Science & Maths

ABOUTSCIENCE AT HAUT-LAC

Our innovative and practical science programmes, modern science facilities, and partnerships with local research centres enable our students to create links between their everyday experiences and the scientific world.

We’re the only non-UK school to receive the Primary Science Quality Mark for our outstanding delivery of all aspects of Science education.
Our students are encouraged to develop a passion for science by learning through enquiry in both French and English.
They not only investigate, classify, test, analyse and evaluate in our fully equipped science laboratory and outdoor discovery garden, but also see science in action during workshops led by scientific experts and visits to facilities such as CERN and the University of Lausanne laboratories.

PrimaryScience

Haut-Lac International Bilingual School is the only school outside of Britain to have been awarded the Primary Science Quality Mark for its outstanding delivery of all aspects of Science education. The reason behind this success is simple.

Our Primary Science programme is based on the Learning Means the World curriculum, which has high expectations of student progress and attainment. As our students move up through the Primary section, we encourage them to use more and more scientific vocabulary in both French and English, so that they are able to produce comprehensive, bilingual lab reports by the end of P5.

Primary
Our excellent library of digital and blended learning resources enables us to use enquiry as a basis for all learning. Through various forms of questioning and exploring, our students are often asked to lead their own learning by identifying, classifying, testing, analysing and evaluating in our fully equipped science laboratory and outdoor discovery garden.

However, science at Haut-Lac International Bilingual School extends much further than the curriculum and the classroom. Students are also often invited to participate in workshops led by scientific experts, visit research facilities such as CERN and the University of Lausanne laboratories, and take part in extra-curricular STEM clubs to further broaden and deepen their knowledge and skills.

SECONDARYSCIENCE

Our Lower Secondary integrated science course was developed according to the core values of the IB Middle Years Programme (IB MYP). The syllabus is designed to make students aware of the critical role science plays in our everyday lives and the world at large by providing them with opportunities to explore science in terms of morality, ethics and various other lenses.
It is taught using an inquiry-based learning approach, which enables students to develop analytical and creative skills by actively researching scientific theory, designing and performing investigations, forming conclusions and suggesting alternative explanations.

Our holistic programme provides students with many opportunities to learn to appreciate and respect the ideas of others, gain good ethical-reasoning skills, and reflect upon their potential roles as members of both local and global communities. It is taught in such a way that they are able to develop the sophisticated interpersonal and information technology skills that are critical in today’s modern society.

At Haut-Lac International Bilingual School, our IB Diploma Programme (IB DP) science courses deliver scientific content in the context of Theory of Knowledge and the Nature of Science to ensure our students successfully meet the IB learner profile expectations. We adopt a practical learning approach, manifested through subject-specific experimental work.
This approach provides students with multiple opportunities to design sophisticated experiments, manipulate data, and interpret results in terms of the wider scientific landscape. They therefore able to further develop both the practical and mathematical skills embedded in the natural sciences.

Ultimately, our programme enables students to grow into inquisitive and thoughtful young scientists. Many of our graduates indeed go on to pursue their passion for science at several top universities, including EPFL and Harvard.

ABOUTMATHS AT HAUT-LAC

Our whole-school maths programme focuses on progressively building up the students’ knowledge of core maths concepts as well as developing their mental arithmetic, problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Through our hands-on teaching approach, we provide students with real life applications to help them develop a passion for maths, and understand its importance in the world around them.
In Infant and Primary, the programme begins with the aptly-titled Learning Means the World curriculum. Our 3 to 5 year olds learn to recognise and use numbers, shapes, space and measures before moving onto four more complex strands, namely Number, Geometry, Measure and Statistics, in Primary. Each strand is explored in depth with engaging lessons linked to real world situations, support sessions, booster groups and after-school clubs to help each child achieve or exceed their potential in maths.

Based on the IB MYP curricula, our Lower Secondary maths programme further develops the students’ analytical, interpretive and problem-solving skills through focused mathematical investigations within relevant real world contexts. These investigations include data collection and analysis, mathematical modelling, and the creation, development and verification of mathematical rules and formulas.

When they reach upper Secondary, students follow one of three IBDP maths courses, depending on their level and needs. Each one, however, requires an in-depth knowledge of core mathematical concepts and skills in order to complete a sustained and focused mathematical exploration.

Our secondary maths programme integrates and supports language learning and bilingualism. Lower Secondary students can opt to study mathematics in our bilingual or English streams, before choosing to continue in either French or English in MYP4 and MYP5, and finally deciding to complete a bilingual or English IB Diploma.

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