10 took the International School Assessments (ISA) in the Secondary School and student's individual reports were uploaded to their online portfolios in Managebac. Analysis of our results demonstrated that not only did our school perform favourably when compared with both schools of similar language background and schools in the region but outperformed the average scores of all schools who participated in the tests. Indeed each grade level performed to a statistically higher level in at least one of the main components with Grade 6 excelling in all four areas.