St. Andrews Green Valley is a fully authorised IB PYP school that offers the Primary Years Programme (PYP) from the International Baccalaureate (IB), integrated with the British National Curriculum.
The PYP is an internationally recognised and rigourously integrated programme in which inquiry is embedded into the curriculum. We know that children are natural born inquirers, who revel in taking risks and asking questions to explore and make connections about the world around them. The hands-on, inquiry-based Primary Years Programme (PYP), combined with the British National Curriculum, takes full advantage of this to ignite a love of learning in our students whilst also ensuring that they receive an excellent educational foundation that prepares them for Secondary school and beyond.
As an inquiry-driven programme, the PYP challenges students to think for themselves, to take control of their own learning, to have a global perspective and to make positive differences to the world. While gaining academic knowledge, students also work on developing their personal, social and study skills, continuously reflecting and looking for opportunities for self-improvement.
Developing 21st century learning skills and inquiring minds is at the heart of what we do. By learning how to learn, our children are best prepared to use their knowledge and skills in a rapidly changing world. We want our students to think critically to recognise issues in the world. We want them to feel empowered to be the future changemakers, who find solutions that really make a difference.
By learning through inquiry, we free our children to think for themselves and outside of the box.
Our PYP curriculum blends subjects in a transdisciplinary approach. For example, rather than studying subjects such as ‘art’, ‘history’ or ‘geography’ as stand-alone subjects, we connect learning meaningfully across subject disciplines and to the real world through the Units of Inquiry.
The theme of each Unit of Inquiry changes regularly and encompasses the different subjects but all in one common thread. We believe that by removing subject barriers, we allow children to form deeper learning connections. Our units of inquiry are grounded by a strong academic foundation and offers an array of learning opportunities such as collaboration, creativity and independence both within and beyond the classroom. Each unit of inquiry is flexible and carefully crafted by our talented teachers, with the interests and needs of our learners at their core.
We want our children to be well rounded individuals who not only love to learn, but grow intellectually, personally, emotionally and socially. As part of the PYP curriculum, we actively encourage and support the IB ‘Learner Profile’ attributes. These are: inquirer, knowledgeable, thinker, communicator, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-taker, balanced and reflective.
In doing so our children question, wonder and reflect about themselves and the world around them, seeking out challenges and opportunities to broaden their learning and self awareness.
Our Primary curriculum also benefits from a team of Subject Specialist Teachers, who have the experience, knowledge and expertise to draw out the best in our learners in their subject disciplines. Lessons delivered by Subject Specialist Teachers are integrally woven into the school day and where possible, our Subject Specialist Teachers collaborate and connect with the learning within Units of Inquiry.
These specialist subjects are:
Discover a world of opportunities under one roof as this truly international education creates and offers choices of curriculum suited to your child's future path.
