Green Dragon Primary School

What do children learn through the International Primary Curriculum (IPC), the curriculum used in many international schools around the world (and some primary schools in the UK)?

In England, maintained schools (also known as state schools) have to follow the National Curriculum. But other schools – including state academies and independent (private) schools – have more flexibility in what they teach.

Although these schools still have to provide a ‘broad and balanced curriculum’ that includes English, maths, science and RE, they can choose to follow a different curriculum.

Some schools opt to use the International Primary Curriculum (IPC) instead of, or alongside, the National Curriculum; this is also used in many international schools overseas, in over 90 countries worldwide.

The IPC is a comprehensive, thematic, creative curriculum for children aged five to 11.

The IPC covers many of the same subjects as the primary school National Curriculum. Using the IPC approach, children develop knowledge, skills and understanding in each subject area:

• Language arts (including English)
• Maths
• Science
• ICT and computing
• Technology
• History
• Geography
• Art
• Music
• PE
• Society

The curriculum subjects are taught through individual ‘Units of Learning’, which are topic-based, and include engaging themes like Animals, Active Planet, Buildings, Young Entrepreneurs, and Who Am I?

The aim of this approach is for primary school children to understand how the different curriculum areas interlink, and for them to make connections across subjects to form a stronger understanding of the learning: so, for example, the Active Planets unit could include geography, history, science, languages and more.

There are three ‘mileposts’ of learning, for children aged five to seven, seven to nine, and nine to 11. These roughly correspond to Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2), lower Key Stage 2 (Years 3 and 4), and upper Key Stage 2 (Years 5 and 6).

Each milepost contains a number of units of learning developed especially for that age range. Every unit also includes an international aspect, to help children develop a sense of ‘international mindedness.’

• Enquiry
• Resilience
• Morality
• Communication
• Thoughtfulness
• Cooperation
• Respect
• Adaptability

There are no formal exams for children following the IPC – although children who follow the curriculum in academies in England still have to take SATs in Year 2 (due to be made non-statutory, so schools will be able to choose whether to adminster them or not, by 2023) and Year 6.

Instead, the IPC focuses on schools developing their own ways of assessing children’s knowledge, skills and understanding. These may be informal, such as assessed classwork (e.g. ‘Can you draw a map of your hometown for a friend who’s visiting from abroad?’) or quizzes, or formal, such as end-of-unit tests.

Through the success criteria (or ‘rubrics’), teachers can identify the learning stage of each skill in each subject at each age phase. Teachers will assess whether a child is:

• Beginning
• Developing
• Mastering

There’s also a focus on self-assessment and peer assessment. Children are often asked to assess their knowledge using the following statements:

• ‘I’m getting used to it’
• ‘I’m getting better’
• ‘I’m really getting it!’