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Three young girls huddle around a table with a laptop and a robotic arm, with a blurred background of a classroom or workshop.

Our Middle school Curriculum

The Middle School curriculum at NIS is guided by the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (MYP), providing an inquiry-based and structured academic framework for learning.

Students engage in a broad and balanced program across eight subject groups, developing both subject-specific knowledge and conceptual understanding. The curriculum is designed to ensure depth and progression, with clearly defined learning objectives in each discipline.

Learning in the MYP goes beyond the acquisition of knowledge. Students are challenged to analyze, evaluate, and apply their understanding in a range of contexts, including unfamiliar and complex situations. This approach develops flexible thinking and prepares students to navigate increasingly demanding academic work.

Central to the program are key elements of learning, including concepts, skills, and action. Through these, students build the ability to make connections across subjects, communicate effectively, and take responsibility for their learning.

This structure ensures that students are well prepared for the transition to high school, with the academic foundation and independence required for future success.

Explore the MYP Curriculum

View detailed course overviews to see how students develop knowledge, skills, creativity, and critical thinking across the MYP.

read the course overviews

The International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (IB MYP)

The IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) provides a challenging, inquiry-based education that helps students make meaningful connections between their learning and the world around them.

Rather than viewing subjects as isolated disciplines, the MYP encourages students to explore big ideas, ask thoughtful questions, and apply their learning in authentic contexts. Through classroom experiences and real-world challenges, students develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to become confident, independent learners and engaged global citizens.

Learning with Purpose: Learning in the MYP is connected to issues and experiences that matter to students. Across all subject areas, students explore themes such as identity, culture, innovation, sustainability, fairness, and global interconnectedness, helping them understand both what they are learning and why it matters.

Building Deep Understanding: The MYP emphasizes conceptual understanding. Students move beyond memorizing facts to explore big ideas that connect learning across subjects, developing critical-thinking skills and the ability to transfer understanding to new situations.

Learning How to Learn: Students strengthen Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills as thinkers, researchers, communicators, collaborators, and self-managers. These transferable skills foster independence and prepare students for success in the Diploma Programme and beyond.

Interdisciplinary Learning & Service: Students participate in interdisciplinary learning experiences that connect multiple subject areas and deepen understanding of complex issues. They are also encouraged to apply their learning through service and action, using their knowledge and skills to make a positive contribution to their communities.

How We Assess Students in the MYP

Assessment in the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) is designed to support learning, provide meaningful feedback, and help students understand their growth over time. Rather than comparing students to one another, the MYP uses criterion-based assessment, measuring achievement against clearly defined learning objectives and standards.

In each subject, students are assessed against four criteria that reflect the knowledge, skills, and understandings most important to that discipline. Throughout the year, students receive regular feedback and multiple opportunities to demonstrate their learning through a variety of assessment tasks, including projects, investigations, performances, presentations, tests, and reflections.

At reporting periods, teachers use a holistic “best-fit” approach to determine achievement levels based on the most recent and consistent evidence of learning. Criterion scores are then combined to produce an overall MYP achievement level on the IB's 1–7 scale.

This approach emphasizes growth, reflection, and continuous improvement while providing a clear picture of each student's progress and achievement.