The 2023 IB Evaluation Report
Director of IB, Anna Fielding, writes:
The Five Year Evaluation is a rigorous process carried out by the IB. To maintain our status as an IB World School we had to demonstrate that a wide range of requirements are in place; appropriate staff training, the original foundation documents of the school and even the safety of our Chemistry labs. However, more importantly, the evaluation process required us to reflect on the whole educational package: from asking pupils about their experience of lessons to reviewing the classroom facilities, from the number of subjects offered to the types of prep that are set. The final self-evaluation is, not surprisingly, a very long document and it was supplemented by an interview with the lead reviewer from the IB. The report we received last week from the IB offers merely a snapshot, a summary of the very best of the highlights that we shared with them that confirms that St Edward’s is a leading IB World School.
The IB did not just focus their attention on those pupils studying the IB Diploma. They were concerned about the whole school and praised in particular the fact that “community, diversity, inclusion and compassion permeate and frame the work of all members of the Teddies school community”. Through all the reports and information they received they were able to see that the school has a “safe, healthy, nurturing environment” that is “characterised by respect for diversity, fairness and trust”. In the classroom they identified that “students are actively involved in their own learning” and that they have a ”range of opportunities” outside the classroom.
A significant section of the report focused on the impact of the Beyond Teddies Team. The evaluation report celebrated the work that the Team has done over the last few years building up to a whole scale programme of collaboration for the L6th at a variety of placements including the Oxfam Superstore and local primary schools. Their praise for the Teddies Collaborates programme identified our exemplary approach to espousing the value of Service and of building strong young people that care about the world around them.
As an IB world school we received particular praise. In many schools in the UK the IB is merely offered as a small additional programme to a few students. However, the report recognised the “commendably large number of IB Diploma subjects” that our pupils engage in, to be expanded this year with the addition of Dance as an academic subject, and described the school as having a “mature and very successful Diploma Programme”. Our teachers are regularly consulted by other schools for their expertise and our IB Team have been asked to present at the World and UK IB conferences allowing us to be “very well integrated into the wider IB community”.
Click here read the full report.