IB Programmes

International School Het Rijnlands Lyceum Oegstgeest is authorised by the International Baccalaureate Organisation to offer  the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (IBMYP) and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP).

From age 11 to 16 it offers the five year IBMYP. On completion of this programme, students are awarded the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Certificate if they meet certain criteria. Students must have followed the Programme for at least two consecutive years in order to apply for the IBMYP Certificate and Record of Achievement. If a student has not followed the Programme for a period of two consecutive years, then he/she will receive a Record of Achievement only. 

In the final two years at our school, we offer the IB Diploma Programme. Students take three subjects at higher level, three subjects at standard level together with course requirement in Theory of Knowledge, Extended Essay and CAS. The IBDP is a programme which leads to an internationally recognised pre-university diploma, giving gradutes access to universities and colleges all over the world.

Het Rijnlands Lyceum Oegstgeest is one of five schools worldwide that developed and piloted the IBMYP in the early 1990s. The Middle Years Programme (MYP) designed for students from 11 to 16 years of age, is offered by some 1000 out of the 3736 IB World Schools. The IBMYP is a complete and coherent programme that provides a framework of academic challenge and life skills appropriate to this stage of adolescence. It aims to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to proceed successfully to the IB Diploma Programme.

Unique Characteristics

From the beginning, the MYP was guided by three principles that have had special currency for learners aged 11-16, inspired by the IB mission: holistic learning, intercultural awareness and communication. These fundamental concepts of the programme provided a strong foundation for teaching and learning in the MYP. They represent an early attempt to establish a philosophy of international education. […] Holistic learning, intercultural awareness and communication are implied in, or are part of, the IB learner profile, especially in the attributes “balanced”, open-minded” and “communicators”. Contemporary MYP educators have continued to focus on how best to meet the needs of adolescents, who are confronted with a vast and often bewildering array of choices in a complex and rapidly changing world. A focus on higher-order thinking skills gives students opportunities to explore their expanding concerns and their growing awareness of themselves and the world in ways that develop sound judgement.” (p. 4, MYP: from principles into practice, 2014)

MYP Programme Model

The student is at the heart of the programme, represented by the IB learner profile. The first ring around the centre describes the features of MYP that develop generic understanding. The second ring describes important outcomes of the programme. The third ring represents the broad and balanced curriculum.

  • Language and Literature: the student’s best language. The school offers English and Dutch.
  • Language Acquisition: a modern foreign language. The school offers French, Spanish, and Dutch.
  • Individuals and Societies: History, Geography (MYP 1-5), and Economics (MP4-5).
  • Mathematics: Mathematics Standard (MP1-5), and Mathematics Extended (MP4-5).
  • Design: investigate,  plan, create, and evaluate (MP1-4).
  • Arts: Visual Arts (MP1-5), Drama and Music (MP1-3 students follow both performing arts, choice of either in MP4-5)
  • Sciences: General Science (MP1-2), Biology, Physics and Chemistry (MP3-5)
  • Physical and Health Education: health, hygiene, individual and team sports(MP1-5)

Teaching and Learning in the IB MYP

The IB identifies MYP students to be : “independent, creative and internationally minded learners ready to meet life’s challenges.” In order to achieve this, MYP teaching and learning goes through a continuous process of inquiry, action, and reflection, or in other words, asking, doing, and thinking.

Inquiry based learning features throughout the written, taught and assessed curriculum, ensuring that learning is engaging, relevant, challenging, and significant.

Action relates to learning activities within, across, and beyond the classrooms. Action connects learning to real world experiences. It enhances the learning experiences beyond facts and information, demanding the students to make responsible choices and learning about one’s self and others. Action may extend into service learning and advocacy.

Reflection is the process of gaining deeper understanding through curiosity and experience.  It ensures students become critical of their work and that of others. They will be able to use this insight to extend themselves in further performances and learning outcomes.

The process of inquiry, action, and reflection is assisted by the approaches to learning. These are competencies for research, critical and creative thinking, collaboration, communication, managing information and self assessment.

Contexts, Concepts, and Contents
It is easy to get lost in the terminology used to indicate the various elements of the MYP, especially when they seem to be so alike.

The Global Contexts provide authentic settings through which students engage with issues and ideas of personal, local, and global significance. They are developed from, and extend the PYP’s transdisciplinary themes, thus, ensuring further alignment between the IB programmes. There are six global contexts for teaching and learning:

  • Identities and Relationships
  • Orientation in Space and Time
  • Personal and Cultural Expression
  • Scientific and Technical Innovation
  • Globalisation and Sustainability
  • Fairness and Development

Concepts are BIG ideas, a tool for student inquiry into issues and ideas of personal, local, and global significance, giving direction to how the topic can be explored. Concepts require the students to think beyond facts or topics, and enable students to see connections, and how their learning relates to the world, equipping them for further study and life beyond school. The IB sees education first as the construction of meaning and developing personal understanding, and less as the transmission of knowledge and rote learning of facts.

The MYP offers students access to a broad range of content that spans academic subjects. It offers them the opportunity to engage with a curriculum that is broad and balanced, conceptual, and connected. Students develop disciplinary, as well as interdisciplinary understanding. Assessment that is ongoing, varied, and integral to the curriculum provides meaningful feedback. Consolidation of learning culminates in the Personal Project in MYP 5.

MYP Certificate Final external assessment in MP 5 allows the student to demonstrate disciplinary and interdisciplinary understanding, international-mindedness, critical and creative thinking, problem-solving skills and the ability to apply knowledge in unfamiliar situations. On-screen examinations and ePortfolios lead to IB-validated grades and certification.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IB DP)

The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme is an academically challenging and balanced programme of education that prepares students, aged 16 -19, for success at university and in life beyond. Designed as a comprehensive two-year curriculum that follows its graduates to fulfil requirements of various national education systems, the diploma model is based on the pattern of no single country, but incorporates the best elements of many. Through the delivery of this challenging programme Rijnlands Lyceum Oegstgeest aims to uphold the IB’s long-term vision of education, as laid out in the IB mission statement and the IB learner profile, in addition to ensuring the academic success of students in their chosen subjects.

Diploma programme students are required to select at least one subject from each of the six subject groups. At least three, and not more than four, are taken at higher level with the others at standard level – in this way students are able to explore some subjects in depth and some more broadly over the two year programme.   The programme is built around the learner profile, with an underpinning theme of international-mindedness. Approaches to teaching and learning are now embedded within all four programmes, which are further aligned by each one culminating in a learning experience.

There is a degree of flexibility within the subject choice with students able to opt for an extra subject from Groups 1 to 4 in place of a Group 6 subject.

At Rijnlands, the subject choice is always important and it is possible to choose two languages from Group 1 (instead of a group 2 second language) and to follow an additional seventh subject, although this would not form part of the diploma – instead a certificate is awarded.

The core of the Diploma programme consists of three compulsory activities:

A Theory of Knowledge (T.O.K.) interdisciplinary course challenges the students to question the bases of knowledge and experience gained inside and outside the classroom. It aims to unify the academic subjects and encourages appreciation of other cultural perspectives.

Creativity, Activity & Service (known as CAS) focuses on the goal of educating the whole person. It provides a refreshing counterbalance to the academic side of the programme and encourages young people to share their energies and special talents while developing awareness, concern and the ability to work co-operatively with others through sports, community service work and creative pursuits. Students must complete a minimum of 150 hours of activities to fulfil this requirement

The extended essay offers the opportunity to investigate a topic of individual interest and acquaints the students with the kind of independent research and writing skills expected of them at university. The extended essay has a prescribed limit of 4,000 words.

These three activities have clear connections to the Middle Years programme (for 11-16 year olds) e.g. the Personal Project is excellent practice for the organisation of the extended essay, T.O.K develops further the interdisciplinary approach generated by the Areas of Interaction, while the MYP community  and service programme prepares students for their CAS requirement

Diploma programme subjects

Currently at Internationa School Het Rijnlands Lyceum Oegstgeest students can select their six (or seven subjects) from the following choices available:

Group 1 Studies in Language and Literature

  • English Literature
  • English Language and Literature
  • Dutch Language and Literature
  • Other mother-tongue languages as a school-supported self-taught course (standard level only)

Group 2 Language Acquisition

  • English B (higher level only)
  • French B
  • Spanish B
  • Dutch B

Group 3 Individuals & societies

  • Business and Management (higher level only)
  • Economics
  • Geography
  • History
  • Environmental Systems and Societies (standard level only)

Group 4 Experimental sciences

  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Physics
  • Environmental Systems and Societies

Group 5 Maths & computer science

  • Mathematics AA higher level
  • Mathematics AA & AI standard Level

Group 6 The Arts

  • Visual Arts
  • Music

As an alternative to Visual Arts or Music, students can choose one extra subject from group 1 to 4.

(The list of subjects offered is reviewed every year – not all subject choice combinations are possible due to timetabling restrictions. Some subjects may only be offered as private tuition if there is not enough uptake.)