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Primary Years Program

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  • Primary Years Program
The YIS Kindergarten and Primary School curriculum is designed to guide students to:
  • The concepts and skills necessary for educational success
  • Knowledge appropriate to the level of their educational development
  • Healthy self-respect, a sense of tolerance and an appreciation of others
THE WRITTEN CURRICULUM

The most significant and distinctive feature of the IB Primary Years Programme is the six trans-disciplinary themes. These themes are about issues that have meaning for, and are important to, all of us. They offer a balance between learning about or through the subject areas and learning beyond them. The six themes of global significance create a trans-disciplinary framework that allows students to “step up” beyond the confines of learning within subject areas.

WHO WE ARE

An inquiry into the nature of the self; beliefs and values; personal, physical, mental, social and spiritual health; human relationships including families, friends, communities, and cultures; rights and responsibilities; and what it means to be human.

WHERE WE ARE IN PLACE AND TIME

An inquiry into orientation in place and time; personal histories; homes and journeys; the discoveries, explorations, and migrations of humankind; the relationships and the interconnectedness of individuals and civilizations, from local and global perspectives.

HOW WE EXPRESS OURSELVES

An inquiry into the ways in which we discover and express ideas, feelings, nature, culture, beliefs and values; the ways in which we reflect on, extend and enjoy our creativity; our appreciation of the aesthetic.

HOW THE WORLD WORKS

An inquiry into the natural world and its laws; the interaction between the natural world (physical and biological) and human societies; how humans use their understanding of scientific principles; and the impact of scientific and technological advances on society and on the environment.

HOW WE ORGANIZE OURSELVES

An inquiry into the interconnectedness of human‐made systems and communities; the structure and function of organizations; societal decision‐making; economic activities and their impact on humankind and the environment.

SHARING THE PLANET

An inquiry into rights and responsibilities in the struggle to share finite resources with other people and with other living things; communities and the relationships within and between them; access to equal opportunities; peace and conflict resolution.

The programme puts great emphasis on learning through these trans-disciplinary themes. All students, with the exception of students aged 3 to 5, who engage explicitly with four of the themes each year, address each theme each year. The themes, also importantly, provide the opportunity to incorporate local and global issues into the curriculum.

In addition to the trans-disciplinary themes, the traditional subject disciplines retain a role in the IB Primary Years Programme. The specified subjects include languages, mathematics, social studies, arts, science and physical education. The overall expectations for each subject area are defined for each year of the programme.

Primary Years Program

The IB Primary Years Programme (IB-PYP), for students aged 3 to 11, focuses on the development of the whole child as an inquirer, both in the classroom and in the outside world.

The program:

  • Encourages international‐mindedness in IB students.
  • Encourages a positive attitude to learning by engaging students in inquiries and developing their awareness of the process of learning so that they become lifelong learners.
  • Reflects real life by encouraging learning beyond traditional subjects with meaningful, in‐depth inquiries into real issues.
  • Emphasizes, through the learner profile, the development of the whole student – physically, intellectually, emotionally and ethically.

Our learners become communicators, inquirers, and thinkers who are principled, open-minded and reflective.

To achieve these goals, YIS teachers select the best practice, supported by the best and latest research, from a range of systems to create a curriculum that is relevant, challenging and engaging. This happens within a structure provided by the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (PYP). The Primary Years Programme effectively prepares Kindergarten and Primary learners for the IB Middle Years (Grades 6-8) and the IB Diploma (Grades 9-12) Programmes.

In the Primary Years Programme (PYP) all learning is inquiry-based. Research activities – individual and group – are a notable feature of the PYP classroom, and help students from an early age to become independent, confident and critical thinkers as learners.

THE TAUGHT CURRICULUM

The six trans-disciplinary themes help teachers develop inquiry units which are in-depth investigations into important ideas that require a high level of involvement on the part of the students. These inquiries are substantial, in‐depth and usually last for several weeks.

For example, in an inquiry about ‘Sharing the planet’, we might look at ‘finite resources and infinite demands’. In order to understand better the central idea that ‘our planet has limited resources that are unevenly distributed and needs to be conserved’ and using water as an example, we would inquire into where water comes from, how different people and countries use water, how much water we use, what happens after we have used it, the distribution of usable water around the world, how human activity has affected the availability of water, and our responsibility for water conservation. To support this inquiry, students would gain knowledge and acquire skills derived from science and social studies. In addition, they would develop trans-disciplinary skills such as critical thinking, communication and time management.

Since these ideas are related to the world beyond the school but are also an important part of their lives, the students see the relevance of the content and connect with it in ways that are engaging and challenging. Students who learn in this way begin to reflect on their roles and responsibilities as learners and become actively involved with their learning.
Students discover that a unit of inquiry will involve them in exploration of an important idea, and that the teacher will be supporting their inquiries and collecting evidence of how well they understand that idea. They will expect to be able to work in a variety of ways, including on their own and in groups, to allow them to learn to their best advantage.

Approaches to Learning and Teaching

What do we want students to be able to do and to feel, value and demonstrate?

Throughout their learning in Kindergarten and Primary School, students acquire and apply a set of skills which are valuable not only for the learning that goes on within a classroom but also for life outside school. The five sets of trans disciplinary skills we particularly focus upon and seek to develop with our students are thinking, social, communication, self-management and research skills

How do we want the students to act?

Agency “enables people to play a part in their self-development, adaptation, and self-renewal with changing times” (Bandura 2001).
PYP students through agency use their own initiative and will; take responsibility and ownership of their learning. They direct their learning with a strong sense of identity and self-belief; in conjunction with others, thereby building a sense of community and awareness of the opinions, values and needs of others. Students are encouraged to take action as a result of their learning. Action can be a demonstration of a sense of responsibility and respect for themselves, others and the environment.

Please visit the following links for more information about the IB-PYP:

IB Website

IB Parent Information Pages

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