Programmes

The IB knows that young learners are intelligent, resourceful and creative individuals who grow, develop and learn at different rates. They explore their environment and learn about their world through play and relationships with peers, teachers, family and community members. Early learning in the PYP is a holistic learning experience that integrates socio-emotional, physical and cognitive development. In the PYP classroom, it takes place
in dynamic environments that promote play, discovery and exploration. Parents whose children have experienced the PYP in an early years setting like how the programme acknowledges that each child is unique. One parent sees “an appreciation of the fact the children develop differently, so one-sizefits-all doesn’t apply with the kids and that’s quite key.

The PYP emphasizes the importance of students making connections between their experience and the incremental pieces of new information they encounter. The programme supports the students’ struggles to gain understanding of the world and to learn to function comfortably within it, to move from not knowing to knowing, to identifying what is real and what is not real, to acknowledging what is appropriate and what is not appropriate. To do this, the students must integrate a great deal of information and apply this accumulation of knowledge in a cohesive and effective way. The subject-specific bodies of knowledge, together with the transdisciplinary themes, provide a comprehensive, well-balanced curriculum that requires students to reflect on their roles and responsibilities and to participate fully in the learning process. The concept-driven nature of the PYP—both transdisciplinary and subject based—helps the teacher to make the classroom a stimulating and provocative place, where the student’s point of view, supported by knowledge, skill, reflection and understanding, is both valued and made useful.

At MHIS the PYP section of the school is governed by the PYP Head and carefully constructed and monitored by the PYP Curriculum Coordinator. We demonstrate a commitment to the Primary Years Programme by delivering a curriculum framework that is grounded in constructivism, inquiry, and concept-based learning. These approaches promote learning and teaching that develops critical-thinking skills.

The Middle Years Programme (MYP) helps students develop both subject-specific and interdisciplinary understanding. The MYP curriculum framework includes:

• Approaches to learning (ATL), helping students learn how to learn by developing skills for research, critical and creative thinking, communication, collaboration, and self-management
• Key and related concepts, helping students explore big ideas that matter
• Global contexts, helping students understand the relevance and importance of their study for understanding their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet.

The MYP culminates in an independent learning project. Students complete a significant piece of work over an extended period of time, encouraging them to consolidate their learning and reflect on the outcomes of their work.