Primary Years Programme at a glance
What is the Primary Years Programme (PYP)?
It is a transdisciplinary programme of international education designed to foster the development of the whole child.
The International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (PYP) is designed for students aged 3 to 12. It focuses on the total growth of the developing child, touching hearts as well as minds and encompassing social, physical, emotional and cultural needs in addition to academic development.
The PYP draws on research and best practice from a range of national systems with a wealth of knowledge and experience from international schools to create a relevant, engaging, challenging and significant educational framework for all children. Curriculum documents are published in English, French and Spanish but schools may offer the programme in other languages under certain conditions.
The PYP is one of three programmes offered by the International Baccalaureate® (IB).
What is the curriculum framework?
The curriculum framework consists of five essential elements: concepts, knowledge, skills, attitudes, action. The knowledge component is developed through inquiries into six transdisciplinary themes of global significance, supported and balanced by six subject areas.
This is illustrated by the hexagon below:
The curriculum framework is further structured around three interrelated questions:
What do we want to learn?
The written curriculum
How best will we learn?
The taught curriculum
How will we know what we have learned?
The assessed curriculum
How are students assessed?
Teachers assess students by selecting or designing methods of assessment appropriate to the learning outcomes they intend to capture.Teachers also take into account the diverse, complicated and sophisticated ways that individual students use to develop and demonstrate their understanding.
The prime objective of assessing students’ learning and performance is to give feedback to:
- students—to encourage the start of lifelong learning
- teachers—to support their reflection on what to teach and how to teach it
- Parents—to highlight their child’s learning and development.
Who can offer the programme?
Only IB World Schools (schools authorized by the IB) and candidate schools can offer the Primary Years Programme (PYP).There are three phases to becoming an IB World School, authorized to offer the PYP.
- Consideration phase: feasibility study and identification of resources
The school makes an in-depth analysis of the philosophy and curriculum, and identifies the resources needed to deliver it.
- Candidate phase: trial implementation period
The school puts in place all the processes and resources needed to deliver the programme, including the training of teachers. The school must then implement the full programme for at least one year.
- Final phase: school visit by an IB visiting team
At the end of the trial period, a delegation appointed by the IB visits the school and evaluates the school’s capacity to deliver the programme. If the outcome is positive, the school becomes authorized to offer the programme and attains the status of IB World School.
The school’s delivery of the programme is evaluated by the IB three years after authorization and then every five years.
Are teachers trained to teach the programme?
Teachers receive training before and after a school becomes authorized to teach the programme.Before a school becomes authorized to teach the programme, the principal, coordinator and teachers involved are required to undergo training; either by attending IB workshops or by participating in school-based training organized by the IB.
After a school becomes authorized, the teachers are encouraged to engage in an ongoing process of professional development by:
- attending IB workshops and conferences
- participating in online discussion and special events on the IB’s website for teachers, the online curriculum centre (OCC)
- reviewing relevant support materials published by the IB online and/or in print
- responding to appeals from the IB for teachers to participate in other curriculum-related activities (eg curriculum reviews, collecting samples of students’ work).