IB Update

NLCS Jeju's Application for IB Candidacy Status

We are delighted to announce that NLCS Jeju is a candidate school* for the IB Diploma Programme. The school is pursuing authorisation as an IB World School. These are schools that share a common philosophy—a commitment to high quality, challenging, international education that NLCS Jeju believes is important for our students.

Being accepted as a candidate school is a major step towards offering the Diploma Programme to our students from September 2012. Only schools authorized by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) are able to offer its programmes. The process that leads to authorisation has two parts. The first part involves being accepted as a candidate school and that is now complete for NLCS Jeju. During the second stage of the process, NLCS Jeju will work in consultation with the IBO to ensure that the school is ready to offer the Diploma Programme. We will do this by demonstrating that we have the appropriate leadership and resources in place and that our teachers have completed the necessary training and planning to deliver the programme successfully. The most important aspect of the process is to show that the philosophy and ethos of the school aligns with that of the IBO.

Although NLCS Jeju has strong links with NLCS (UK), it is still necessary to go through the authorization procedure. This is the standard procedure for all affiliate schools. For example, some schools might have more than one campus in the same city. Although they are the same school, if there is a different group of students and staff on each site, the school must gain separate authorization for each campus from the IBO. In the same way, NLCS Jeju must gain authorisation as a separate school. This provides quality assurance for parents and students.

NLCS Jeju is in a unique position in applying for authorisation. As a new school, we can ensure that we align every aspect of our school - curriculum, assessment and leadership - with the IB philosophy from the beginning. The authorisation process can take longer for well-established schools that have to make changes to current practices. NLCS Jeju will also have the advantage of drawing on the expertise of NLCS UK where the average Diploma mark has consistently scored at 40 points or higher over the last five years, an average above that of any other IB school in the UK. We believe this combination of a new school with a strong links to an established IB World School will enable us to make rapid progress towards authorization.

Preparation for our verification visit is already underway. As a Candidate School, NLCS Jeju will be assigned a consultant by the IBO who will advise the school and make a two-day on-site consultation visit. Our expectation is that this visit will take place during Term One. When we feel that have everything in place for a successful verification visit, we will invite the IBO into the school. On our current schedule, this visit should take place early in Term Two.

As part of the process, we will keep parents informed and updated on all aspects of the IB Diploma Programme and our application for candidacy. Parents will also be involved in the final verification visit and the IBO will want know that there is strong parental commitment to and understanding of the programme. As promised at a recent meeting with the Principal on 16^th May 2011, the NLCS Jeju parents will be invited to the school early in term one so that we can provide detailed information related to this qualification and how it will prepare the students at NLCS Jeju for University entrance internationally. The pre-IB course that we are offering to Year 10 & 11 students does not need approval from the IBO.

For further information about the IB and its programmes, visit http://www.ibo.org/