In our kindergarten classes we offer a stimulating and nurturing educational environment in which children can develop their German and English language skills through inquiry.
Each kindergarten class is run by a lead German and a lead English teacher. Together they collaborate and organise daily activities, songs, games and routines that are explained and modelled in both languages.
This exposure provides an opportunity to learn how to clearly understand, and separate, the linguistic structures of each language, while developing the ability to express themselves in both. As an authorised International Baccalaureate (IB) school, and guided the IB Primary Years Programme’s (PYP) standards and practices, BKA International School is implementing this chosen curriculum by doing the following:
- Establishing a firm foundation in the core subjects of language (English/German) and mathematics. Social studies and science are taught through conceptual units of inquiry.
- Enriching the curriculum through specialist classes that connect to the units of inquiry, including the visual art, music and physical education. Enabling students to promote international mindedness through developing the IB learner profile attributes and encouraging opportunities to take action.
- Responding to the individual intellectual, physical, emotional and social needs of students.
In Kindergarten 1 and Kindergarten 2, the essential elements of the PYP are highlighted and introduced in learning engagements that use the environment to stimulate thinking and inquiry. These first years of formal schooling are critical to a child’s development as they explore early literacy, numeracy and the world around them through units of inquiry that incorporate the arts, PSPE, science and social studies.
The Primary Years Programme (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.
The framework serves as the curriculum organizer and offers an in-depth guide to achieve authentic conceptual inquiry-based learning that is engaging, significant, challenging and relevant for PYP students.
Through the programme of inquiry and by reflecting on their learning, PYP students develop knowledge, conceptual understandings, skills and the attributes of the IB Learner profile. Informed by constructivist and social-constructivist learning theories, the emphasis on collaborative inquiry and integrative learning honours the curiosity, voice, and contribution of the students,
The pillars of the PYP curriculum framework
The transdisciplinary model extends across all three pillars of the PYP curriculum framework—the learner, learning and teaching, and the learning community.
- 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?)
Agency, self-efficacy and action
Agency and self-efficacy are fundamental to learning in the PYP. Throughout the programme, the learner is an agent for their own and others’ learning. They direct their learning with a strong sense of identity and self-belief, and in conjunction with others, build a sense of community and awareness for the opinions, values and needs of others.
Action, the core of student agency, is integral to the PYP learning process and to the programme’s overarching outcome of international mindedness. Through taking individual and collective action, students come to understand the responsibilities associated with being internationally-minded and to appreciate the benefits of working with others for a shared purpose.
What is an IB education?
This document explains the ideals that underpin all IB programmes, communicating what lies at the heart of an IB education.
