International Baccalaureate (IB) educational programmes are taught around the world, including in both international schools overseas and in state and private schools in the UK. In our special feature on the IB, we talk to Judith Fabian, Chief Academic Officer of the International Baccalaureate Organization , to find out more about IB programmes, how and why they developed, their benefits for students and staff, the training commitment required to teach them, and more. Read part one here , and part two in your International Newsletter in a fortnight’s time.

Could you explain what the International Baccalaureate is, and what programmes it offers?

The International Baccalaureate (IB) offers four high-quality and challenging educational programmes for a worldwide community of schools. Over the last 40 years the programmes have gained a reputation for their high academic standards, for preparing students for life in a globalized 21^st century, and for helping to develop the future citizens who will create a better, more peaceful world.

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In a move Ofsted says is designed to ‘tackle the number of coasting schools that have remained stubbornly ‘satisfactory’ over a number of inspections’, it has said it will scrap its ‘satisfactory’ rating, replacing it with a ‘requires improvement’ category. But one union has said the measure ‘is about ratcheting up pressure on schools, without providing the support and resources they need to assist them in securing further improvements ‘.

Currently, schools can be ranked ‘inadequate’, ‘satisfactory’, ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’. But if the new proposals, which are subject to consultation, get the green light, ‘satisfactory’ will become ‘requires improvement’, and no school will be allowed to remain within this grade for more than three years.

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Education Secretary Michael Gove has announced a radical shake-up of the ICT curriculum, along with a focus on training for teachers to make sure they have the skills and knowledge needed to use technology confidently. So is it a long overdue change, or an unrealistic headline spinner? Are ICT lessons really ‘boring’ – and is the government simply ‘washing its hands of ICT’, as some have suggested? Read more, and share your views on the blog.

The government is opening a consultation on withdrawing the existing National Curriculum Programme of Study for ICT from September this year.

Open source curriculum

ICT will remain compulsory at all key stages of the curriculum, and the existing Programme of Study will remain available for reference, but schools will no longer be forced to follow it.

Speaking at the BETT education trade fair, which focuses on educational technology, he announced plans to embrace and capitalise on technological developments for learning, teaching and assessment.

“Technology is already bringing about a profound transformation in education, in ways that we can see before our very eyes and in others that we haven’t even dreamt of yet,” he said (taken from his speech as reported by the Guardian. “It’s clear that technology is going to bring profound changes to how and what we teach. But it’s equally clear that we have not yet managed to make the most of it.”

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As we bid a fond farewell to 2011, what better time to take a look back over the serious, and not so serious education stories which hit the headlines during the last year. Here we pick out some of our favourites, along with those issues which really got people talking.

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Almuñecar is a small town on the coast of the Costa Tropical south of Granada, in the region of Andalusia. With its subtropical climate, it’s a popular tourist town, and home to the Almuñecar International School. This week Eteach spoke to headteacher Sue Richards to find out about living and working in Spain. Read more.

Could you begin by telling us a little bit about Almuñecar International School?

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