Primary Vision for Learning & School Development
By Dr Neil Hopkin, Principal, the British International School Shanghai, Puxi
Our curriculum follows the UK National Curriculum, although we enhance it in some key areas to make the most of our international context and the needs of our diverse international community.
Overview
Children learn best when they are happy, so our first and foremost priority is that all of students enjoy their academic and social times at school. With this important foundation secured, we can ensure that our curriculum challenges and stretches our students’ skills so that they achieve their optimum ability in all subjects.
Our broad curriculum is very well balanced to support sciences, arts and sports in equal measure, ensuring that all children develop as well rounded people.
In all subjects, we support the children’s curiosity and naturally inquisitive nature so that they are not only inspired by their learning, but that also they can develop a sense of responsibility and accountability. All lessons are very well planned to meet the personal needs of each child, and each teacher is part of a coaching program to ensure that their teaching is the very best that it can be.
As children progress through the school, we ensure that the standards achieved by our Year 6 students prepare them for the best possible transfer to our Secondary school. They leave us not only with a wide knowledge base, but as independent learners who are able to organise and explain their thoughts and take calculated risks when they learn.
Looking to the Future
As a result of our collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), we recently announced the opening of our two state of the art centres for STEAM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths).
The Primary school centre will be called ‘The Da Vinci Centre’ and will be a wonderful space for creative thinking. Featuring a robotics lab, Lego lab, collaborative learning and presentation space, animation and graphics facilities, a science lab, maker-space and a green screen TV studio, the Da Vinci Centre will be the landmark provision for Primary school creative thinking in Shanghai.
This fantastic new facility, and the exciting teaching and learning that supports it, is the natural evolution of our school’s great tradition of combining the very best in academic excellence with new and exciting learning opportunities for all our students.
Primary Open Day
To find out more about our Primary School, our learning philosophy, and to see first-hand our wonderful facilities, we invite parents and their children to visit us on Tuesday 9 May 2017, from 9am – 11am to get a taste of what our Primary (ages 2 to 11) programme can offer your child.
Come along to:
• Discover our high standards of teaching and support
• See first-hand how our teachers support your child’s learning and development
• Meet our staff and ask them all your questions
We hope you can join us for what will be an interesting and fun-filled morning for you and your child.