It was a great turnout of curious Year 10 & 11 students, gathering in our Austin Lecture Theatre to learn more about Leighton Park’s International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IB). 

They were joined by teachers, the current cohorts of IB students, and Old Leightonian Alex Hitchens (Class of 2015), to chat about the IB over some lunch.

All provided insight into the different subjects, extended essays, CAS, time management, TOK, and what the IB provides as an internationally recognised qualification.

When thinking on the event, Maya (Year 10) said: “It’s given me more of a view on what I could do, and I like their comparison between A-Levels and the IB. I think it’s provided me with more of an informed choice for the future.”

Louis (Year 10) enjoyed hearing from a current IB student: “She’s been talking a lot to me about time management, how to choose the subjects you’d like to do, and the coursework. Before I thought it was just like A-Level with a couple of extra subjects, but now I know there’s a lot more to it which is really interesting! Today has definitely made me think more about doing the IB, because you have more open-ended choices and it feels familiar to my GCSE’s that I’m currently doing.”

Leo (Lower Sixth), who is currently doing the IB, reflected: “We had the same lunch last year, and today I’ve had a lot of questions about theory of knowledge (TOK), which is what I was asking about last year. So it’s nice to help students who were in the same position and I think there’s a real buzz around the IB today.”

Continuing this enthusiasm, Kees Luteijn, Assistant Head: Director of IB, commented: “This is the second year we’ve done this, and it’s just a really nice opportunity for our Year 10s and 11s to learn about the IB from lived experiences. They’re having the opportunity to learn and talk amongst year groups, which provides an authentic experience of the IB to them. It’s been a great turnout, about 35 students, which is really good and shows a growing interest in the IB.”

Alex Hitchens, Governor and previous IB student, was very happy helping and hearing from students: “One highlight was when a student asked me a question that wasn’t about the academics, they asked about how CAS (Creativity, Activity, Service) influenced what I’ve done since being here and how I found that component. It’s really great to hear that students are not just focusing on the academics but also how they can make their community a better place.”

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