OCAC-Suzhou became a candidate school for the Primary Years Programme in December of 2017. We also have been an IB World School and authorized for the Diploma Programme since June of 2018.
1. Primary Years Programme (PYP)
An aim of the PYP is to create a trans-disciplinary curriculum that is engaging, relevant, challenging and significant for learners in the 3–12 age range.
In the PYP a balance is sought between acquisition of essential knowledge and skills, development of conceptual understanding, demonstration of positive attitudes, and taking of responsible action.
The subjects include language, mathematics, social studies, science, personal, social and physical education, and the arts.
The curriculum is trans-disciplinary, meaning that it focuses on issues that go across subject areas. There are six trans-disciplinary themes: who we are, where we are in place and time, how we express ourselves, how the world works, how we organize ourselves, sharing the planet.
(Quoted from IB PYP make it happen)
2. Middle Years Programme (MYP)
The MYP is designed for students aged 11 to 16. It provides a framework of learning that encourages students to become creative, critical and reflective thinkers.
The MYP emphasizes intellectual challenge, encouraging students to make connections between their studies in traditional subjects and the real world. It fosters the development of skills for communication, intercultural understanding and global engagement—essential qualities for young people who are becoming global leaders.
The MYP comprises eight subject groups: language acquisition, language and literature, individuals and societies, sciences, mathematics, arts, physical and health education and design.
The MYP is flexible enough to accommodate the demands of most national or local curriculums. It builds upon the knowledge, skills and attitudes developed in the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) and prepares students to meet the academic challenges of the IB Diploma Programme (DP) and the IB Career-related Certificate (IBCC).
(Quoted from IB MYP language and literature guide)
3. Diploma Programme (DP)
The DP is a rigorous pre-university course of study designed for students in the 16 to 19 age range. It is a broad-based two-year course that aims to encourage students to be knowledgeable and inquiring, but also caring and compassionate. There is a strong emphasis on encouraging students to develop intercultural understanding, open-mindedness, and the attitudes necessary for them to respect and evaluate a range of points of view.
Students study: two modern languages; a humanities or social science subject; an experimental science; mathematics; one of the creative arts.
In each of the academic areas students have flexibility in making their choices, which means they can choose subjects that particularly interest them and that they may wish to study further at university.
(quoted from IB DP language A: language and literature guide)