Getting kicked out of IB

[Matsbrubakken]

Hello,

So at our school we have a website where are schedules are posted months in advance. This Thursday and Friday we have holidays, and our schedule said that we did not have lessons on Monday and Tuesday either, so i rebooked my flight back home to Tuesday after having asked one of my teachers if I didnt have lessons that day, which he said I did not. 

2 days ago i find out that our coordinator has added lessons on that day, and i message him and get this answer:

"It is true that some of the lessons in week 22 have been shuffled around somewhat, but if you look in your IA calender that I handed out 1/2 year ago you will see that week 22 is reserved for science IA's, and you must be here to carry out essential science IA work during those days. If not, you will not be able to live up to the science IA deadline.

So you cannot go if you want to pass year 1, to put is as directly as i possibly can."

I booked my flight a long time ago and waited to rebook it for a long time, until i found out that "we didnt" have lessons there, and now he says he'll kick me out for going home to my parents for 2 extra days. Does not make any sense to me as all IB IA deadlines are universal for all ib schools, and that internal deadlines dont "really" matter. 

Can he kick me out for this simple reason?

Thanks in advance.

 

[kw0573]

IB asks for your compliance to internal deadlines, and that it is unacceptable to have an incomplete because of vacation. This is stated in the Handbook of Procedures, which I assume not many students know about since it's on the OCC and not on ibo.org. It is somewhat common that schools schedule common IA days or group 4 days, and that may sometimes be when you have schools off. 

I guess your school is being slightly unreasonable, but it is within their power to establish such common days for IA. I would suggest that you switch flights and return 2 days prior over the weekend. 

Things to learn from this 1) Always keep a master schedule, especially one that include all official school holidays and all deadlines required by each course. Hence when you are reading the syllabus or course outline and you see a discrepancy, you can point it out to the teacher immediately. It was partially your responsibility to raise the concern of having IAs on school holidays (or no school days) when you read the syllabus 2) IB will not step in on your behalf to negotiate with the school. You have to keep in mind that while schools report to IB, schools can set additional rules and student should comply with. 

[Matsbrubakken]

Switching my flight would cost a lot of money which I dont want to waste and i dont see why i would have to waste it. My biology teacher told me that I can just do my experiment at home, or before i fly home and then write some of my IA and then get some feedback on the Wednesday after my return.

[kw0573]

glad it works out for you