IB Programme Overview

The IB Diploma's philosophy is to provide an education for the whole person, aiming to develop “enquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect” (IB Mission Statement). This ties in well with GEMS Wellington International School's own Mission Statement, its founding Core Values and with its ethos of supporting and celebrating diversity. At GEMS Wellington International School, we believe that the IBDP is ‘student centred but teacher led’ and as a result our staff are highly motivated, appropriately qualified and internationally minded IB teachers. Exceptional quality support is offered at a structural and individual level for our students in order to create a highly conducive environment for teaching and learning.

Success in the core elements of the IBDP is vital for success in the Diploma Programme, for which, Wellington has an excellent support structure in place. We have a designated CAS and Service Learning Coordinator who supervises and monitors the CAS and Service Learning progress of all the IBDP students for CAS, and IBCP students for IBCP students, manages their records and data on an efficient online system called ‘Managebac’. In conjunction with the efforts of the CAS and Service Learning Coordinator, the entire IB team is consistently working with students to offer opportunities and ideas for CAS and Service Learning related activities. The Theory of Knowledge (TOK) course is timetabled three times a week and taught by a department made up of five outstanding teachers from diverse subject areas. In addition to their teaching of the course, TOK teachers play a significant role in offering IBDP students support with the all the opportunities that arise with the IBDP's core elements. The Extended Essay (EE) and Reflective Project are led by a specially designated EE and Reflective Project Coordinator who leads excellent tailor-made sessions related to EE and Reflective Project skills and offers maximum support to students as well as staff who supervise extended essays and Reflective Projects.

GEMS Wellington International School has a fully resourced library that boasts hundreds of academic calibre titles, subscriptions for journals and academic websites and a plethora of resources suitable for the courses of study offered at our school. State of the art ICT facilities are available for students along with the Falcon Centre specifically designated for the IBDP students that serves as an area for both independent and collaborative learning.

Furthermore, there are consistent initiatives and events from the IB team such as GEMS Wellington International School's very own annual Model United Nations conference, academic competitions and school trips to that involve community service, adventure sports and lots of opportunities for experiential learning.

At GEMS Wellington International School, we are very passionate about teaching our students to learn and become confident independent learners who are risk-takers and open-minded. We take pride in the extremely well organized nature of our IB Diploma Programme and the subsequent outstanding quality of the learning environment.