Primary Years programme
The IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) nurtures and develops young students as caring, active participants in a lifelong journey of learning. The PYP offers an inquiry-based, transdisciplinary and student-centered education that builds conceptual understanding. It is a student-centered approach to education for children.
It reflects the best educational research, thought leadership and experience derived from IB World Schools.
In our inquiry-based programme, students construct understanding by building, modeling and diagramming their thinking. In traditional schools, students are often able to repeat facts, but not able to understand the underlying concepts, or transfer skills from one subject area to another. For example, a student who uses blocks in math to build 2 x 3 rectangle is not simply memorizing that 2 x 3 = 6 but is building an understanding of the relationship between multiplication and addition. Studies have shown that students who can explain why they arrived at a particular conclusion, are better able to think critically, identify errors in their own thinking and apply what they learn to other subjects. They become internally motivated, skilled at problem solving and driven to pursue a deeper understanding.
Our Learning Pedagogies
SKILL BASED
Learning is focused more on skills and content is a medium used to enhance the application of skills. As part of the International Baccalaureate’s Primary Years Programme, there is a range of important transdisciplinary skills that pupils are encouraged to develop which helps them to become inquisitive, exciting learners with plenty of original ideas and conclusions to draw from their learning.
INQUIRY BASED
Education is a spiral process by which new information is assimilated with existing knowledge. To that end, at KRMG we structure our classrooms and curricula to generate questions and inspire curious minds. In our classrooms, teachers model and require inquiry-based thinking, planning, implementation, and reflection as part of every lesson. Through this process, students learn how to investigate topics thoroughly and gain a comprehensive understanding of each subject area. Rigorous academic skills are embedded in the context of this inquiry-based work. Our classrooms create reflective and analytical learners who develop thinking habits that make them interested and interesting students.
Inquiry-based learning helps our students to personalize their content and make it meaningful to them. Inquiry-based classrooms at KRMG lets students experiment, innovate and explore, encouraging their creativity and imagination.
Personal inquiries allow for the continuous integration and connection of prior and new knowledge and experiences in a meaningful way to broaden our students’ understanding about the world around them.
TRANSDISCIPLINARY FRAMEWORK
At the heart of the programme’s philosophy is a commitment to structured, purposeful inquiry as the leading vehicle for learning under the six Transdisciplinary Themes.
These six transdisciplinary themes of global significance provide the framework for exploration and study:
- Who We Are
- Where We Are in Place and Time
- How We Express Ourselves
- How the World Works
- How We Organize Ourselves
- Sharing the Planet
One of the core experiences of the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IB PYP) is transdisciplinary learning. With this innovative approach, students study various subjects under one theme. They also gain vital skills, which they apply as they work collaboratively with their peers. These skills encourage students to take responsibility for their learning as they ask questions to understand the world around them and explore topics that interest them. At KRMG, learners go across, between and beyond subjects, and emphasize integrated learning. The acquisition of literacy and numeracy skills, in their broadest sense, is essential as these skills to provide students with the tools to inquire more effectively.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING
It is our aim to create learners who feel valued and respected for their social, emotional, creative and academic qualities and are at the heart of a happy, calm and successful school. The IB learner profile and approaches to learning are key programmatic elements that encourage well-being in the school.
Enhancing social and emotional competencies includes improving self-esteem and developing empathy and respect for each other, supporting the PYP’s aim of preparing students to have the capacity to participate in the world around them.
