THEY FOLLOW EVERY INSTRUCTION.
For Schools & Educators
Common Ground gives every student the dispositional skills that demanding programs assume and that no curriculum teaches directly.
No disruption. No overhaul. It sits alongside what you already do.
ASK THEM TO LEAD.
For Schools & Educators
Students who follow instructions well, and freeze when asked to take initiative.
Who write strong essays, and can't defend an argument under mild pressure.
Who struggle to collaborate on anything where outcomes aren't pre-defined and the stakes are real.
Not a failure of intelligence.
A gap in practice.
Students have never had a structured space to do these things for real, with real stakes and a real audience.
Common Ground is that space.
YOU ALREADY KNOW THE GAP
3 PILLARS, 6 FORMATS, 1 COHERENT FRAMEWORK
Expectations adapted to each level. Each pillar addresses an identified need. Each cycle ends with a concrete student output.
Grade 4 to Year 13.
STORYTELLING & NARRATIVE
VOICE AND PRESENCE
LEADERSHIP & IMPACT
Pillar 01
Pillar 02
Pillar 03
Structuring thinking · Writing with clarity · Defending ideas · Audience awareness
Oral confidence · Reasoned argument · Constructive disagreement
Initiative · Accountability · Collective problem-solving · Ethical decision-making
Formats:
Formats:
Formats:
Filmmaking · Book authoring & publication
Podcasting · Keynote Talks
Entrepreneurial or Civic Project · Debate Club
Every cycle ends with a public output: none of it is an exercise. Everything they do ends up existing in "the real world".
ONE FRAMEWORK, TWO CONVERSATIONS
YOUR SCHOOL OFFERS IB
YOUR SCHOOL DOESN'T OFFER IB
THE IB ASSUMES THESE SKILLS. WE BUILD THEM.
THESE SKILLS AREN'T AN IB PRIVILEGE.
CAS requires initiative but initiative isn't taught in class.
The TOK oral rewards the ability to construct and defend a position under pressure but that confidence doesn't appear at 16 without practice.
The Extended Essay demands independent intellectual ownership which most students have never been asked to exercise before.
Common Ground runs in the years before the Diploma. By the time your students enter Year 12, what the IB demands of them isn't new. It's familiar.
CAS without Common Ground is a requirement.
With it — it's a practice they've already been living.
Independent thinking.
Structured communication.
Real leadership.
The ability to disagree constructively and defend a position. These aren't competencies reserved for students in elite international programmes.
Every student — regardless of track, programme, or level — will be expected to exercise them. In university. In work. In life.
Common Ground makes world-class dispositional development available to every student in your school — not just the ones on the IB track.
THE MOMENTS THAT MATTER MOST.
Common Ground places particular focus on transition years, when expectations shift sharply and unprepared students fall behind.
Primary
Secondary
Sixth Form
University/Work
Academic content alone doesn't prepare students for what comes next.
Secondary
Sixth Form
THREE WAYS, ONE FRAMEWORK
Where most schools start
After-school club
Weekly, one or more terms. Students self-select or are invited. Minimal coordination from your team.
1h30 per week, 6-week cycles
Flexible Fit
Complementary program
Into an existing enrichment or cross-curricular slot, alongside, not instead of, your current provision.
Adapts to your timetable
Strategic Option
A defined cycle with a specific cohort, often ahead of a transition year. Designed to be assessed and extended.
Structured pilot
Ideal before key transitions.
ALREADY RUNNING AT
An IB school from nursery through to Baccalauréat. Common Ground runs with Grade 4 and 5 students — across both the IB and non-IB tracks. Filmmaking and podcasting cycles completed. Public screening. Published episodes.
Ombrosa International School · Lyon, France
20–30 minutes. No document to prepare. No commitment to make.
You share context. We explore fit. If it's there — we talk next steps. If it isn't — we'll say so.