Written by Ariana Jones

New subject increases support to tackle MYP projects

It was announced to the Year 11s at the start of the 2019-20 school year that a new “subject” called Core Time had been implemented into their schedules. Core Time occurs once during the RCHK ten-day cycle and takes up two periods. It serves the purpose of providing the Year 11s with information regarding compulsory work during their last year in MYP, focusing on aspects of the Personal Project as well as documentation work of Service and Action requirements. 

In order to receive their MYP certificates, for the first time Year 11s are required to meet the demands in non-subject areas of the MYP, meaning that this last year can become quite challenging. 

Paul Grace, MYP coordinator, and Birdie Lodders, Head of Year 11, are currently coordinating much of Core time and its processes, and they are waiting to see how this new form of support will help the present - and hopefully future - Year 11s.

According to Grace, “The MYP Core specifically refers to the Personal Project and Service and Action elements. Therefore, at RCHK, Core Time has been developed to provide time and resources to support year 11 students with these aspects of the MYP.” 

Areas such as the World of Work, the Personal Project, and Service and Action are now familiar to the Year 11 students, and they have the full academic year to use Core Time to help them work through it all. 

Before this year’s implementation of Core Time, non-subject areas of the MYP programme had not been regularly supported during normal lesson-time in school. Although, Grace stated, “In the past we used to have an extended advisory session to help with non-subject areas.” The extended time that has been given to the Year 11s this year allows students to have access to more resources and more specialised help from Personal Project supervisor Michelle Roberts, who, according to Grace, provides “specific support sessions for the Personal Project.” 

There is a designated teacher for supervision during these eighty-minute-sessions in the classroom. The work focused on is managed and directed by each student. Besides this and Roberts’ occasional Personal Project information sessions, students are also given this time to arrange Personal Project meetings, making it easier for supervisors to keep track of students who struggle with time management.

“We hope the addition of this time will be of a benefit to Year 11 as we move through the year,” Grace said. However, whether or not it is beneficial is really up to the students since the work expected of the Year 11s isn’t just something to be rushed through during Core Time. “I guess we will find this out through the year,” added Grace.