An IB World School
Active, compassionate, life-long learners
Glenlyon Norfolk School is proud to be an IB World School. As the IB programmes have developed and flourished at GNS, so has the recognition of GNS as an IB school. Our teachers instruct and evaluate IB teachers throughout North America. The International Baccalaureate Organization and Harvard University's Graduate School of Education have identified a selection of IB Middle Years schools around the world that have produced excellent units of work, and have included GNS in this list.
The International Baccalaureate has three divisions: the IB Primary Years Programme (Junior Kindergarten to Grade 5), the IB Middle Years Programme (Grades 6 to 10), and the IB Diploma Programme (Grades 11 and 12.) The Primary (PYP) and Middle Years (MYP) Programmes are not specific curricula -- our students follow the prescribed British Columbia curriculum -- but rather an approach to teaching that engages the learner. Students' work is inquiry based and involves a great deal of critical thinking. Through a framework of relevant and challenging experiences, students learn to seek knowledge through discovering who they are; where they are in time and place; how to express themselves; how the world works; how they organize themselves; and how they share the planet. Students develop a love of learning not through being given the right answers, but through acquiring the ability to question deeply and construct their own meaning. As a result, a commitment to learning as a life-long process is nurtured. Students are challenged to take thoughtful action with their newly acquired knowledge and skills. In doing so, they develop not only their academic skills, but also their character. The IB Learner Profile aims to develop internationally minded people, who strive to be: inquiring, knowledgeable, thinking, communicative, principled, openminded, caring, risk-taking, balanced, and reflective.
The highly esteemed Diploma Programme is more curriculum-specific. Rigorous and internationally recognized, the programme was developed in the 1960s to prepare students for entrance to universities around the world. Students who graduate with an IB Diploma often gain advanced standing and credit for up to one full year at university. The IB Diploma involves a rigorous two-year programme of study, with a variety of both internal and external evaluations throughout its course, and is an excellent indicator of success at university.
Note: the IB Diploma Programme is optional in Grades 11 and 12; students may take as much or as little of it as they wish.
"McGill has enthusiastically recruited IB students for over two decades. Even today, when reviewing an application from an IB diploma candidate, whether from the local CEGEP or the other side of the globe, our admissions off icers can be assured of the candidate's strong and broadbased academic preparation. We have seen that IB students embrace the rigorous academic challenges of university life and perform well in their McGill programmes. As a member of the College and University Recognition Taskforce, I can attest to the respected position of the IB Diploma at prestigious universities throughout North America."
Kim Bartlett, Director of Admissions, McGill University
