The pre-IBDP programme is designed for students who’s mother tongue is Dutch, and who visit an international school abroad in grade 10 (the year preceding the IB Diploma Programme). These students have the opportunity to do a one-year course through the IBID Foundation, following up on the ‘Dutch Middle School curriculum’ and, at the same time, preparing for the IBDP-curriculum (Dutch A).

Students who want to start the pre-IBDP year in September 2012 in principle have to:
• be grade 10 students at an international school
• head at choosing Dutch A as one of their IB Diploma Programme subjects in 2013-2014
• have accomplished the ‘Dutch Middle School curriculum’ (=3 HAVO/VWO)

The IBID Foundation was established in June 2000, and is associated with the Stichting NOB (Foundation for Dutch Education abroad). The main focus of the IBID Foundation is to tutor students in the Dutch A: Literature SSST programme. In the past, many schools, students and parents have expressed the need for a better connection between the Dutch national curriculum and the IB Diploma Programme.

The IBID teachers build a strong team. They all qualify as very experienced teachers of Dutch Language and Literature, teaching abroad, and they know how hard it can be for students to do their Dutch as a long-distance-subject in combination with the other challenges of international education.

The pre-IBDP programme is based upon three components:
1. Language proficiency (revision of relevant grammar and spelling, extension of vocabulary and register, refining skills for punctuation, syntax etc.)
2. -Creative- writing. We anticipate on the level of writing that will be expected from IBDP-students, a level which is much more sophisticated than in the Dutch national curriculum
3. The acquisition of skills for literary analysis, combined with the reading of short stories and novels.

Our strategy is to introduce skills for literary analysis in a playful way. An approved and successful method is to link the passive incorporation of literary theory to active processing through creative writing. Continuous attention will be paid to –improving- the quality of the written language.

The topics in the binder with lesson material will cover twenty modules of two weeks each, forty weeks in total. At the beginning of the academic year, the teacher will stipulate the detailed schedule with the student, taking school holidays and other important dates in consideration. Each module represents six hours of work, so three hours per week in average; the teacher will send the assignment, a student will send it back within 7-10 days, there will be some time left to be used for marking and reviewing. The pre-IBDP year will take a student about 120 hours in total. We will provide for extra modules for students who need intensification of the subject matter.

The IBID Foundation appreciates to be informed about special circumstances that might influence the following of lessons or submission of assignments. We prefer to send our e-mails to the students with a cc to (one of) the parents. This does not only help to prevent mails from getting lost, it also enables parents to keep on track as far as the progress of their son/daughter is concerned.

The IBID Foundation is one of the three organizations for online education associated with the NOB Foundation. We are not a ‘regular’ school. The director and the teachers live in several places around the world and there is some moving around every now and then, like this is the case with our students and their parents. Our address is in The Netherlands, as this is the country where Josephine Franken, director/teacher, lives. The other teachers live in Switzerland, Scotland, Japan, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Dubai and France. The members of the Board of the IBID Foundation are all based in The Netherlands.

The pre-IBDP programme covers an academic year in which Dutch-speaking students visiting an international school face a ‘gap’ regarding their Dutch classes; in most cases they will have accomplished their ‘Dutch Middle School’ education, but they can only start taking Dutch A in Grade 11. So far, their choice has been:
1. Not taking Dutch classes for a year
2. Taking Dutch classes (through far-distance education) that are only focused on the Dutch High School curriculum (and therefore not matching with the standards for IB Dutch A)
3. Taking Dutch classes with a private tutor abroad.

The new programme offered by the IBID Foundation aims to fill this ‘gap’; on one hand it reinforces and maintains the level of acquired language skills, on the other hand it prepares students for the challenges of an A Language in the IB Diploma Programme.

The results of the IBID students have received the highest possible rating by the Dutch inspector (Ministry of Education). The average score of our students at least equals, or is even higher than the average score for Dutch A worldwide. This certainly is related to our teachers who have extensive experience teaching IB Dutch abroad. Choosing for IBID means choosing for quality and personal care.

The fee for the academic year 2012-2013 is €1750. This includes the folder with lesson material that will be send. The costs for books that the student will have to buy will be around €80.

The IBID Foundation is associated with the ‘Stichting NOB’ (Foundation for Dutch education abroad), and students are in principle eligible for subsidy. The fee is partly based upon the subsidy allowance. In case a student is not eligible for subsidy, the IBID Foundation will give notice to the parents and they may expect a retrospective bill equalling the amount of non-allocated subsidy.

There is only a Dutch version of the application form available on this website. After the sending of the application form, there will be a procedure where the pre-IBDP co-ordinator contacts the parents and the student in order to further research the student’s motivation and goal. We might ask for reports from former academic years regarding Dutch classes.

We set out to have a personal meeting between a student and the IBID-teacher before the start of the lessons. Usually this is possible during summer break in The Netherlands. In any case, we will ensure a proper introduction between student and teacher.

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