IB Question of the Week: How does the CORE class allow students to finish the extra work of earning a full International Baccalaureate diploma?
The CORE class meets three times a week for full diploma candidates and is built into their schedule. Theory of Knowledge (TOK), Creativity/Activity/Service (CAS), and Extended Essay (EE) share time in this CORE class so students can get a lot of the work done during school hours.
o CAS Project: Our full-diploma students complete CAS projects that follow an 18-month portfolio, full of reflections. The CAS coordinator (Melanie Mildrew) begins meetings with the students in Semester 1 of their junior year during the CORE class time.
o EE: Starting second semester junior year, full-diploma students begin meeting during the CORE class time and begin researching and writing a 4000-word essay on a topic of their choice. Deadlines are set, and students are given time in this class to do their work. The EE will culminate at the end of Semester 1 in senior year.
o TOK: Starting second semester junior year, full-diploma students begin meeting for their TOK class during the CORE class time. The TOK essay and exhibition will culminate at the end of Semester 1 in their senior year.
Read more about CORE and examples of senior TOK, EE, and CAS projects from last year in this Saint George’s Magazine Article.
CORE Highlight: Teachers have internal dates for assignments, but the IB has dates that are set in stone when certain items must be uploaded. March 15 is the upload date for Written Assignments in the Language A Literature HL courses, the essays from the TOK course, and the Extended Essays. They will be uploaded in about a month for our current seniors who are in these courses!! Congratulations to teachers and students for the first upcoming benchmark. The next due date is April 20, where subject teachers upload predicted grades for students and the internal assessments from each course. Then IB exams for seniors begin May 2!
CAS Experience Highlights: CAS experiences for all of our Upper School Students recorded this week included learning piano, skiing, baking banana bread for book club, and participating in the Joya Penny Drive.
Please refer to our IB page on our website for detailed IB information or email elizabeth.tender@sgs.org with any questions. As an overview, the Diploma Programme (DP) curriculum for grades 11-12 is made up of six subject groups and the DP core, comprising theory of knowledge (TOK), creativity, activity, service (CAS) and the extended essay (EE).
