Zona Sul Unit
The Secondary School caters for pupils from ages 11 to 18 from Classes 5 to 11.
Classes 6 to 11 are based at the Urca site while Class 5 is at Botafogo and are collectively known as the ‘Senior School’.
Barra Unit
The Secondary School caters for pupils from ages 11 to 18 from Classes 5 to 11.
In 2010, Barra Unit offers Classes 5 to 7. Subsequent year groups will develop annually, and current Class 7 will be graduating Senior school – Class 11 – in 2014.
At Urca a Year System is the main focus for Pastoral Care and Guidance in the Senior School. Each year group is composed of a team of Class Tutors and a Head of Year. Students are allocated a Class group (Classes 6-9) or House group (IB) within their year group.
The Year System helps to foster a sense of identity in the school and allows both tutor and tutee to establish a firm relationship. The students spend an extended tutor period of 45 minutes a week with their tutor, during which they follow the school‘s pastoral curriculum. Students receive careers guidance, discuss a variety of topical issues and debate matters for the Student Council, amongst other things.
At Barra, as the Senior School grows, a system of Pastoral Care and Guidance that reflects the one at Urca is being developed.
The Senior School is organised into a system of four houses and at Urca these are named after famous British personalities of the 20th century: Margaret Mee, George Orwell, Stephen Hawking and Emmeline Pankhurst. The students at Barra are in the process of deciding names for the Houses at Barra (2010).
The House system provides a vehicle through which social, sporting and cultural events, including competitions, are organised. The House Coordinator appointed from among the teaching staff leads the House Captains and Junior Captains, elected from among the student body. Together they are responsible for the organisation of House activities and competitions. See also: Houses
The emphasis in the Secondary School is on providing a quality education which prepares all students for entrance to, and success at, university, whether it be in Brazil, the UK, USA or another country abroad. Students who transfer out of the school are well-prepared for other systems of schooling, having been taught how to work independently, think creatively for themselves and to use information effectively in unfamiliar situations.
The curriculum prepares students for the University of Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) examinations that are taken in November, at the end of Class 9. The final two years are directed towards the International Baccalaureate, a demanding course leading to a highly respected and widely recognised university entrance qualification.
The school is developing a tradition for academic success, establishing a very good record in the demanding IGCSE examinations and in the International Baccalaureate programme.
A number of day and residential fieldtrips are held each year to support the Secondary educational programme and provide special topics for IGCSE and IB coursework.
Residential fieldtrips are usually interdisciplinary and are organised by various departments to provide cross-curricular links. Class 5 students go on a week-long trip to the national park of Itatiaia in the mountains near Rio and Class 6 has a trip to the Pantanal.
IB Geography and Biology students have a requirement to do fieldwork as part of the courses. Those who take the Historical and Contemporary Brazilian Studies course also visit the historical cities of Minas Gerais.
International trips are organised by specific departments and have recently included Art & Drama trips to London or New York, cultural trips to London, New York, Bariloche, Quebec, Russia and Poland. These trips are optional and usually occur during school holidays.
Emphasis in the first two years of the Secondary School is on personal organisation and the acquisition of basic skills and concepts.
The Sciences are taught together as General Science. Social Studies in Class 5 splits into History and Geography in Class 6. Art, Music and Drama are taken by all students in Classes 5 and 6. PSHE - Personal, Social and Health Education is taught in Class 5. French begins in Class 5, and Spanish in Class 6, allowing informed choices to be made for Class 7. Information and Communication Technology is taught in Class 6 and 7 and then integrated into the work of other subjects.
Students who have received learning support in the Primary School and who continue to have linguistic or other learning difficulties are encouraged to continue with learning support.
The curriculum in these two years carries the breadth, depth and balance inherent to the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) programme. All courses, except PE, are based on the syllabuses of the IGCSE (or GCSE in some cases), administrated and examined by the University of Cambridge, UK.
Students have the opportunity to choose options in these year groups, selecting one subject from Art, Music, Drama, French and Spanish. Option choices are carried through to the end of Class 9 as are the other compulsory subjects, which are English (Language and Literature), Portuguese, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Geography, History, ICT and Global Perspectives.
All our pupils are entered for 10 to 11 subjects and the average achievement for the past ten years has been of 7.8 A* to C grades per student. The overall percentage of A* to C grades during this period has been 73% of all subject entries.
Note: IGCSE grades range from A* (highest) to G. The number of A* to C grades is a common benchmark used in the UK.
The International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) aims to prepare students for further academic success and is considered a very good preparation for the International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme.
The IGCSE provides a broad study programme by drawing subjects from five areas: Languages, Humanities, Social Sciences, Mathematics, Creative, Technical and Vocational. Within the curriculum there is a balanced mix of practical experience and theoretical knowledge. Differing abilities are accounted for with a choice of Core and Extended papers in most subjects, making IGCSE suitable for all students.
The curriculum is designed to allow teaching to be placed in a localized context, making it relevant in different regions. It is also suitable for students whose first language may not be English as this is acknowledged throughout the examination assessment.
The IGCSE is equivalent in standard to the British GCSE and is recognised as evidence of ability by academic institutions and employers around the world. A Grade C in IGCSE English, for example, satisfies the English proficiency requirements of universities in the UK and other Anglophone countries. UK universities also consider IGCSE results as a selection criteria, especially if the student has not taken a specific course at IB level. |
About the IGCSE - pdf