Secondary Options

As students move from Primary into Middle School, and through Middle School into the IB Diploma Programme, they are offered options in their subject choices.

Grade 5 students moving into Grade 6

Students entering Grade 6 are offered a third language to study in addition to English and German. (English is the language of instruction at ICS, and from Kindergarten upwards all students take German as well, as it is the language of our host country.) Students can choose either Spanish or French at Foundation level - and should pick one of these languages that they do not speak at home and which they have not studied before. They will study this language in Grades 6, 7 and 8 - and right through to Grade 12 if they wish. (The exception to this is students in the Learning Support, or English as an Additional Language, programmes. They would be expected to continue with these support classes instead.) For information, the March 2011 Options Afternoon invitation and Choices slip sent to Grade 5 students is here.

Grade 6 students moving into Grade 7

Students entering Grade 7 continue with their language choices of French or Spanish.  They also continue with an integrated arts course which includes the disciplines of Drama, Visual Art and Music.

Grade 7 students moving into Grade 8

Students in Grade 8 have the opportunity to focus on specific Arts subjects and must choose two (from Music, Drama, Visual Art). To help inform this choice, before students enter Grade 8 they and their parents are invited to hear from the different Arts teachers at an options afternoon. For information, the March 2011 invitation and Choices slip sent to Grade 7 students is here.

Grade 8 students moving into Grade 9

Students in Grade 9 have the opportunity to focus on specific Arts subjects and/or drop the third language they studied in Grades 6 to 8. So they may either choose two Arts subjects (from Music, Drama and Visual Arts), or choose to study one arts subject and continue with their third language (either French or Spanish). For information, the invitation to the March 2011 Options afternoon and the Choices slip sent to Grade 8 students is here.

Grade 9 students moving into Grade 10

The option choices for Grade 10 reflect the direction that students are moving in as they move towards the IB Diploma Programme. At the Diploma level, students must take courses in each of the following five areas:
Language A1 (mother tongue language) ; Second Language (learned 2nd language) ; Mathematics and Computer Science ; Individuals and Societies (history, geography, economics, politics) ; and Experimental Sciences (biology, chemistry, physics, technology).

In addition to this, students choose one other subject that will be either:
an Arts course (Theatre Arts, Music or Visual Art) ; a third language ; a second Individuals and Societies subject, or a second Experimental Science.

It is important in Grade 10 that we offer the students courses that are a pre-requisite for some of these IB diploma courses, such as the Second Language and the Arts. It is also important that we offer other courses that allow students to pursue their passions. So there are a number of optional subjects on offer. Before entering Grade 10, students must choose from three of the following:
English for Academic Purposes (EAP) ; Business & Enterprise ; Drama ; French (Language B) ; Journalism ; Mathematics Investigations ; Music ; Outdoor Education and Leadership ; Politics and International Relations ; Spanish (Language B) ; Visual Arts ; Global Issues ; Introduction to biomedical physical sciences.

Students who are currently receiving learning support (LS) or EAP (English for Academic Purposes) would be expected to continue with these support classes. Students who are not currently in these support classes cannot opt for them when making their choices unless this has been agreed with the Head of Student Support Services.

Here are the detailed descriptions of the course options for the 2012-13 school year.

Grade 10 students moving into Grade 11 (the IB Diploma Programme)

In Grade 10, students choose the subjects that they will study for their International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. See this presentation about the Programme offered at ICS for Grades 11 & 12.