On May 31st about 18 Grade 10 and 11 parents attended a parent presentation about the IB Diploma Programme (DP). The presentation reviewed the requirements of the programme including the details of what is included in the Full Diploma, what IB points are and how students earn them, and also discussed how we can best support the learning processes of the students.

The interactive session of the presentation allowed for parents to read, discuss and comment on actual examples of work from students of the Internal Assessments, Theory of Knowledge class, and the Extended Essay. Additionally, copies of all of the examinations from the May 2016 were available for review. This part of the session seemed to be the most eye opening for our parents as they realized the level and quality of work that the students are submitting. Additionally, parents saw how much time and effort need to be put into these final assessments in both preparation and knowledge. This brought to the forefront that they need to have support processes at home by asking questions about deadlines, and how to give extra support especially during times when a variety of assignments are due.

At the end of the session, the participants recommended that we also start sharing this information with parents in Grades 8 & 9, as well as offering a presentation to Chinese families in Chinese, and to share more ideas about how to help students organize themselves and their study processes. We look forward to offering up this information in the next academic year.