Middle Years Programme (MYP):
Classes VI to VIII
The Middle school programme at DAIS is holistic, aimed to help students navigate through their pre-teen years while meeting their intellectual and developmental needs. The programme builds on concepts and skills learnt in Primary School and serves as a bridge in preparing students for ICSE, IGCSE and DP. Students in the middle school are encouraged to think independently, develop a positive self-image through meaningful interactions in the classes and beyond.
High Quality Teaching and Learning in Middle School
In order to support middle school students in their learning journey, we implement key pedagogies that support 21st Century Learners. We aim to nurture students in developing a culture of excellence and embodying DAIS values so they can truly be global citizens. To this affect, teaching and learning is:
- Designed for conceptual understanding and transfer to promote deeper thinking about the subjects students are learning.
- Differentiated to meet different learning styles and preferences in order to elicit student engagement.
- Collaborative in order to achieve solutions based upon everyone's strengths.
- Focused on local context and how that can transfer to more global challenges.
- Informed by Assessment for Learning, Assessment as Learning, and Assessment of Learning.
- Inquiry-based to develop student agency, independence and engagement.
Our middle school curriculum offers a breadth of subjects for exploration that are horizontally aligned to allow for interdisciplinary connections. The interdisciplinary approach to teaching units in middle school is a natural progression from the transdisciplinary approach of the primary school. Each subject group has several integrations from the other subjects thus giving our students the opportunity to make relevant connections across the subject groups as well as absorb the conceptual depth in each subject. Unit exploration is guided by relevant local and global contexts to make the learning more meaningful and engaging for the students. Embedded within the curriculum is a focus on digital citizenship to guide students to safe use of social media and internet resources. Students utilize technology integration in their subject areas classes to prepare them for careers in a rapidly changing world that relies on technology.
Middle school curriculum is also rigorous and vertically aligned to support the transition of students as they enter the ICSE and IGCSE Board Examination Course. Teaching and Learning involves skill development in the areas of critical and creative thinking, information and media literacy, communication, collaboration, organization, social-emotional learning (SEL), and metacognition. These skill areas are explicitly taught and practiced so that our students become experts at “learning how to learn”. Our librarians collaborate with the teachers on research, citation and academic integrity lessons. The student support department guides teachers in promoting SEL during PSHE and within academic units of study.
Assessment in middle school is a continual process throughout the units of study. Our teachers utilize
- Assessment for Learning which provides detailed and specific feedback to students for improvement,
- Assessment for Learning which supports student independence by having them evaluate their own work for improvement, and
- Assessment for Learning which evaluates knowledge, understanding and skills developed during the unit. These types of summative assessments include unit and term exams, projects, essays, labs, presentations, performances and products. Exams prepare students for ICSE and IGCSE assessments. The other types of assessment prepare students to solve real-world problems through research, collaboration, critical and creative thinking.
DAIS students also exemplify the characteristics of Global Citizens. As a part of their service learning, our Middle school students engage in service as action in order to help communities in need. Students utilize their knowledge and skills for the benefit of their community and reach out to a wider audience to showcase their learning. Our students “think globally but act locally” to promote principled action in order to make the world a better place. Service is embedded in academic subjects in addition to co-curricular activities.
Projects are planned to integrate knowledge and skills acquired by students in various subjects and serve as a concrete step towards developing inter-disciplinary approaches in later years. Field trips, excursions, JDAIMUN (Junior Dhirubhai Ambani International School Model United Nations), and Round Square events help them develop social skills and broaden their understanding of the world. Students learn to connect and collaborate as they share interactions and myriad experiences through such activities.
Middle School Timings 2022-23
