The International Primary Curriculum


Introduction

We believe that the curriculum taught at the British School of Chicago should help children to see learning as pleasurable.  We trust that this can be achieved by providing the children aged 3 years to 10 years of age with an internationally based primary curriculum known as 'The International Primary Curriculum' (IPC).  The IPC is recognised internationally as an extremely effective curriculum which delivers the skills of the British national curriculum in a stimulating and academic format which benfits the children with its strong international dimension.

Throughout the Primary Stage the children experience the IPC through thematic units, which provide a focus on interest for all children and help to develop their skills and abilities in a variety of subject areas.  The IPC is paced with activities that children take approaches or access routes that different children can use, for example auditory, kinaesthetic or visual, which enable them to learn knowledge, develop skills and gain understanding.

The Units of Work

Throughout their primary years, the children will undertake a variety of units of work which will form the basis of a broad and balanced curriculum.  Each unit of work will include:

  • A knowledge harvest which begins each unit by accumulating children's existing knowledge and understanding.
  • Open ended tasks which encourage children to ask their own questions about each them.
  • A carefully worked out mix of research and recording tasks.
  • Assessment activities which include children representing their own learning.

The units of work are organised around themes that will interest children and they correspond to the subject goals, personal goals and international goals.

The IPC Goals

The Subject Goals
The IPC contains subject learning goals for every subject of the primary curriculum and uniquely for the development of international understanding.  However, the British School of Chicago chooses to follow the Literacy Hour, the Numeracy Strategy and QCA Science, in order to provide a full and varied curriculum, and to ensure that the children are prepared to take the British based SATs examinations at the end of Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.

The subject goals include:

  • The knowledge - the facts and information children might learn.
  • The skills - those practical abilities children need to be able to do.
  • The understandings - the deeper awareness of key concepts which develops over time.

The Learning Goals
The learning goals are the foundation on which the IPC is built.  Learning goals define what children might be expected to know, what they might be able to do and the understanding they might develop as they move through school.

The Personal Goals
The personal goals refer to those individual qualities of inquisitiveness, resilience, honesty and respect that are developed throughout the whole curriculum and in all other aspects of school life.

The International Goals
The IPC is unique in defining learning goals that help young children begin the move towards an increasingly sophisticated national and international perspective.

The children will develop:

  • A knowledge and understanding of one's own national culture.
  • An awareness and understanding of the independence of and interdependence between peoples and countries.
  • An awareness and understanding of the essential similarities between the peoples and countries of the world.

To find out more about the IPC please refer to:
http://www.internationalprimarycurriculum.com/ 

The Early Years Programme

  

This exciting and separate IPC programme is primarily designed for children between the ages of 3 years to 5 years of age.  Based on the very best early years practice, the units of work help children develop in a way which is apprpriate for their age.  This age group is also frequently referred to as the Foundation Stage.

The overriding purpose of Early Years Education is to help children develop the skills and attitudes they will need both at this level and throughout a lifetime of learning.  The activities undertaken by the children should help them work towards the subject, personal and international goals of the international primary curriculum.

The learning outcomes
As with the IPC for 6-10 years old, the Early Years Programme is based on clearly defined learning outcomes.  They cover learning in four different strands:

  • Independence and interdependence
  • Exploring
  • Communicating
  • Healthy living