PYP Overview

The Primary Years Programme (PYP)

The International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IB PYP) is an international curriculum designed for students aged 3 to 12 years.

It focuses on the total growth of the developing child, touching hearts as well as minds. The PYP meets students’ social, physical, emotional and cultural needs in addition to academic development.

Elements of the PYP

This diagram shows the curriculum framework of the IB Primary Years Programme.

The following are elements of the PYP:

Knowledge 

What do we want students to know?

The IB recognizes the subject domains of:

  • Language
  • Mathematics
  • Science
  • Personal, social and physical education
  • Social Studies
  • Arts

Students are taught through a combination of transdisciplinary (where learning goes across, over and beyond traditional subjects) units of inquiry – six per year (four units in Year One) and standalone subject specific units. All science and social studies is included in the units of inquiry. These inquiries are organized within 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

Key Concepts

What do we want students to understand?

  • Form
  • Function
  • Change
  • Causation
  • Connection
  • Perspective
  • Responsibility

Approaches to Learning (ATL Skills)

What do we want students to be able to do?

  • Thinking skills
  • Communication skills
  • Self-Management skills
  • Research skills
  • Social skills

Action

Student-initiated demonstrations of deeper learning through service to fellow students, the school and the community.

At the centre of the PYP framework is the IB Learner Profile. This is common to all four IB programmes.

 

The RCHK Programme of Inquiry

What’s in store for all the Year levels? Parents may refer to this RCHK IB PYP Programme of Inquiry that is updated at the start of each academic year.

As shown in the diagram below, it is through the Programme of Inquiry (POI) where all elements of the PYP come alive!

 

Click on the link for the IB PYP Parent Pack and the Questions & Answers about the PYP.