# July/August (start of school year) ### :date:Planning & Scheduling * Check students’ course schedules to ensure they are placed properly and are meeting requirements for the IB diploma as well as local graduation requirements. * Start with year 12 (Diploma Programme 2 or DP2) students first, then check year 11 (DP1) students. * Check to see if your school counselor or registrar has a “graduation checklist” with a list of local requirements and course equivalencies. * Review the most recent **coordinator’s notes** from the [Programme Resource Centre](https://resources.ibo.org/home) (PRC). * Be sure to pass along subject-specific info in the subject group meetings as well as any global announcements in the whole-group meeting. * Curriculum review cycles are towards the end of the coordinators’ notes; these are useful for planning necessary upcoming trainings. * Verify the final IB Exam schedule in the PRC under ‘Assessment Sessions’ within the PRC. {% hint style="success" %} Create a document with every IB exam that your school offers and give it to your administration (the earlier the better, particularly if your school offers multiple programs with examinations at a similar time). Needs vary by school, but generally, the following are helpful: * Exam name (subject + paper) * Exam date * Exam time (AM or PM, usually 8am or 12pm) * Number of students (estimate if necessary) * Locations (might need to be added later) Please see the ManageBac tutorial on [Creating & Reviewing Exam Calendars](https://help.managebac.com/hc/en-us/articles/360018226231) for more information on this. {% endhint %} ### :person\_tipping\_hand:**Supporting Students and Teachers** ![](/files/9TtT3x3ye0fhlIcvvPu7) {% hint style="info" %} One-on-one meetings or subject group meetings can be especially helpful for newer or smaller programs. Plan to meet with each IB teacher before the first day of school begins. {% endhint %} * Fruitful discussions with returning teachers may include: * Data review from detailed exam scores * Comparison of predicted grades and IA scores to IB grades and moderated IAs * Discussion of successes (start with some positives!) * Identification of areas of potential growth * Keep the conversation solution-oriented and positive whenever possible. * It’s great to make specific suggestions for changes, but it’s also ideal to let the teacher guide the discussion by asking for their solutions first. * Ask the teacher if there are any resources (curricular or human) that would help facilitate changes. * (Optional) Review unit planners with teachers, focusing on the reflective elements. * Approaches to teaching and learning (ATT and ATL) checklists from the PRC and embedded below can help teachers with self-reflection. {% file src="/files/rp9cbiBYfvHGQjeUQvS1" %} * For teachers who are new to the school or new to IB: * Review the previous teacher’s data (anonymized if necessary) * Debrief on any summer workshops attended * Give an overview of your school’s current IB programme (a brief history as well as a summary of the current state of the program) * Answer any questions {% hint style="info" %} New teachers may require training on ManageBac as well as IB Training so that they are fully supported. Here are some links to get them started. {% endhint %} * [Getting Started with ManageBac](https://help.managebac.com/hc/en-us/articles/360045744271) as administrator (for the DP Coordinator) * [Getting Started with ManageBac](https://help.managebac.com/hc/en-us/articles/360045390112) as teacher or advisor * [Navigating ManageBac as a Teacher or Administrator](https://help.managebac.com/hc/en-us/articles/360019107751) * [Building IB Diploma Units in ManageBac](https://help.managebac.com/hc/en-us/articles/360018226251) * [Tips and ideas for teachers for the new academic year in ManageBac](https://help.managebac.com/hc/en-us/articles//9470517210649) * [Using ManageBac for Internal Assessments](https://help.managebac.com/hc/en-us/sections/360009305291#internal-assessments) * [Creating Class Assignments](https://help.managebac.com/hc/en-us/sections/360009305291#assessment-tasks) and assessing these in ManageBac {% hint style="success" %} For a personal touch, write a hand-written note welcoming any new teachers to your program and welcoming back returning IB faculty members. {% endhint %} ### :green\_book:**Registration and Records** {% hint style="warning" %} Be sure that IB course numbers, gradebooks, and rosters are set up correctly. Contact your administration or registrar if any errors are found. {% endhint %} * Update ‘My School’ profile on my IB webpage. * Verify school address, demographics, and program. * Remove faculty/staff who have left the school or update roles. * Manage students and teachers in ManageBac. * Review the ManageBac [Transitioning to the Next Academic Year](https://help.managebac.com/hc/en-us/articles/360028885492-Transitioning-to-the-Next-Academic-Year) article for step by step guidance of the following. * Roll the previous year’s grade 11 (DP1) cohort into the next school year. * Register new cohort of incoming grade 11 students (be sure to select the correct group year). * Register course candidates to courses as applicable. * Register new teachers or supervisors. * Assign supervisors and teachers as appropriate to courses, CAS, EE, and TOK. * Register with any local IB coordinator support organizations (For example, Association of IB World Schools of Georgia). * Check out textbooks to IB students (or facilitate teacher checkouts). ### :speech\_balloon:**Communication and Promotion** {% hint style="info" %} It is important to set the tone for the year as a pedagogical leader for the IB programme. {% endhint %} If possible, meet with school administration prior to the start of the school year. Selecting a specific focus for the quarter or semester (for example, self-management) would be a great way to focus professional learning and discussion. * Address the entire faculty at a beginning of the year meeting. Conduct IB mini-sessions as appropriate. * Set a mandatory meeting for all IB faculty during preplanning. Topics for this meeting may include: * Instructional priorities for the year * Overview of the year’s IB-related professional learning (meeting dates, etc) * Reminders about resources available and a means of requesting new or additional resources * Review school-based guidelines about common unit planners as well as procedures for assessment date requests * Prepare IB data for each subject area as well as ‘global’ data for the entire school and make a plan for how that data can inform instructional practice. * As appropriate for public relations purposes, put together spotlights or brag sheets for the school administration and/or governing body. You could push out these celebrations in a variety of ways: * Social Media * School or programme newsletter(s) * School publications (newspaper or annual) * School board meetings * School council or local school governance meetings * Consider creating a ‘welcome back’ one-page newsletter/overview that would work for all IB stakeholders (students, teachers, parents, and school administration). * Review and update any local school IB information (e.g., IB section of a school website or school’s IB programme handbook). ### :money\_with\_wings:**Budget and Finances** {% hint style="info" %} It is important to have a full understanding of how (or whether) you are expected to manage the budgetary concerns that come along with your role as coordinator. {% endhint %} Schools have very different processes for budgeting and money handling. Your administrators or bookkeeper(s) should be able to offer guidance on appropriate protocols. {% hint style="warning" %} For many educators, mishandling of money is considered a serious ethics violation. {% endhint %} An example of DPC budgetary responsibilities may include: * Ensuring that annual IB dues were paid (the invoice is typically sent to the head of school between school years) * Ensuring that any summer travel reimbursements for teachers were submitted and paid * Requesting budget transfers into sub-accounts (for example, a global IB account may need to be dispersed into travel, textbooks, fees, exams, etc) * Renewing subscriptions to IB support services ([ManageBac](https://www.managebac.com/), Questionbank, InThinking, etc) * Meeting with your school or program fundraising body (booster club or parent-teacher organization) to discuss any necessary financial support outside the school’s budget (e.g., exam fees for low-income students in schools that do not pay student exam fees) --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://guide.fariaedu.com/monthly-ib-diploma-programme-coordinator-guide/july-august-start-of-school-year.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.