Primary Years Programme : Elementary

From Grade 1 through Grade 5, students follow the inquiry-based, concept-driven Primary Years Programme (PYP) from the International Baccalaureate Organization. IST has been authorized since May 2000 to offer the PYP.

The Pillars of the PYP Curriculum Framework

The transdisciplinary model extends across all three pillars of the PYP curriculum framework:
The Learner: describes the outcomes for individual students and the outcomes they seek for themselves. What is learning?
Learning and Teaching: articulates the distinctive features of learning and teaching. How best to support learners?
The Learning Community: emphasizes the importance of the social outcomes of learning and the role that IB communities play in achieving these outcomes. Who facilitates learning and teaching?
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Primary Years Programme Curriculum

The PYP curriculum stresses the importance of determining the existing knowledge that students bring to new experiences in order to allow children the opportunity to make connections between their previous and current perceptions.  Incorporated into the PYP framework are five essential elements (concepts, knowledge, skills, attitudes, action), so that students are given the opportunity to:

  • Gain knowledge that is relevant and of global significance

  • Develop an understanding of concepts, making connections throughout their learning

  • Acquire transdisciplinary and disciplinary skills

  • Develop attitudes that will lead to international-mindedness

  • Take action as a consequence of their learning

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The Programme Of Inquiry

The PYP offers a transdisciplinary, inquiry-based and student-centered education with responsible action at its core, enabling students to learn between, across and beyond traditional subject boundaries and is  organized under six transdisciplinary themes. These themes provide IST with the opportunity to incorporate local and global issues into the curriculum and effectively allow students to “step up” beyond the confines of learning within subject areas. The six transdisciplinary themes within the PYP curriculum are:

The programme of inquiry is organized and framed by six transdisciplinary themes:

The PYP Exhibition

The PYP Exhibition is an important part of the PYP curriculum for all students. At IST, students will enter their final year of the programme in Grade 5. At this time, students undertake a collaborative, transdisciplinary inquiry process that involves them in identifying, investigating and offering solutions to real-life issues or problems. As the culminating experience of the PYP curriculum, the PYP Exhibition offers students an exciting opportunity to demonstrate independence and responsibility for their own learning.

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