Middle Years Program

The study of additional languages in the Middle Years Program (MYP) provides students with the opportunity to develop insights into the features, processes and craft of language and the concept of culture, and to realize that there are diverse ways of living, viewing and behaving in the world.

MYP language acquisition is a compulsory component of the MYP in every year of the program. Schools must provide sustained language learning in at least two languages for each year of the MYP.

Language and identity

Learning to communicate in a variety of ways is fundamental to students’ identity affirmation.

What is the significance of language acquisition in the MYP?

The ability to communicate in a variety of modes, in more than one language, is essential to the concept of an international education. The language acquisition course provides a linguistic and academic challenge for students in order to facilitate the best possible educational experience.

Students are given the opportunity to develop their language skills to their full potential, as well as the possibility of progressing through various phases over the course of the MYP.

Middle Years Program (MYP) language and literature courses develop skills in six areas:

• Listening.
• Speaking.
• Reading.
• Writing.
• Viewing.
• Presenting.

Inquiry is at the heart of MYP language learning, and aims to support students’ understanding by providing them with opportunities to independently and collaboratively investigate, take action and reflect on their learning. 

What is the significance of language and literature in the MYP?

All IB program value language as central to the development of critical thinking, which is essential for cultivating intercultural understanding and responsible membership in local, national and global communities.

Language is integral to exploring and sustaining personal development and cultural identity, and provides an intellectual framework that supports the construction of conceptual understanding.

As MYP students interact with a range of texts, they generate insight into moral, social, economic, political, cultural and environmental domains. They continually grow in their abilities to form opinions, make decisions, and reason ethically—all key attributes of an IB learner.

Individuals and societies incorporates disciplines traditionally studied in the humanities, as well as disciplines in the social sciences. 

In this subject group, students collect, describe and analyse data used in studies of societies, test hypotheses, and learn how to interpret complex information, including original source material.

This focus on real-world examples, research and analysis is an essential aspect of the subject group.

What is the significance of individuals and societies in the MYP?

The subject encourages learners to respect and understand the world around them and equips them with the necessary skills to inquire into historical, contemporary, geographical, political, social, economic, religious, technological and cultural factors that have an impact on individuals, societies and environments.

It encourages learners, both students and teachers, to consider local and global contexts.

As they investigate real examples of science application, students will discover the tensions and dependencies between science and morality, ethics, culture, economics, politics, and the environment.

What is the significance of sciences in the MYP?

Scientific inquiry fosters critical and creative thinking about research and design, as well as the identification of assumptions and alternative explanations.

Through MYP sciences, students will learn to appreciate and respect the ideas of others, gain good ethical-reasoning skills and further develop their sense of responsibility as members of local and global communities.

How are sciences structured in the MYP at Henrico High School?

MYP sciences courses include biology in 9th grade and chemistry in 10th grade.

MYP science courses can include interdisciplinary science units that explore concepts, skills and processes from two or more science disciplines.

In the International Baccalaureate® (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP), mathematics promotes both inquiry and application, helping students to develop problem solving techniques that transcend the discipline and that are useful in the world beyond school.

The MYP mathematics framework encompasses number, algebra, geometry and trigonometry, statistics and probability.

Students in the MYP learn how to represent information, to explore and model situations, and to find solutions to familiar and unfamiliar problems. These are skills that are useful in a wide range of arenas, including social sciences and the arts

What is the significance of mathematics in the MYP?

MYP mathematics aims to equip all students with the knowledge, understanding and intellectual capabilities to address further courses in mathematics, as well as to prepare those students who will use mathematics in their studies, workplaces and everyday life.

Mathematics provides an important foundation for the study of sciences, engineering and technology, as well as a variety of application in other fields.

In the International Baccalaureate® (IB) Middle Years Program (MYP), students develop through creating, performing and presenting arts in ways that engage and convey feelings, experiences and ideas.

It is through this practice that students acquire new skills and master those skills developed in prior learning.

Students have opportunities to function as artists, as well as learners of the arts. 

What is the significance of arts in the MYP?

Arts stimulate young imaginations, challenge perceptions and develop creative and analytical skills.

Involvement in the arts encourages students to understand the arts in context and the cultural histories of artworks, supporting the development of an inquiring and empathetic world view.

Arts challenge and enrich personal identity and build awareness of the aesthetic in a real-world context.

How is arts structured in the MYP?

The arts disciplines offered in the MYP at Henrico High School are:

• Theatre
• Visual arts

All students attending Henrico High School, participate in IB Physical and Health Education classes in 9th and 10th grade.

In the International Baccalaureate® (IB) Middle Years Program (MYP), physical and health education empowers students to understand and appreciate the value of being physically active and to develop the motivation for making healthy life choices. 

Physical and health education focuses on both learning about and learning through physical activity.

Both dimensions help students to develop approaches to learning (ATL) skills across the curriculum.

MYP physical and health education courses must engage students in physical education activities for at least half of the total teaching time allocated to the subject group.

What is the significance of MYP physical and health education?

Physical and health education courses foster the development of knowledge, skills and attitudes that will contribute to a student’s balanced and healthy lifestyle. Through opportunities for active learning, courses in this subject group embody and promote the holistic nature of well-being.

Through physical and health education, students can learn to appreciate and respect the ideas of others, and develop effective collaboration and communication skills.

This subject area also offers many opportunities to build positive interpersonal relationships that can help students to develop a sense of social responsibility.