International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP)

 Alytus St. Benedict Gymnasium is an International Baccalaureate (IB) school implementing the Middle Years Programme (MYP), designed for students aged 11–16.

The programme helps learners become curious, responsible, and creative global citizens who can apply their knowledge in real situations and make meaningful connections between learning, themselves, and the world. The MYP educational philosophy is based on the understanding that learning is an active process encouraging inquiry, creativity, and reflection.

Students learn to:

• connect knowledge across different subject areas,
• understand global contexts,
• think conceptually rather than simply memorize facts.

MYP encourages students to become responsible, empathetic, and globally minded individuals.

Holistic Learning Across 8 Subject Groups

The programme includes the following areas:

• Language and Literature (native language)
• Language Acquisition (English as the first foreign language; French, Russian, Spanish, German as second foreign languages)
• Individuals and Societies (geography, religion, economics and entrepreneurship, history, citizenship studies)
• Sciences (biology, chemistry, physics, life skills)
• Mathematics
• Arts (music and visual arts)
•  Design (information technology, technology studies)
• Physical and Health Education

At Alytus St. Benedict Gymnasium, these areas are integrated into interdisciplinary units that foster critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration.

Service as Action – Actions That Make a Difference

Service is an essential component of the MYP, where students apply what they have learned to benefit the community.

Through Service as Action, students:

• identify community or environmental needs,
• plan and implement meaningful actions,
• reflect on what they learned and how their efforts created change.

Examples from school life include helping younger students, participating in environmental clean-up projects, charity initiatives, and sustainability campaigns. These activities develop values such as care, responsibility, openness, and empathy.

MYP Personal Project – Creativity, Independence, and Initiative

The Personal Project is the culminating independent project completed in MYP Year 5. It gives each student the opportunity to choose a topic that truly interests or inspires them and to demonstrate their creativity, perseverance, and skills.

The project involves planning, research, creation, and reflection. Students produce a final product or outcome – such as an artwork, invention, research project, event, campaign, or social initiative.

Through the Personal Project, students:

• apply ATL (Approaches to Learning) skills – planning, researching, analyzing, and evaluating sources,
• learn responsibility, independence, and goal-setting,
• reflect on their learning journey and personal growth.

The Personal Project is the culmination of five years in the MYP, showcasing how acquired skills translate into real achievements.

The IB Learner Profile – What Does a Modern Learner Look Like?

The IB aims to develop well-rounded individuals.

At Alytus St. Benedict Gymnasium, students learn to be:

Inquirers, knowledgeable, balanced, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, and reflective.

These qualities help students grow academically and personally, nurturing values, empathy, and confidence.

Assessment in the MYP – Assessment That Encourages Growth

MYP assessment is based on four criteria (A–D) for each subject, evaluating knowledge, skills, application, and reflection.

The main goal is not simply a grade, but the student’s learning progress, ability to think, and personal development.

 Students regularly receive feedback to help them understand what they already know and what they can continue to improve.

More Information

For additional information about the International Baccalaureate MYP Programme, please contact:

IB MYP Coordinator – Vijolė Rinkevičienė

 Email: vijole.rinkeviciene@benediktogimnazija.lt

We are proud to be part of a community where learning has purpose, and where every action contributes to meaningful change.