The academic process at J.M.I. Public School, offers young people a dynamic view of the nature of knowledge and the experiences of learning, and supports their efforts to construct life-affirming meaning. In every area of the curriculum the school encourages substantial student commitment to reading, writing, enquiry, and focused discussion in order to secure the factual knowledge and conceptual structures essential for intellectual competence.

RESEARCH SKILLS

Students throughout the school use many primary and secondary sources to research information. The library is often central to this research, and students use many online sources, learning to cite the sources they use correctly.

SOCIAL SKILLS

Accepting responsibility, respecting others, cooperating, and resolving conflicts are key traits of developing social skills at VGS. Students are often asked to work in groups to tackle a challenging task or work together to solve a problem.

THINKING SKILLS

Thinking skills are developed at VGS by teaching students through explicit strategies to plan, monitor and evaluate their thinking skills and thinking dispositions. Explicitly teaching facilitates the transfer of learned thinking procedures to other curricular and non-curricular contexts.

SELF-MANAGEMENT SKILLS

Developing gross/fine motor skills, organization, time management, codes of behaviour, and safe and healthy lifestyles are integral to student success at VGS. Our students have many opportunities to develop self-management skills in their classes with an increased focus on certain traits within this skill as they mature.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Our students' communication skills are nurtured daily through a combination of oral presentations, written tasks, and reading for both pleasure and purpose. Confidence in speaking and presenting in front of a group is a key trait of an IB student at VGS.