Curriculum and languages
IAS teaches an American curriculum from Kindergarten upward. The International Baccalaureate Diploma is available in the final two years. Every lesson is in English, and the language programmes run alongside for students who arrive without it.
Two curricula
An American foundation, with the IB on top of it.
The American curriculum
It runs the length of the school, from Kindergarten to Grade 12, covering mathematics, science, social studies and English in a sequence where each year assumes the one before it, so a child arriving in Grade 4 is placed against what they have already covered and not against their birth date. Art, music and physical education are timetabled every week.
The IB Diploma Programme
Grades 11 and 12. Six subjects, three at higher level, plus Theory of Knowledge, the Extended Essay, and Creativity, Activity, Service. Students go deeper into fewer subjects, and are asked to defend a position under questioning.
The Polish Matura
Because the Polish Ministry of Education recognises IAS, a family that expects to stay in Poland can keep the national examination route open without giving up the international one, which is why a good number of Polish families choose the school. A student sits the Matura here. No transfer, no second school.
Languages
What is taught, and to whom.
Most students here are working in a second or third language. The programmes below exist for that reason.
- English
- The language of instruction, in every subject and every year group.
- EAL
- English as an Additional Language, for students still building it. The EAL staff plan with the subject teachers and work to the same timetable, so a child is not pulled out of the science lesson that the language support was supposed to make accessible in the first place.
- Polish Language and Literature
- Followed by Polish nationals, and by students with two or more years of Polish education behind them.
- Polish as an Additional Language
- For students who arrive without Polish. It teaches the Polish a child needs outside the classroom.
- French
- Begins in Grade 6, alongside a further modern language option.
- Mother tongue
- Students are encouraged to keep developing the language they speak at home. Additional languages have been supported on parental request.
Language options are confirmed for each year group at enrolment, because they depend on the year and on the group. Ask admissions what is running for the year your child would join.
Assessment
How work is judged.
Narrative first
In the early stages of language development a student receives written feedback, not a grade. A mark for English should not quietly become a mark for mathematics, history and science as well.
Referencing
MLA style across Middle and High School. Turnitin on external assessment work.
Integrity
From Grade 6, students and parents sign an Academic Integrity Pledge. The same standard covers the use of artificial intelligence.
Reporting
Attendance and progress go into the Vulcan eRegister. Parents can see it themselves, at any point in the term.
Questions
Want to know how your child would be placed?
Placement takes account of age at enrolment, prior schooling and language, and because those three rarely point at the same year group for a child who has moved country mid-education, admissions works through all of them with you before anything is agreed. We reply within one working day.
