Welcome Message

This is my fourth year at Stratford Hall and I am so excited to be here as the IB Middle Year Program (MYP) coordinator! I have been working with the MYP for the last nine years and I have grown to love how it develops skills in adolescents that are not just useful in school, but in life.

I wholeheartedly believe that the IB Middle Years Program is the best curricular framework in the world for students in Grades 6 - 10. The MYP is a programme that encourages inquiry, fosters curiosity and ensures that students think deeply about issues and then take action! Moreover, the programme values creativity and innovation, values that are so crucial in a 21st century world where automation is creeping into every aspect of our lives. The teachers at Stratford Hall have embraced the philosophy of the MYP and have dedicated themselves to making its principles of the MYP come alive in the classroom - while having a whole lot of fun at the same time!

This year, we have a focus on self-management and executive functioning as they are the tools in the learning toolkit that govern everything else. I look forward to seeing the impact that this has on our learning community!

The purpose of this handbook is to provide an overview of the MYP framework and how the programme is implemented at Stratford Hall. This will provide context for the conversations that you will have with your child and their teachers this year.

If you have any questions or concerns, I am happy to meet with you to discuss the programme in further detail.

Sincerely,

Mark Pulfer Middle Years Programme Coordinator mark.pulfer@strafordhall.ca