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. 

The English curriculum is an exciting and entertaining experience for young people with an aim to expose students to a range of language and literature and to engender a love of writing and highly developed writing skills. In keeping with the IB Middle Years Programme, students experience thematic units based on open-ended questions in which they encounter texts from around the world both ancient and modern. Assessment is continuous and balanced, incorporating tasks written and oral, analytical and creative, formative and summative; all designed to prepare students for success in the IB Diploma Programme. 

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.

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.