Teaching & Learning
Our Curriculum
WIS outlines its specific knowledge content and academic curriculum in what we call a Programme of Inquiry. This is guided by various renowned national curricula that have been selected because they are professionally validated for coverage and age-appropriateness. They provide us with a set of standards against which we can assess student progress and measure these against national counterparts.
The Primary Years Programme (PYP)
The Primary Years Programme (PYP) of the International Baccalaureate is our framework for teaching and learning. What this means is that it guides us in how we deliver the curriculum.
The PYP is founded on a philosophy that recognizes a child’s natural curiosity, creativity and ability to reflect and generates a stimulating, challenging learning environment to nurture those assets and foster a lifelong love of learning in every child. The PYP is transdisciplinary, meaning students learn across subject areas while investigating big ideas.
Inquiry-based learning
The approach to teaching and learning is called inquiry. This approach recognizes students as being actively involved in their own learning and as taking responsibility for that learning. The process involves:
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exploring, wondering and questioning
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experimenting and playing with possibilities
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making connections between previous learning and current learning
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making predictions and acting purposefully to see what happens
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collecting data and reporting findings
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clarifying existing ideas and reappraising perceptions of events
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applying concepts to deepen conceptual understanding
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researching and seeking information
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establishing and testing theories
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solving problems in a variety of ways
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taking and defending a position.
The Elements of the PYP Framework
In the PYP, students learn about significant concepts through units of inquiry. The six transdisciplinary themes that guide units of inquiry and compose a year of study are shown below:
Units of inquiry interweave subject areas such as Mathematics, Literacy and Language, Science and Social Studies. This approach encourages students to make their own connections between what they learn in core subject areas and how it relates to the world around them. Learning in the PYP is active. While engaging with the content and significant concepts, students will be engaged in learning that asks them to practice different skills and demonstrate certain dispositions. These are called Approaches to Learning and Learner Profile Attributes.
The ultimate goal of the IB programmes is to develop international-mindedness in students, which is achieved through a focus on learning about relevant real-world contexts, skills and character development.
