Curriculum

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Curriculum

As an IB PYP certified school*, Hamilton Hill International Kindergarten follows the Primary Years Programme at our kindergarten programme. IB PYP is an international curriculum framework for children aged 3-12 years. It recognises a child’s natural curiosity, creativity and ability to reflect. The PYP generates a stimulating, challenging learning environment to nurture those assets and foster a lifelong love of learning in every child. It provides a curriculum framework that encourages students to develop international mindedness through a transdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning.

IB learner Profile

At the heart of the PYP are the learner profile attributes. These attributes are a set of ideas, which aim to promote intercultural understanding and to develop active, compassionate and lifelong learners.

IB Learner Profile

We develop and use conceptual understanding, exploring knowledge across a range of disciplines. We engage with issues and ideas that have local and global significance.
We develop and use conceptual understanding, exploring knowledge across a range of disciplines. We engage with issues and ideas that have local and global significance.
We use critical and creative thinking skills to analyze and take responsible action on complex problems. We exercise initiative in making reasoned, ethical decisions.
We express ourselves confidently and creatively in more than one language and in many ways. We collaborate effectively, listening carefully to the perspectives of other individuals and groups.
We act with integrity and honesty, with a strong sense of fairness and justice, and with respect for the dignity and rights of people everywhere. We take responsibility for our actions and their consequences.
We critically appreciate our own cultures and personal histories, as well as the values and traditions of others. We seek and evaluate a range of points of view, and we are willing to grow from the experience.
We show empathy, compassion and respect. We have a commitment to service, and we act to make a positive difference in the lives of others and in the world around us.
We approach uncertainty with forethought and determination; we work independently and cooperatively to explore new ideas and innovative strategies. We are resourceful and resilient in the face of challenges and change.
We understand the importance of balancing different aspects of our lives intellectual, physical, and emotional to achieve well-being for ourselves and others. We recognize our interdependence with other people and with the world in which we live.
We thoughtfully consider the world and our own ideas and experience. We work to understand our strengths and weaknesses in order to support our learning and personal development.

Transdisciplinary Themes

Six transdisciplinary themes guide learning throughout the PYP years. These globally significant themes provide the opportunity to incorporate both local and global issues and enable students to “step out” beyond the confines of subject areas and instead see the world from a wider perspective.

As an IB certified school*, Hamilton Hill International Kindergarten develops our programme of inquiry (POI) based on the six transdisciplinary themes:

  • 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

 In each theme is unit of Inquiry (UOI) and Hamilton Hill provides 4 units of inquiry for our early year learners.

*  Hamilton Hill International Kindergarten is a certified school for the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme. Only schools authorized by the International Baccalaureate can offer any of its four academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), the Diploma Programme or the Career-related Programme (CP). 

For further information about the IB and its programmes, visit www.ibo.org

The most important part of our curriculum is that our curriculum fits our students not the other way around. All children are different and a ‘one size fits all’ policy just simply doesn’t cut it in the modern classroom. We need to observe and adapt our learning to the specific group of children we have at the time and so our curriculum is always developing.

We draw inspiration from an inquiry-based approach to learning with a central idea to each of our four units throughout the year. These units focus on specific areas of learning so that we cover all learning disciplines.

4 units of inquiry focus on

  • Social awareness Family connections  Friendships
  • Relationships and exploration Global perspectives
  • Scientific advances and principles Environment
  • Responsibilities connected to living things and communities

Each of these units will focus on different educational disciplines such as arts, language, number work and social science.

Our curriculum also follows the standards and benchmarks of the EYFS British National Curriculum and incorporates a phonics program that would be very similar to a Kindergarten in the U.K.

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