Full of opportunity

Carey Baptist Grammar School offers a breadth of learning opportunities

Carey Baptist Grammar School is an open entry, coeducational school located in Kew, an inner suburb of Melbourne, Australia. As a leading Christian independent school, Carey is committed to providing the best possible educational opportunities with a wide range of curricular and co-curricular subjects for its students to select from. All facets of learning – intellectual, social, emotional, physical, creative and spiritual are at the heart of what Carey offers.

Carey has been offering the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IB) in addition to the Victorian Certificate of Education since 1999. As such, the IB is very established at Carey with 150 students currently enrolled in the programme.

The IB offers breadth of learning opportunities, characterised by study across all disciplines. Carey’s philosophy of education is based on positive education and an emphasis on wellbeing, complements the IB Learner Profile well and contributes to the successful delivery of the 3 core elements of the IB programme:

• The Extended Essay. An in depth study of a focussed and chosen topic, presented as a formal piece of scholarship and supervised by a teacher. Our learners like that the Extended Essay promotes high level independent research, writing skills, intellectual discovery, critical thinking and is a really good preparation for university study.
• Theory of Knowledge. This helps practise critical thinking skills and develop an understanding of different perspectives on knowledge issues and communicate ideas clearly.
• Creativity Action Service. This element encourages students to develop caring and compassionate attributes, to undertake new challenges, to work collaboratively and at times to show perseverance. It also demonstrates an increased awareness of strengths and areas for growth. As part of the World Challenge programme, a group of students took part in a trip to Ecuador where they got involved in building work to improve the environment of the local community and then spent some time in the Galapagos. They were able to experience a completely different culture, including the local cuisine, improving their language skills and often putting themselves out of their comfort zone.

Differentiated programmes
Through thoughtful subject selection, students can choose a course that will meet their needs and allow them to achieve their education goals. Our students really value the choice they have when selecting the second language to study: Spanish Ab-Initio, French B, German B, Indonesian B, and Chinese B. The school is also in partnership with Pamoja Education, a social enterprise which provides online Diploma Programme courses, taught by experienced IB teachers to support students in achieving their full potential through innovative teaching and learning within a global online community, promoting self-management, and creative and critical thinking.

The assessment model

The IB is a two year journey and many students enjoy the final assessment because they are judged on their merits, based on a criterion referenced approach, rather than being judged on the relative performance of others. Carey students achieve high results with performance averages typically well above the Asia Pacific and World averages. All students proceed to some of the most prestigious universities in Melbourne and overseas into some of the most competitive tertiary courses.

Carey IB learners have a real thirst for and commitment to learning through inquiry. They have a real commitment to knowledge both in terms of mastery of subject content and development of skills necessary for success.