Ben Holman’s Post

Amazing opportunity to continue the development of the OIC Life Skills program (PSHE/RSE) and/or teach at a top sixth form college, Oxford International College, developing the 'Personal Development' pillar (for our uniquely international community) alongside the other two of 'Academic Excellence' and 'Career Development'.

Having met with Oxford International College Student Council to talk about positive learning behaviours, I was so impressed by the calibre of young people I met so open and critically minded whilst crucially able to be creative thinkers to solve issues we discussed. We considered how learning behaviours sit alongside the unique, tried and tested, OIC career focused curriculum providing guidance, and life experience of living in a boarding school environment readying them for life at university away from home.

After an extremely rewarding career working abroad, I have decided to return home to the U.K for family reasons ending my time with Cambridge College Lima ('Cambridge') at the end of this month and wish my successor daniel cowan the best. I want to thank everyone for all their support especially Liz Abad Z. It all started at The English School which taught me all I know about the IB continuum, to Northbridge International School Cambodia where we dramatically improved academic results (and I taught MYP Maths), to The British College of Brazil where we oversaw our first ever graduating cohort of IBDP students whilst maintaining the IGCSE and finally to 'Cambridge' where we are now a successful IBDP school and a thriving community with a clear identity. I want to thank Linda Austin who was my first Head of Department (Geography) at The Costello School, Basingstoke and supported me with my first ever GCSE class as a NQT and I also want to thank Sarah Jayne Osborne-James for giving me my chance at Senior Leadership 13 years ago and seeing my potential. Thanks to The English School, Nord Anglia Education and Inspired Education Group for all the support. I will be taking a sabbatical, volunteering with a charity called PDSA, walking my dog and taking up cold water swimming. During this time I am looking for the right opportunity where I can contribute in a school that strives to prepare students for the world we all now live in 🌍

Our new grading system at Cambridge College Lima is something we have worked hard on to create clarity and coherence between three distinct curricula and assessment criteria. As Adrian Everitt, Deputy Head, explained in our recent newsletter, the competency-based curriculum used in Peru has real benefits, but also presents a challenge in its accompanying letter-grading system. In particular, the reduction to only four grades – AD, A, B and C – offers limited motivation to students, especially as just one of those letter grades – the ‘A’ – is expected to be attained by the large majority. In Middle and Senior School, instead of a range of only four grades, we use seven relating perfectly to IB Diploma grading, which uses a range from 1 up to 7, with IB grade 4 being the minimum required for passing each subject – just as our A4 is the minimum for reaching the 'expected level’ in the Peruvian system. This is done by simply splitting each of the highest grades into sub-divisions, so that we have: ●AD7 & AD6: Outstanding achievement. ●A5 & A4: Expected achievement. ●B3 & B2: Achievement in progress. ●C1: Achievement still at inception. Within each split grade, the lower number (AD6, A4 and B2) indicates that the student has done just enough to reach that grade; whereas the higher number (AD7, A5 and B3) indicates that their achievement is more firmly within that grade, and approaching the grade above. For example, a student achieving grade B3 knows that they are close to an A, and this can motivate them to make the necessary effort to get there. Or a student achieving grade AD6 can be pleased to have reached the top bracket, but also knows that they could still improve further. The modification is small, but the effect on student motivation is significant. We have also aligned our system with Cambridge IGCSE grading: ●A* = AD7 ●A = AD6 ●B = AD5 ●C = A4 ●D = B3 ●E = B2 ●F or G = C1 Students become aware in Middle School that they should always aim to achieve at least grade A4 and in Senior School corresponds to both IGCSE and IB passing grades. Achieving A5, AD6 and AD7 in school should mean that they are on track for getting top grades in IGCSE exams and the IB Diploma. At the end of the academic year we report our grades to the education authorities (MINEDU) simply as AD, A, B and C 🇵🇪 🇬🇧 🌎

As a relatively new IB Diploma school it is easy to overlook that Cambridge College Lima is also a Cambridge International School having done the IGCSE for many years. Our Deputy Head, Adrian Everitt, recently shared these insights in our weekly newsletter.... Examinations for IGCSE are taken at the end of the course, usually at age 16. These examinations are taken each year by students in nearly 6,000 schools in over 150 countries. The resulting qualification provides a reliable foundation for pre-university courses, such as the IB Diploma. Cambridge College began using the IGCSE nearly 30 years ago, and our students currently follow IGCSE courses in Form 3 and Form 4, with the examinations in October and November of Form 4. All Cambridge College students follow IGCSE courses in Spanish First Language, either English First Language or English Second Language, Mathematics and Coordinated Sciences (Biology, Chemistry and Physics). Our students may also take Spanish Literature, English Literature, French Foreign Language, Business Studies, History, Geography, Computer Science, Music, and Art & Design. Each of our students is prepared, in total, for examinations in up to 9 subjects. IGCSE’s are valuable to us because they: ● offer a high-quality international curriculum. ● give an extra focus and purpose for our students in their studies. ● allow us to objectively compare different year groups over time, and also to compare ourselves to other schools around the world. ● provide an excellent preparation for the IB Diploma.