1. See what's open 2. Paste your meeting notes 3. Open your plan

Public demo of SchoolOS

This is Anna's week as DP coordinator at Harbour, a fictional IB school.Anna's week as DP coordinator at Harbour, a fictional IB school.

Click anything. Nothing you do is saved, and nobody sees it.Nothing you do is saved.

MonThe IA calendar is overdue1 minute
TueThe DP meeting turns notes into decisions1 minute
FriThe head sees what's waiting on him1 minute

Built by Evis Qeska, former DP coordinator and principal Independent, not affiliated with or endorsed by the IB

Volunteer as a pilot school

The May 2027 session

All 32 IB dates, with sources

Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug

Today Re-evaluation15 Jan Rescheduling15 Mar CAS completion1 Jun

Next IB deadline: Inclusive access arrangements requests incl. modified papers (DP/CP), 15 Nov, in 25 daysNext IB deadline: inclusive access requests, 15 Nov (25 days)

Needs you

Publish the internal assessment calendar draft.

Anna Vester, Mon 19 Oct Overdue

Agree a new date
Book a room for the exhibition internal standardisation.

Anna Vester, Fri 13 Nov

Open
Share the exhibition rubric with DP1 tutors.

Anna Vester, Fri 20 Nov

Open

Programmes

Diploma Programme

Anna Vester, DP coordinator. A second campus opens the DP this year.

What to watch this year

Three reflection conversations happen at real points in the work.

Harbour has not named an extended essay coordinator. Anna Vester holds the supervisor list.

Open the plan

The core

Extended essay

Supervisors meet students before a draft is late. That rhythm is already moving on the main campus.

Theory of knowledge

The exhibition examples are not yet the same standard. Helen holds that plan.

Creativity, activity, service

The CAS plan has not started. A coordinator for it is not named separately from Anna.

Predicted against final

Predicted grades against final grades, sample

Sample. By subject, for the last session Harbour has on file. Not a published school protocol, and not an IB rule.

Biology

9 of 12 predicted grades were within one grade of the final

Predictions sat high where the internal assessment was still a draft. The comparison is after results, in early July.

Compared 10 Jul 2026. Sample size 12 candidates.

History

6 of 10 predicted grades were within one grade of the final

The essay mark and the predicted grade were using different ideas of analysis.

Compared 10 Jul 2026. Sample size 10 candidates.

This sits with the open question: who agrees the standard across programmes, and who can overrule a teacher's grade.

Teachers in the DP mark the same work together before predicted grades are sent. ibo.org

Sources. Cambridge Assessment, comparative judgement for non-exam assessment

This month’s practice

Seen in 5 of 9 visits

Students can say what they will change on the next draft.

Seen in 5 of 9 DP visits this half term. One move you could try is one next step and ten minutes to use it.

The same IB dates, plan and team: IB dates, Plan, Team.

Who leads EE, TOK and CAS

Subject teacher

Not named one by one

The shared calendar is overdue (due 19 Oct 2026). Teachers do not yet have a date they can plan around.
EE supervisor

Anna Vester

Anna holds the supervisor list. She is not a separate extended essay coordinator. That coordinator is not named. The supervision rhythm is moving.
TOK teacher, chairs DP coordination

Helen Okonkwo

Helen Okonkwo teaches TOK and chairs DP coordination. Exhibition internal standardisation is moving. The examples are not yet the same standard.
CAS coordinator

Not named separately. Anna Vester holds the CAS plan.

The CAS supervisor rhythm has not started. One option is to name the person, then one interview date.
Counsellor

Not yet named

The open decision is who books the university counsellor visit. 0202-04-0100: guidance for students.

No hour total is stated here. 0201-02: a programme coordinator with time to lead. ibo.org

See all 10 practice guides

Extended essay

A named coordinator is separate from the supervisors.

What good looks like. A named coordinator is separate from the supervisors. Anna Vester holds the supervisor list. Harbour has not named an extended essay coordinator. A focused question comes early, and research skills are taught before the essay starts. Three reflection conversations happen at real points in the work. Milestones run backwards from the school's own calendar, and the supervisor load is shared.

One thing to try. One option: one shared milestone calendar that every supervisor and student can see, and a check on who is carrying too many students. The essay coordinator decides.

Why. Sharples, Eaton and Boughelaf (2024) treat implementation as staged. Naming the rhythm is the preparation. The test is the conversation and what the student does next.

More for this focus

Signs it is weak.

One teacher carries many students and others carry one.
Topics stay broad, and the reflection conversations are bunched at the end.
Questions about honest use of sources, including tools, first come up at the final draft.

Over time.

2 weeks. Confirm every student has a supervisor, a draft question and a first reflection conversation. Look at the load.
6 weeks. One supervisor meeting on the current process, and one session with the librarian on sources and the school's rules for tools.
Term. Set the final internal date backwards from the date in your verified calendar.

The essay supervision rhythm is moving: supervisors are meeting students before a draft is late. That is process, not a judgement of the essays. The question for the coordinator: who needs fewer students before the next reflection conversation? One move you could try is the shared milestone calendar. Next time, look at the conversation log.

0201-02: a programme coordinator with time to lead. Mark schemes and form names are not stored here. ibo.org

Theory of knowledge

Students work with questions about how we know, and they meet those questions in their subjects, not only in the TOK lesson.

Creativity, activity, service

Students have experiences across the programme, a project, and reflections that say what they tried, what changed, and how they know.

Approaches to learning

The teacher names one skill and teaches it inside the lesson: models it, lets students try, and gives feedback on the skill itself, not only on the content.

What good looks like. The teacher names one skill and teaches it inside the lesson: models it, lets students try, and gives feedback on the skill itself, not only on the content.

One thing to try. One option: agree one skill for one grade this half-term, and use the same routine in every subject (teach, model, practise, feedback). The grade team decides.

Why. The test is whether a student can name the skill and show it in the work. Timperley (2008) judges teacher learning by changed practice and student work, not by a skill listed on a planner.

More for this focus

Signs it is weak.

The skill is on the planner and you cannot see it taught.
Almost every unit picks the same skill, often communication.
The skill lives in a separate slot, and students meet a big task without having been taught how to plan it.

Over time.

2 weeks. Read the DP1 plan and see where research skills are taught before the internal assessment.
6 weeks. One skill of the half-term, then two short learning walks: can students name the skill and show it?
Term. Students self-assess the skill and attach one piece of work. Decide then whether this is a development focus.

The internal assessment calendar was due 19 Oct 2026 and is still open, so research skills have no shared date to sit in front of. Naming a skill is not the same as teaching it. The question for the grade team: which one skill will you teach inside the subject this half-term, and what will a student be able to do that they cannot do now? One move you could try is the shared routine above. Next time, look for that skill in one lesson and in one piece of student work.

0402-01: students develop approaches to learning. 0401-01: the school plans how those skills build across years. ibo.org

Conceptual learning

The unit is built around an idea a student can use in a new situation.

What good looks like. The unit is built around an idea a student can use in a new situation. Facts are still taught. The task asks the student to transfer the idea, not only to recall the taught case.

One thing to try. One option: rewrite one unit question and the end task together, so the task asks the student to explain a case you never taught. The department decides.

Why. Newmann, Smith, Allensworth and Bryk (2001) describe a coherent programme as teaching and assessment pointing the same way. A concept on the wall, with a recall task, is not that.

More for this focus

Signs it is weak.

The unit question is a topic or a fact.
The idea is on the planner and you do not hear it in the lesson or see it in the task.
Students can retell the content and cannot say the big idea, or use it on a new case.

Over time.

2 weeks. Sample a handful of unit questions. Ask five students in two classes what the big idea is.
6 weeks. Each teacher rewrites one question and one task so the task needs a new context.
Term. In the next internal standardisation, check whether the task asks for the idea, not only recall.

No priority names conceptual learning this year. Priority 1's annotated samples are where it gets tested: does the top band ask for the idea in a case the student was never taught? The question for the department: could a student use this statement to explain a situation you never taught? One move you could try is to rewrite the statement and the end task together. The choice is the department's. Next time, look for the reworked question in the assessment, which is also where a visiting team will look.

0403-02: teaching so students build an idea they can carry. 0403-03-0200: students use that idea in a new situation. ibo.org

Inclusion and differentiation

The goal stays high for everyone.

What good looks like. The goal stays high for everyone. The route changes: more than one way in, and more than one way to show the learning. In the DP, an exam arrangement is also how the student works in class.

One thing to try. One option: one line on the planner, the likely barrier and the planned support, with the goal unchanged. The learning support lead and the teacher decide which supports.

Why. Allen, Kern, Vella-Brodrick, Hattie and Waters (2018) treat belonging as shaped by the school around the student. A policy file, on its own, does not show that.

More for this focus

Signs it is weak.

Differentiation is an extension sheet decided in the lesson.
Students with support mostly work away from the teacher.
The policy is reviewed, and the planners do not name a barrier or a support.

Over time.

2 weeks. In one grade, count how many planners name a barrier and a support. Keep counts only, no student records.
6 weeks. One strategy for that grade, with one peer observation each.
Term. Review the policy with teachers and a group of students, and record the decision.

Access arrangements are a DP task on Anna's list. The same students' needs are not yet visible in the unit plans. The question for the learning support lead: which three supports should every teacher plan into this unit? One move you could try is that single planner line. Next time, look for the line in the next round of planners. Sample. Seen applied in 3 of 7 lessons visited: the agreed strategy was a short written step before the task. Next step for the learning support lead: look at two more lessons and record whether that step was used. No student is named.

0403-05: removing barriers in the lesson. 0301-02: the inclusion policy is used, not only filed. ibo.org

Assessment for learning

Students know what they are aiming for, in their own words.

What good looks like. Students know what they are aiming for, in their own words. Feedback names one next step, and students act on it in the lesson, while the work is still open.

One thing to try. One option: fewer comments, one next step, and ten minutes of the next lesson to use it. The department decides.

Why. The useful part is the student acting on the feedback, not the length of the comment. Sharples, Eaton and Boughelaf (2024) say you decide how you will know a change is working before you roll it out.

More for this focus

Signs it is weak.

Feedback is a grade only, or a long comment with no sign the student used it.
A formative task is marked and filed, and the next lesson goes ahead as planned.
Teachers mark alone, and the same work gets different levels.

Over time.

2 weeks. In one department, five pieces of marked work per teacher: is there a next step, and did the student act on it?
6 weeks. One feedback lesson where students use the comment, and one standardisation meeting before reports.
Term. Compare predicted grades with final grades, or internal levels with moderated outcomes, and record what changes.

Seen in 5 of 9 DP visits this half term. Priority 2 asks that every student can say what good work looks like and what to do next. A comment the student never uses does not move that. The question for the department: what will students do with this feedback in the lesson after it is given? One move you could try is one next step and ten minutes to use it. Next time, check the work sample and the next cross-marking.

Problem of practice: Students can say what they will change on the next draft.

The note describes what students said and did. It does not judge the teacher. Follow-up agreed: yes, on 6 of the 9.

Sample. Sources. City, Elmore, Fiarman and Teitel, Instructional Rounds in Education; Durrington Research School, developing expert teachers; Harvard Ed. Magazine, on instructional rounds

0404-01: feedback used to improve learning. ibo.org

Programme development plan

The main campus already teaches the DP.

Language and the learner profile

Language profiles record the languages a student uses, including at home.

Academic integrity and AI

Students say when a tool helped, and what they did with it.

The choice is yours.

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