School Profile
GIBS is a bilingual (German-English) university preparatory charter school. At present the school comprises more than 500 students and 60 teaching staff. The rest of the team is made up of the language assistants, trainee teachers and other administrative staff.
The language of instruction is English in the form of "flexible monolingualism". The first three months of Year 1 take the form of an intensive phase of language acquisition after which the students have reached a level of language competence which enables them to participate in lessons conducted in the target language. Following the intensive phase, linguistic back-up for other subjects is provided when required in the English class. In Year 7 History is taught in French. During the first five school years in particular, different subjects collaborate on broad projects that supplement language instruction. Between Year 6 and Year 8, the upper level course system ensures the interconnection and deepening of learning material, and also allows the students to dive deeper into their interests that they wish to pursue in their later professional life. Students from non-German speaking countries receive instruction in German as a foreign language. Their evaluation is in accordance to ยง 18/12 of the School Instruction Guidelines which allows students to select either German or English as their first language of instruction and be thereby assessed accordingly.
The school has a reputation for academic excellence and a strong participation in national awards and organizations. Upon graduation, virtually 100% of students enroll in a 4-year degree program. GIBS graduates have attended Harvard College, Imperial College London, King's College London, London School of Economics, Maastricht University, and the University of St. Gallen, among others.
The level of education is similar to the normal equivalent of the Austrian school system, but allows room for further study in the individual's field of interest through the upper school course system. Language proficiency in at least one foreign language is a graduation requirement, and three foreign languages (English, French, Spanish, Russian, Latin, or German as a Foreign Language) must be taken for 8 (English), 6 (French or Spanish) or 4 (Latin or Russian) years respectively.
Read more about this topic: Graz International Bilingual School
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