IB Primary Years Programme

Sam Cook Primary Years Program Coordinator

IST Elementary School offers a challenging, yet developmentally appropriate and engaging curriculum. We are accredited in the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (PYP). There are 5 key elements that make up the PYP curriculum: concepts, knowledge, skills, attitudes and action.

This curriculum reflects our belief that as educators, we should develop the social skills, physical and emotional well-being as well as academic skills and knowledge of our students. Along with the academic subjects of Mathematics, Language Arts, Science and Social Studies, all students have regular opportunities to participate in Art, Music, Physical Education, Swimming, Information and Communication Technology, and an additional language. All Elementary School students have the opportunity to study our host country language, Kiswahili, and in grade 3, 4 and 5 they may choose to study Kiswahili, French or Spanish.
We also offer a vibrant after school activities program ranging from community service projects, to various sports, arts, crafts and clubs.

Click on a link to see what the benchmark expectations are for each grade level, or have a look at our entire school Program of Inquiry, which outlines the units studied in each grade. The Student Profile and Attitudes describe the character qualities we aim to develop in our students throughout their time at IST. It is written in two forms – the early childhood version being easier for young children to understand. We encourage parents to acknowledge and talk about these at home to further underline the positive life long learning skills they award.
We hope that you will find much of the information you seek about our curriculum on this page, however, don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or comments!

Sam Cook

Primary Years Program Coordinator