At Newlands, we use inquiry as our pedagogy for engaging students in deeper understanding and ownership of their learning.
The Newlands curriculum is engaging, challenging and relevant, and actively supports students’ developmental differences and learning styles. The curriculum focuses on the development of the whole child as an inquirer, both in the classroom and in the world outside. It prepares students to be active participants in a lifelong journey of learning.
Structured, purposeful inquiry is at the heart of our school’s teaching philosophy. Our students actively construct meaning based on their prior knowledge and their engagement with the curriculum and Units of Inquiry. They investigate important subject matter by formulating questions, proceeding with research, experimentation, or observation, which leads to their own responses to issues.
The aim of the programme is to develop internationally-minded people who help to create a better and more understanding world.
We believe that learning should be both fun and educational. Our Busy Bodies programme caters to children aged 3 months – 3 years. 2 professionally trained teachers and 2 helpers are dedicated to overseeing the well-being and development of each child. In Busy Bodies, we follow the EYFS framework and include a diverse range of activities that cater to different interests and developmental stages. By promoting physical activity, critical thinking, and creativity, we aim to support well-rounded development in every child. Our holistic approach ensures that each child receives individualised attention, helping them to thrive and prepare for future success. We invite you to learn more about our exceptional care and the positive impact it can have on your child’s growth and development.
The PYP Exhibition is a culmination of PYP learning, which involves students working collaboratively to conduct in-depth inquiry into a real-life issue or problem that’s pertinent to them. The PYP exhibition is conducted in the 2nd Term of Grade 5. This typically involves the use of a variety of source materials: first-hand experiences, interviews, research, surveys, field visits, etc.
At the end of the project, students host a daytime exhibition for the rest of the school and an evening exhibition for parents. This involves students using a range of media and forms of expression to communicate what they have discovered during the project. It normally includes the use of moving and still images, audio, animation, work, oral presentations and performances.
The International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (IB MYP) is a natural progression for the IB PYP at Newlands. IB MYP provides a framework of academic challenges for students from 11 to 16 years of age. These academic challenges encourage students to embrace and understand connections between theory and practice, focusing on ‘learning by doing’. Rooted in progressive educational thinking, they provide students with opportunities to develop their potential, explore their own learning preferences, take appropriate risks, and reflect on, and develop, a strong sense of personal identity in local and global contexts.
The MYP is one of four IB programmes offered. It is designed as a five-year programme for students aged 11-16. It is equivalent to O Level GCE or IGCSE. The MYP Curriculum framework comprises eight subject groups, providing a broad and balanced education for early adolescents.
The MYP requires at least 50 hours of teaching time for each subject group in each year of the programme. In the final two years of the programme, carefully-defined subject group flexibility allows students to meet local requirements and personal learning goals. It offers a wide range of subjects and a blend of sciences and humanities, which makes for a well-rounded education and better options at university compared to opting for specialised O Level subjects.
Newlands Islamabad offers the following eight subject groups:
Research shows that students participating in the MYP:
The MYP was revised in September 2014 to provide a more rigorous and highly flexible framework that powerfully integrates with local educational requirements. New industry-leading onscreen examinations and ePortfolios offer exciting opportunities for reliable, robust digital assessment of student achievement.
MYP offers both internal and external assessment (eAssessment).
School-based Assessment
MYP assessment focuses on tasks created and marked by classroom teachers who are well-equipped to make judgments about student achievement. These tasks are rigorous and embrace a variety of assessment strategies. MYP teachers assess the prescribed subject-group objectives using the assessment criteria for each subject group in each year of the programme.
In the final year of the programme, each MYP student must develop a personal project independently, which is externally validated by the IB. Producing a truly personal and creative piece of work over an extended period stands as a summative review of their ability to conduct independent work.
At the same time, students appear in external assessments (eAssessment) in all other elements of the programme. It offers students the chance to earn a formal, internationally-recognised certificate if they meet the success criteria.
eAssessment in the MYP has the following options:
The graphic outlines how the two types of assessment – on-screen examinations and ePortfolios – are divided across the MYP’s various subject groups. Language acquisition assessment comprises one on-screen examination and one internally-assessed, individual speaking assessment.
Service as Action (SA) lies at the heart of the MYP and is a requirement and a fundamental component of the IB MYP programme. It allows the students to use the city and community as their classroom, where they can interact with public and private spaces and the living things that inhibit those spaces, including humans and animals alike. This interaction with spaces, environments, and the community, provides opportunities for students to connect and contribute to the real world that exists outside the traditional classroom, empowering them as caring global citizens.
Students at Newlands Islamabad, per the IB philosophy and requirement, take action by applying what they are learning in their classrooms to bring positive change to someone’s life, an environment, or the community as a whole.
S&A allows the students to:
MYP projects involve students in a wide range of activities to extend their knowledge and understanding, and develop their skills and attitudes. These student-planned learning activities include:
The community project focuses on community and service, encouraging students to explore their rights and responsibility to implement service as action in the community. As consolidation of learning, the community project engages students in sustained, in-depth inquiry, leading to service as action in the community. At Newlands Islamabad, learners of MYP 3 have to complete a community project which is internationally-assessed.
The IB Diploma Programme (DP) at Newlands Islamabad proudly offers a holistic education, encouraging students to think critically, challenge assumptions, and develop their own perspectives. It enhances the personal development of young adults, enabling them to learn independently and become useful members of the community. The DP at Newlands Islamabad is learner-centred, developing and implementing contemporary approaches to teaching and learning. Effective education through active teacher scaffolding and a low teacher to student ratio supports this approach, allowing Newlands Islamabad to provide students with individualised attention.
The DP aims to transform students as they learn through dynamic cycles of inquiry, action, and reflection, in both curricular and co-curricular activities. Its main aims are to prepare our youth to work within local and global contexts, help them appreciate different languages and cultures, while maintaining a firm grounding in their own values and beliefs, thereby embodying a deep understanding of cultural diversity.
In IBDP, a student must study 6 subjects (subjects to be chosen from table outlines below), along with 3 Core Elements (Theory of Knowledge, Extended Essay, and Creativity Activity Service).
In addition to the subjects in the six subject groups, there is a DP core.
The core is made up of three required components, which aim to broaden students’ educational experience and challenge them to apply their knowledge and skills.
The three core components are:
Theory of knowledge, in which students reflect on the nature of knowledge and on how we know what we claim to know.
The extended essay, which is an independent, self-directed piece of research, culminating with a 4,000-word paper.
Creativity, activity, service, in which students undertake and engage in activities related to each of the three strands.
Beaconhouse-Newlands Islamabad is extremely proud to be an IB Career-related Programme (CP) school. The beauty of the CP is that it allows our students to explore and develop their own personal and cultural identities, and create a niche for themselves in the profession of their choice. Starting a professional specialisation this early is a great achievement. The CP’s flexible educational framework allows schools to meet students’ needs, keeping contexts and backgrounds in view.
CP students engage in a rigorous programme of study that genuinely interests them, while gaining transferable and lifelong skills. Its three-part framework comprises the study of at least two DP courses alongside the distinctive CP core and career-related study.
A key element of the International Baccalaureate Career-related Programme (CP), the CP core enhances student’s personal and interpersonal development, with an emphasis on experiential learning.
The CP core bridges the IB academic courses and the career-related study and provides students with a combination of academic and practical skills.
Four interrelated components form the core.
Service learning is the development and application of knowledge and skills towards meeting an identified and authentic community need.
In this research-based approach, students often undertake service initiatives related to topics studied previously in their academic disciplines, utilizing skills, understandings and values developed in these studies.
Personal and professional skills is designed for students to develop attitudes, skills and strategies to be applied to personal and professional situations and contexts now and in the future.
In this course the emphasis is on skills development for the workplace, as these are transferable and can be applied in a range of situations.
The reflective project is an in-depth body of work produced over an extended period of time and submitted towards the end of the CP. Through a reflective project students identify, analyse, critically discuss and evaluate an ethical issue arising from their career-related studies.
The reflective project is intended to promote high-level research, writing and extended communication skills, intellectual discovery and creativity.
encourages students to improve their proficiency in a language other than their best language.
Through the CP at BN Islamabad, we strive to support learners who will build a better world through intercultural understanding and respect, in addition to a healthy appetite for learning and professional excellence.
“Education is an act of hope in the face of an always-uncertain future. An IB education calls forth the very best in students and educators alike.” (IBO)
Our facilities include the Learning Tower, our school library. Much more than a traditional library, it is a place where diverse and varied ideas, thoughts and viewpoints flourish, and where research is fostered as a lifelong learning skill. We believe that the school library is a learning hub that should provide essential support for teaching and learning in the classroom.
The Learning Tower is a three-storey building designed to create an environment where students can engage in different activities that promote a love of reading and research. The Learning Tower houses over 23000+ books and reference material, besides digital resources covering a wide range of topics. The ICT suite is on the top floor and has computers for research, multimedia projectors, as well as a dedicated space for robotics.
It is a resource centre for both individual and collaborative work for students and staff alike. Library lessons are utilised for issuing books to students, as well as for providing opportunities for different activities such as reading sessions, book review competitions, vocabulary and word games.
In line with our mission statement, we foster international mindedness by celebrating international days and events such as International Peace Day, World Dignity Day, Mothers’ Day, and World Book Day, which enable students to be aware of international issues as well as providing learning experiences. At the Learning Tower we teach our students to respect and protect resources, develop a strong sense of community, and increase their understanding of the world in which we live. It is our most powerful learning space for creating life-long learners.
The artistically-designed and cutting-edge auditorium at Newlands Islamabad serves as the venue for memorable and spectacular performances that bring imagination and creativity to life. This facility is used for student events and activities and can accommodate up to 350 people.
Activities held here help students build self-confidence and acquire 21st century skills, such as critical thinking, media & information literacy, communication & social skills, and self-management skills. Additionally, events help foster love and an appreciation of the arts and culture.
