St. John’s was accredited by the International Baccalaureate Organisation, (IBO), in 1978, whilst the organisation was still in its early stages of development. Over the years, St. John’s has developed and grown with the IBO.
Today St. John's is a full continuum IB world school offering the primary years programme (PYP), the middle years programme (MYP), and the Diploma programme (IBDP).
The IB continuum provides a consistent focus on inquiry-based, transdisciplinary learning that begins with the student and leads to engagement with global issues. These approaches to learning ensure our graduates are highly regarded by leading universities around the world.
The PYP is transdisciplinary and students are encouraged to see connections throughout their learning and apply their learning to new contexts. The MYP builds on this, and students continue to complete a collaboratively planned interdisciplinary unit involving at least two subject groups. Student agency is an essential component of the IB continuum with opportunities for student choice daily, but also in longer term projects that form the culmination of the PYP and MYP, as well as within the internal assessment at IBDP.
It combines the best research and practices from a range of national systems with a wealth of knowledge and experience from international schools.
The MYP provides a framework of learning that emphasizes intellectual challenge and encourages connections between studies in traditional subjects and the real world.
The IBDP is a two-year program which offers students the opportunity to engage in intellectually stimulating academic studies.
Research suggests that in many cases, students in International Baccalaureate® (IB) programmes perform better than students taking other qualifications. For example:
A global study investigating performance in the Primary Years Programme (PYP) and Middle Years Programme (MYP) found that IB students outperformed their non-IB peers in mathematics, reading, narrative writing and expository writing. The latest results of educational research carried out by the IBO are publicly available here.
Qualitative data from a 2014 study on the IB Diploma Programme (DP) in the USA suggested that students who participated in the DP during high school are more academically adjusted to the rigour and expectations of college.
St. John’s has a long-standing experience in delivering the IB curriculum and our students constantly achieve results above the world average.
The official IBO website regularly publishes research studies about the impact of the IB curriculum, if you want to find out more click below.
The aim of all IB programmes is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world.
The Advanced Placement (AP) programme consists of challenging college-level courses and examinations for secondary school students.
St. John's is the only school in Belgium offering AP courses. We are proud to seemlessly dovetail the programme of study for the IB to prepare students for selected AP exams in their penultimate year of High School.
Student scores in the AP: 70% scored a 5 in the exams taken, 83% scored 4 or 5 and 94% scored 3 or higher. Over 90 percent of the colleges and universities in the U.S. give academic credit and/or advanced standing to students whose AP Examination grades are considered acceptable.
Course exam offerings: Calculus, Economics, Statistics, Physics, French, German, Spanish.
St. John’s International School is fully accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, and by the Council of International Schools. The school awards a General Diploma and an Academic Diploma.
The St. John’s programme of secondary studies extends over four years in Grades 9 to 12.
The Academic Diploma and the General Diploma require 28 and 24 credits respectively from a maximum of 45 to graduate, with the Academic Diploma with honours being awarded to outstanding students who fulfil St. John’s exceptional academic criteria.
St. John’s is an academically inclusive school and not all students may wish to pursue the full IB Diploma Programme. For students not wishing to obtain the full diploma, we are happy to discuss reduced programmes of study, as well as modifying assessment criteria for graduation credit.
Choosing a reduced programme will impact upon university options. Our full-time college counsellor and experienced High School teachers are happy to advise and support students and their families in this decision-making process.
Click below to find out more.
