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

中學校長

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

在過去的20年里，我非常幸運地在提供全球認可的資格證書(包括IGCSEs)的國際小學和中學擔任教師和教育領導者。

我從2011年開始擔任IGCSE老師，當時我在一所國際學校擔任9年級英語和7、8年級的歷史老師，IGCSE信息和通信技術(ICT)出現問題，需要進行更換，當時我沒有意識到，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、英語第二語言、歷史、商業研究(以及A Level英語語言和商業研究)。

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

什么是IGCSE？

IGCSE是國際中等教育普通證書的縮寫，以達到英國課程標準為基礎，專注于滿足國際學生的教育需求。IGCSE資格證書由一系列知名且權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歲學生歡迎的資格證書，近150個國家的4800多所學校提供70種不同科目。

IGCSE課程學習的基礎是以學習者為中心，將探究和發現作為學習和獲得規定的主題內容和技能的主要機制；鼓勵學生辯證的思考問題，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，學生們通過對IGCSEs課程的學習有了扎實的基礎，從而可以在12到13年級繼續接受新的學習內容，順利進入下個教育階段。

眾所周知，IGCSE資格認證被世界上最負盛名的院校高度重視，包括牛津大學、哈佛大學、麻省理工學院、劍橋大學等。

IGCSE如何對學生進行評估?

IGCSE水平的評估可以采取筆試、口試、課程作業或實踐評估的形式，具體取決于所選課程的具體要求，這為不同能力的學習者提供了更多的幫助。

分享了這么多，也只是我自己的看法，以下是來自的關于學生參加IGCSEs考試的9個好處的總結。

1. 全球認可的資質IGCSE委員會為世界各地的學生提供統一的教育資源，他們的課程側重于提升技能和培養創造性思維。

2. 迎合學生的個人優勢

IGCSE課程為學生提供了機會去探索不同難度的學科，他們為某些科目提供核心課程和擴展課程。

3.提供多種選擇科目

IGCSE委員會為學生提供了豐富的科目選擇，主要有五個學科組，分別是語言、人文、科學、數學、創意和職業。

4. 促進學生邏輯思維

和批判性思維的發展IGCSE課程旨在鼓勵學生對他們在課程中討論的話題進行批判性和邏輯性的思考。

5. 培養實用性技能

為學生的未來做好準備IGCSE課程為學生提供計算機科學等科目，發展學生的計算機編程技能。

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

7. 優秀的課程，為學生進入大學做準備IGCSE課程將學生培養為獨立的思考者和學習者。這是接受高等教育和大學學習所必須具備的重要品質。高等教育要求學生自律，對自己的學習負責。

8. 為學生提供實用的學習方法IGCSE提供學習方法，幫助學生培養實際技能，如分析、溝通和認知技能；這是在批判性思維、解決問題的能力和個性發展之上的。

9. 試題IGCSE的試題通常根據難度的高低而有所區別，這是為了幫助學校和學生認清自己的優勢和劣勢。

在曼校，我們非常自豪為學生們提供了各種學科的IGCSE/GCSE，提供最高質量的教學，以支持他們實現個人的卓越成就。

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