Mark Bridgeman

(資料圖)

Head of Seniors

Firstly, let me say how happy and excited I am to take over from Mr Harbinson as the new Head of Seniors. Joining Merchiston International School (MIS) is a great honour and I am looking forward to supporting our students as they move forward on their educational pathway.

During the past two decades, I have been extremely fortunate to work as a teacher and educational leader in both international primary and secondary schools offering globally recognized qualifications, including IGCSEs.

My experience as an IGCSE teacher began in 2011 when I was working at an international school as a year 9 English and year 7 & 8 History teacher. The IGCSE Information and Communication Technology (ICT) had been taken ill and a replacement was needed. At the time, I did not know it, but this was the start of a 12 year journey as an IGCSE and A Level teacher. I have since taught IGCSE English First Language, English Literature, Second Language English, History, Business Studies (and A Level English Language and Business Studies).

At MIS in Seniors (years 7 to 9) we offer a blended curriculum of the content from the British National Curriculum (International Primary Curriculum) and Cambridge Assessment. This combination provides our students with the necessary range of subject knowledge, core skills and competencies required to access their chosen IGCSE subjects and perform to the best of their ability in years 10 and 11.

What are IGCSEs?

什么是IGCSE？

IGCSE stands for International General Certificate of Secondary Education and whilst based on the standards of attainment of the British Curriculum is focused on meeting the educational needs of international students. IGCSE qualifications are offered by a range of renowned and accredited exam boards including:

MIS is a registered centre for AQA, Edexcel and CAIE for both IGCSE/GCSE and A Level examinations.

Why are IGCSEs so popular?

IGCSEs are the most popular qualification for students aged between 14 and 16 in the world with more than 4800 schools in almost 150 countries offering a variety of 70 subjects.

The foundation of learning within the IGCSE program of study is heavily learner focused, with inquiry and discovery as the primary mechanisms for learning and acquisition of the prescribed subject content and skills. This encourages students to think critically, improve analytical competence, hone communication skills and become active problem solvers.

As a result, students who study IGCSEs are equipped with a strong foundation on which to continue their educational journey in years 12 and 13 and on into further education.

It should be noted that IGCSE qualifications are highly regarded by the most prestigious universities and colleges in the world, including Oxford, Harvard, MIT,Cambridge, etc.

How are students

assessed at IGCSE?

Assessment at IGCSE level can take the form of written examinations, oral interviews, coursework or practical assessments depending on the specific requirements of the course taken. This provides greater provision for learners of different abilities.

However, with all this said, don’t just take my word for it. Here is a summary, taken from of 9 benefits of students studying for IGCSEs.

1. Globally recognized qualification

The IGCSE board provides students with uniformity of education around the world. Their curriculum focuses on skill development and creative thinking.

2. Caters to student’s individual strengths

The IGCSE curriculum offers students the opportunity to explore their subjects in different difficulty levels. They offer a Core and Extended curriculum for some of their subjects.

3.Huge variety of subjects to choose from

The IGCSE board offers students a plethora of subjects. There are 5 subject groups, mainly languages, humanities, sciences, mathematics, and creative and vocational.

4. Encourages logical and critical thinking in students

The IGCSE curriculum is curated to encourage students to think critically and logically about the topics they discuss in the curriculum.

5. Develop relevant and useful skills to prepare students for the future

The IGCSE curriculum offers students subjects like Computer Science which allows students to develop their computer programming skills.

6. Assessment of the IGCSE curriculum

The IGCSE curriculum has various different types of assessments for a single subject, so as to better evaluate a student’s skills and knowledge. This allows students to explore their own unique learning styles and abilities.

7. Excellent curriculum to prepare students for universities

The IGCSE curriculum develops students to be independent thinkers and learners. This is an important trait to possess for higher education and university studies. Higher education requires students to be disciplined and responsible for their own learning.

8. Offers students a

practical approach to learning

IGCSE offers learning approaches that help to build practical skills such as analytical, communication, and cognitive skills in students. This is on top of critical thinking, problem-solving ability, and personality development.

9. Examination questions

IGCSE’s examination questions are often differentiated in terms of the level of difficulty. This is to help the school as well as students to identify their strengths and weaknesses.

At MIS we are extremely proud of the IGCSE/GCSE provision we provide our students in a variety of subjects and are determined to continue to deliver the highest quality of teaching and learning to support them achieve future success.

Mark Bridgeman

中學(xué)校長

首先，我懷著激動(dòng)的心情接替Harbinson先生擔(dān)任中學(xué)部校長，很榮幸能夠加入曼校(MIS)，也非常期待給我們正在學(xué)習(xí)道路上的學(xué)生們提供更多支持。

在過去的20年里，我非常幸運(yùn)地在提供全球認(rèn)可的資格證書(包括IGCSEs)的國際小學(xué)和中學(xué)擔(dān)任教師和教育領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者。

我從2011年開始擔(dān)任IGCSE老師，當(dāng)時(shí)我在一所國際學(xué)校擔(dān)任9年級英語和7、8年級的歷史老師，IGCSE信息和通信技術(shù)(ICT)出現(xiàn)問題，需要進(jìn)行更換，當(dāng)時(shí)我沒有意識到，未來12年的IGCSE和A-Level教師生涯將從這里開始。之后，我教過IGCSE英語第一語言、英語文學(xué)、英語第二語言、歷史、商業(yè)研究(以及A Level英語語言和商業(yè)研究)。

在曼校的中學(xué)部(7 - 9年)，我們?yōu)閷W(xué)生提供英國國家課程融合劍橋國際小學(xué)課程，這兩種課程的結(jié)合不僅可以傳授學(xué)生們必要的學(xué)科知識、核心技能和綜合素質(zhì)，也為10-11年級的學(xué)生選擇IGCSE科目，并充分發(fā)揮潛能奠定了基礎(chǔ)。

什么是IGCSE？

IGCSE是國際中等教育普通證書的縮寫，以達(dá)到英國課程標(biāo)準(zhǔn)為基礎(chǔ)，專注于滿足國際學(xué)生的教育需求。IGCSE資格證書由一系列知名且權(quán)威的考試委員會提供，包括:

曼校是AQA，Edexcel 和CAIE的注冊中心，包括IGCSE/GCSE以及A Level考試。

為何IGCSE如此受歡迎？

IGCSEs 是世界上最受14至16歲學(xué)生歡迎的資格證書，近150個(gè)國家的4800多所學(xué)校提供70種不同科目。

IGCSE課程學(xué)習(xí)的基礎(chǔ)是以學(xué)習(xí)者為中心，將探究和發(fā)現(xiàn)作為學(xué)習(xí)和獲得規(guī)定的主題內(nèi)容和技能的主要機(jī)制；鼓勵(lì)學(xué)生辯證的思考問題，提高分析能力，磨練溝通技巧，成為能夠積極解決問題的人。

因此，學(xué)生們通過對IGCSEs課程的學(xué)習(xí)有了扎實(shí)的基礎(chǔ)，從而可以在12到13年級繼續(xù)接受新的學(xué)習(xí)內(nèi)容，順利進(jìn)入下個(gè)教育階段。

眾所周知，IGCSE資格認(rèn)證被世界上最負(fù)盛名的院校高度重視，包括牛津大學(xué)、哈佛大學(xué)、麻省理工學(xué)院、劍橋大學(xué)等。

IGCSE如何對學(xué)生進(jìn)行評估?

IGCSE水平的評估可以采取筆試、口試、課程作業(yè)或?qū)嵺`評估的形式，具體取決于所選課程的具體要求，這為不同能力的學(xué)習(xí)者提供了更多的幫助。

分享了這么多，也只是我自己的看法，以下是來自的關(guān)于學(xué)生參加IGCSEs考試的9個(gè)好處的總結(jié)。

1. 全球認(rèn)可的資質(zhì)IGCSE委員會為世界各地的學(xué)生提供統(tǒng)一的教育資源，他們的課程側(cè)重于提升技能和培養(yǎng)創(chuàng)造性思維。

2. 迎合學(xué)生的個(gè)人優(yōu)勢

IGCSE課程為學(xué)生提供了機(jī)會去探索不同難度的學(xué)科，他們?yōu)槟承┛颇刻峁┖诵恼n程和擴(kuò)展課程。

3.提供多種選擇科目

IGCSE委員會為學(xué)生提供了豐富的科目選擇，主要有五個(gè)學(xué)科組，分別是語言、人文、科學(xué)、數(shù)學(xué)、創(chuàng)意和職業(yè)。

4. 促進(jìn)學(xué)生邏輯思維

和批判性思維的發(fā)展IGCSE課程旨在鼓勵(lì)學(xué)生對他們在課程中討論的話題進(jìn)行批判性和邏輯性的思考。

5. 培養(yǎng)實(shí)用性技能

為學(xué)生的未來做好準(zhǔn)備IGCSE課程為學(xué)生提供計(jì)算機(jī)科學(xué)等科目，發(fā)展學(xué)生的計(jì)算機(jī)編程技能。

6. IGCSE課程評估IGCSE課程對單一學(xué)科有多種不同類型的評估，以便更好地評估學(xué)生的技能和知識，讓學(xué)生能夠探索自己獨(dú)特的學(xué)習(xí)方式。

7. 優(yōu)秀的課程，為學(xué)生進(jìn)入大學(xué)做準(zhǔn)備IGCSE課程將學(xué)生培養(yǎng)為獨(dú)立的思考者和學(xué)習(xí)者。這是接受高等教育和大學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)所必須具備的重要品質(zhì)。高等教育要求學(xué)生自律，對自己的學(xué)習(xí)負(fù)責(zé)。

8. 為學(xué)生提供實(shí)用的學(xué)習(xí)方法IGCSE提供學(xué)習(xí)方法，幫助學(xué)生培養(yǎng)實(shí)際技能，如分析、溝通和認(rèn)知技能；這是在批判性思維、解決問題的能力和個(gè)性發(fā)展之上的。

9. 試題IGCSE的試題通常根據(jù)難度的高低而有所區(qū)別，這是為了幫助學(xué)校和學(xué)生認(rèn)清自己的優(yōu)勢和劣勢。

在曼校，我們非常自豪為學(xué)生們提供了各種學(xué)科的IGCSE/GCSE，提供最高質(zhì)量的教學(xué)，以支持他們實(shí)現(xiàn)個(gè)人的卓越成就。

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