The Abbey IP programme is a world of learning and enquiry beyond the confines of any curriculum. It comprises workshops, talks and clubs.

Although there is a wide range of extra sessions available, many prompted by student interest, The Abbey IP happens every day. Every time our teachers explore a subject in more depth, let a student discussion run, take on a challenging topic for the sheer fun of what it can teach us, they are taking an Abbey IP angle.

In an Abbey IP workshop, students might learn:

• how the Ancient Greeks measured the circumference of the world
• how the music of one country shaped the writing of another
• why women are more likely to be injured in car crashes and what it tells us about society
• what calculus is and how it relates to chaos theory and what it has to do with the weather next week
• about quantum entanglement and where it could lead us
• about the achievements of the Indus Valley civilisation
• about the voyages of Leif Eriksson and Madog ab Owen Gwynedd, where they went or might have gone, and why it matters

Most of all our students learn to ask hard questions, distrust easy answers and think for themselves.

The Abbey IP forms one channel of our unique Human Intelligence curriculum. It is the perfect complement to the inquiry-led learning of the Primary Years Programme (PYP), on which the curriculum is based.

Workshops and talks are led by our brilliant teachers from The Abbey Junior school, exploring their array of expertise and subject specialisms.

Abbey Senior School teachers and students join in the programme, sharing content and ideas from Sixth Form study and beyond, from ethics to psychology to the construction and maintenance of memory palaces.

Fun, sparky, challenging, rewarding and memorable, the Abbey IP celebrates learning for its own sake. It explores the space between subjects and space far beyond them.  Above all it encapsulates the joy and individuality at the heart of Human Intelligence.