International Primary Curriculum
An internationally researched, thematic curriculum for learners aged 5-11 years old
The International Primary Curriculum (IPC) is committed to the holistic development of learners through enjoyable academic, personal, and international learning that prepare them for opportunities and challenges now and in the future.
The IPC incorporates a wide range of thematic units based on globally relevant themes, enabling learners to make meaning of their new knowledge, show their skills and apply their understanding to the real world.
Units of learning have been specifically designed for each Milepost (MP) and are guided by leading educational research. Each MP is two years of learning driven by a comprehensive set of Learning Goals.
An online route planning tool is provided to support schools in selecting units, from which reports are created, enabling practitioners to check for breadth of learning.
Units of Learning
How Are You?
Taking on the role of biologists, nutritionists, historians and sportspeople, we will explore the many ways that we can look after ourselves and try to stay healthy.
Footprints From The Past
Dinosaurs lived millions of years ago – long before people lived on Earth. So how do we know anything about them? Fossil evidence and dinosaur bones provide our only clues.
MP2 | Age 7-9 Finding out about the past
Mission To Mars
One day, humans may need to leave Earth. Mars is our most likely destination – a world that we believe once harboured life and, with our intervention, may do so again in the future.
MP1 | Age 5-7 Health & wellbeing
MP3 | Age 9-11 Earth & space
Learning Goals
The IPC has a comprehensive set of Learning Goals to encourage the development of internationally minded and globally competent learners. They define what children are expected to know, what they should be able to do and the understanding that they will develop through learning.
The Learning Goals are organised into three unique but connected sections designed around the learner.
SUBJECT
Subject Learning Goals cover the knowledge, skills and understanding that children should learn in each subject.
INTERNATIONAL
The International Curriculum is unique in defining International Learning Goals that help learners move towards developing more sophisticated national, international, global, and intercultural perspectives.
PERSONAL
Personal Learning Goals underpin the individual qualities and learning dispositions that citizens of the future will need to thrive in a demanding and ever changing global society.
PERSONAL
Educational studies have shown that learning is improved when children have an awareness of what and how they are learning.
The Learning Goals are identified for each task in a unit of learning and have been written to make it clear whether knowledge, skills or understanding is being learned.
KNOWLEDGE
We think of knowledge as ‘knowing that’. All Knowledge Learning Goals start with ‘To know’.
SKILLS
We think of skills as ‘being able to do something’. All Skills Learning Goals start with ‘Be able to’.
UNDERSTANDING
We think of understanding as ’making meaning’. All Understanding Learning Goals start with ‘Understand’.
PROCESS TO FACILITATE LEARNING
All IPC units follow the Process to Facilitate Learning, with the learner at the centre, which is structured to make sure that the child’s learning experience is stimulating and effective.
The process involves 5 stages encircled by the essential connection between Assessment for Improving Learning, Self-Assessment and Action.
ENTRY POINT
Each unit is launched in a way that sparks interest and curiosity, prompting recall of previous learning and generating excitement for the new learning to come.
KNOWLEDGE HARVEST
This provides an opportunity for children to share what they already know about the theme and enables teachers to tailor and differentiate their lessons accordingly.
EXPLAINING THE THEME
How the unit will progress is shared so that learners make stronger connections between existing knowledge and future learning.
RESEARCH, RECORD & REFLECT
Each task has three components which combine to extend knowledge, develop skills and deepen understanding.
EXIT POINT
The Exit Point completes every thematic unit; bringing learners together to celebrate and demonstrate what they have learnt.
Globally Competent Learners
IPC learners are encouraged to develop an interest in their own and other cultures as they start to understand multiple perspectives.
By inspiring children to be internationally minded, they are more likely to develop a passion for their local and global communities.
Terminology to support the development of globally competent learners includes the use of the following throughout the IPC thematic units:
HOME
The country where the child may have been born and/or has cultural roots.
HOST
Where the child is living now, where the school is located.
HERITAGE
The countries where the child’s family originates from.
ADOPTED
Countries that enhance learning by allowing for comparison to the home/host/heritage country.
Assessment for Improving Learning
The aim of the Assessment for Improving Learning Toolkit it to help teachers answer the following questions: How will I know children have learned what I planned? How do I know children are making progress in learning? What should we do next?
The IPC does this through:
TEACHER RUBRICS
Each rubric is made up of 4 levels – beginning, developing, mastering and innovating; and support teachers in assessing progress against Key Skills.
CHILD RUBRICS
These are presented in age appropriate language for learners to use as a tool for self-assessment and improving learning.
LEARNING ADVICE
Specially designed learning activities and advice, which can be used in class and shared with parents, that help children to move from one stage to the next with their learning.