Secondary School

The Vienna International School prides itself on a very strong and successful arts programme. From music to visual and performing arts, the students have the ability to immerse themselves in the genre that best suits their talent. With highly qualified and dedicated artists and musicians as teachers, the students are able to develop and hone their skills, which allows them express themselves as confident and competent artists. 

In Grades 6 to 8, Design is a main subject in the MYP that allows students to engage in solving problems in design contexts. The five strands we offer these learning opportunities are: product design, programming, graphic design, electronics and food design. The program assists students to develop skills in the areas of investigating problems, designing creative solutions, planning, creating and evaluating. Design is the link between innovation and creativity, allowing the learner to engage with shaping the real world. Design is human-centred and focuses on the needs, wants and limitations of the end user.

MYP design courses help specifically to prepare students for the study of computer science (CS), design technology (DT) and information technology in a global society (ITGS) in the Diploma Programme (DP).

The Physical Education department uses sports and activities as a tool to help every student to become responsible and guide each individual to achieve their own potential and reach success, in any aspect of society. Therefore, PE at VIS is geared to develop three domains: the psychomotor (physical development), cognitive (thinking, reflecting skills) and affective domain (emotions, feelings, attitudes, behaviour). We offer a range of sports and activities to provide students with a contemporary and holistic education. Moreover, all lessons are inquiry-based and are students centred.  We offer a range of sports and activities and teach them in clusters: Striking & fielding (e.g. Softball, cricket), Invasion games (e.g. Ultimate frisbee), Racket/net games (e.g. Badminton/volleyball), creative movement (dance, parkour), and Track & field.

Students are taught mathematics with an emphasis on discovering and applying knowledge and skills in real life contexts. In addition to textbooks, they learn using a wide variety of resources, including departmental sites subscriptions, manipulable materials and ICT tools. 

In G6-G10, our courses were designed to address all the topics included in the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme framework: Number, Algebra, Geometry and Trigonometry, Statistics and Probability, and Discrete mathematics. 

In G6-G8, students follow the same common course that leads naturally to the standard mathematics course in G9-G10. For those students who have demonstrated higher capability and results they have the opportunity to join the extended mathematics course in G9-G10. This course contains additional content and the standard level topics are explored at an higher level
of sophistication and abstraction. 

Students in G11-G12 study one of the following courses from the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme: Mathematics Analysis and Approaches and Applications and Interpretations at either standard or higher level. There is also the opportunity for students to undertake a high school mathematics course (non IB) such as Introduction to Statistics.

The Romance Language Department at VIS offers French and Spanish to all secondary students who are not enrolled in the ELA programme.

• In Grade 6, the school only offers French and Spanish at the beginner level thus students with a previous knowledge of French will only have Spanish as an option, and vice versa.
• In Grades 7 and 8, Spanish and French classes are available to beginners and to those with a basic knowledge of the language.
• Students joining the school in Grades 9 or 10 should have studied French or Spanish for two to three years to be accepted in the Romance Language programme.

The student’s level of proficiency in the language will be assessed by the Romance Language Department before making the decision on a student’s placement in the programme.

Please note, the school does not offer French or Spanish courses for mother tongue speakers or highly advanced speakers of the language (above Phase 4 in the MYP programme) within the regular timetable. Mother Tongue classes in French and Spanish are available at our school and are taught outside school hours.

Our curriculum aims to construct learning around relevant and authentic situations and develops the following skills: listening, reading, speaking, and writing. From G6-G10, we work under the MYP framework, which aims to instil a respect for, and understanding of, other languages and cultures. In G11 and G12, we follow the curriculum of the DP programme (at both Standard and High Level), based around five themes: identities, experiences, human ingenuity, social organization and sharing the planet. G11 language students go to either Madrid or Paris for a week in April, organized by the school to experience their learning in real life context and to expand their cultural understanding of the language.

As the language of the host country, German is taught to all secondary students at VIS. We offer courses at all achievement levels in each grade. Our teachers are all native speakers who teach with enthusiasm and passion. Excursions and field trips add to the authentic approach of the teaching and expand the cultural experience of learning German. 

VIS was a pioneer amongst international schools in recognizing the importance of additive bilingualism - that is, the continuing development of our students' home languages while at the same time learning the school language of English. A large number of research studies show very clearly that bilingualism can increase children’s language abilities and help their progress in school.

Both the Primary and Secondary schools at VIS are truly international in that the majority of our students speak a language other than English as their first language.

Grade 11 and Grade 12 students have the possibility to take their Mother Tongue as one of their International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma subjects. Approximately 30% of all IB Diploma level students each year take this option. Please contact the IB office or the IB DP Mother Tongue Coordinator for further information: dpmothertongue(at)vis.ac.at.

In line with the IBO philosophy, all VIS teachers are language teachers just as all VIS students are language learners. We are committed to creating a learning community that promotes and supports language development while fostering confidence and creativity in a way that values all students' cultural identity and sense of self— recognizing the unique knowledge and experiences that each student contributes to our shared learning community. We recognize that language learning is "a developmental process where there are opportunities for students to build on prior knowledge and skills in order to help them progress to the next phase of language development" (Language and learning in IB programmes, 2011, p.17). 

VIS MYP English Programme

VIS is also committed to ensuring that our English language learners enter the IB Diploma Programme equipped with the academic language necessary for success; therefore, VIS’s MYP English program provides students with different entry points depending upon where students are in their language development from beginner to native speaker. For language learners, these entry points align with the MYP’s six phases of language development, which represent a continuum of language learning as students work toward native proficiency. The phases do not correspond to particular age groups or MYP years/grades but rather reflect where a student falls on a developmental continuum.

MYP Language Acquisition 

The primary aim of VIS’s MYP English Language Acquisition course is to support non-native English speaking students in gaining competence in English with the long-term goal of successful engagement in rigorous English-medium academic coursework. To this end, language learners who do not yet have the level of English proficiency needed to fully participate in the Language and Literature curriculum and other core content disciplines are placed in a Language Acquisition course and provided with specific strategies and interventions aimed at increasing linguistic proficiency across the modalities of listening, speaking, reading, and writing in a variety of academic contexts.

MYP Language and Literature

The primary aim of VIS’s MYP Language and Literature course is to enable students to continue to develop the critical and creative thinking skills necessary to study and analyze both literary and non- literary texts and to apply these concepts and skills as they produce a variety of authentic texts. In this course, students will have the opportunity to apply linguistic skills as they engage with texts from a variety of cultures and historical periods. Students will use language as a "vehicle for thought, creativity, reflection, learning, self-expression, analysis, and social interaction" which will equip students with the linguistic skills needed “to develop interdisciplinary understanding across all other subject areas.” (MYP Language and Literature guide, 2014, p.4) English language learners are supported in accessing grade-level curriculum through the use of scaffolded instructional techniques, including the use of appropriately leveled texts.

Entry and Placement in MYP English

As students are admitted to VIS on a rolling basis throughout the year, placement for new students is informed by a combination of a student’s language profile, interviews, standardized assessments and previous school records, which help identify the entry point best suited for each individual student.

Students who apply to VIS for grades 6-8 will be asked to take a language placement test following an offer of admission. Both the NWEA MAP Reading screener and an on-demand writing sample will inform placement within our mainstream or English language acquisition programs.  

Students who apply for admission into grades 9-12 will be asked to take the NWEA MAP Reading screener and submit an on-demand writing sample prior to admission to determine whether the student’s English language proficiency supports access to VIS’s academic program.  

Students applying for admission in any grade who have taken the NWEA MAP or PSAT assessment within six months of application will not need to take the assessment if score reports are provided with their Open Apply documentation.

Movement within the MYP

All students placed within English Language Acquisition will be eligible for consideration for phase promotion by their teacher at the end of each term. Movement or advancement within language courses relies on grades and supporting evidence of student learning and progress. Students will be eligible to advance into the next phase level class via a combination of academic language assessments, MYP Phase criteria, writing samples, and formative assessment. Through collaboration and consultation with the nominating teacher, relevant department leaders and the secondary school administration review data and work samples to make a final determination on movement or advancement. 

Individuals and Societies 

Individuals and Societies at VIS incorporates a wide range of Humanities disciplines starting from integrated inquiry-based Humanities courses in Grades 6 to 8, and then transitioning through to more in depth discrete History and Geography semester courses in Grades 9 to 10, taught by specialist teachers.  The Grades 6 - 10 courses follow the IB MYP curriculum framework and are designed to equip students with the necessary knowledge and skills to inquire into the historical, contemporary, geographical, economic, and cultural factors which shape our societies and our environment. The courses are designed to train students to become critical thinkers about topical issues on global and local scales, thus enabling them to be informed future global citizens and decision makers. The department supports experiential learning and organises different fieldwork investigations and outdoor learning excursions in both local and international environments. 

The Grade 6 - 8 Individual and Societies Course is an integrated year long course focusing on a range of topics including: How Maps help us explore Time, Place and Space, Early Humans, Ancient Civilisations, Settlements, our Community in a Global World, the Middle East: Past and Present, Life in the Middle Ages, Innovation and the Renaissance, How Globalisation shapes our Community,  Global Development, Global Organisations - The United Nations, Equal Rights Movements, Climate Change. The focus is on building research,  communication and critical thinking skills which can be applied to all Individual and Societies courses later on. In Grade 9 and 10 each student follows a semester course in both History and Geography each year. Some of the topics investigated include: Revolutions, Global Migrations, 20th Century Turmoil and Globalisation.

In Grades 11 and 12, the Group 3 Diploma Programme choices include, History, Geography, Psychology and Economics - all offered at either Standard or  Higher Level. There are no prerequisite entrance requirements for any of these courses. 

DP Economics uses scientific methodologies which include quantitative and qualitative elements. The course emphasizes the economic theories of microeconomics, which deal with economic variables affecting individuals, firms and markets, and the economic theories of macroeconomics, which deal with economic variables affecting countries, governments, and societies. These economic theories are to be applied to real-world issues.

DP History is focussed on Modern European History and is based on a comparative, multi-perspective approach to history focused on the key historical concepts of change, causation and significance. The topics studied include: the causes of the Second World War, and single party rulers including Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Mussolini.

The aim of the DP Geography course is to empower students to understand the world around them by exploring physical, human and political Geography with a strong focus on current environmental, developmental and political (globalisation) issues.

In DP Psychology, students study the “core” of biological, cognitive, and sociocultural psychology. Students can expect to develop an understanding of how psychological knowledge is generated, developed and applied. This will allow them to have a greater understanding of themselves and appreciate the diversity of human behaviour.