Primary Years Programme (ages 6-11)

The Primary Years Programme (PYP) promotes the holistic development of children. In addition to academic skills, the focus is on character building and social, physical and emotional development. Many lessons include problem-solving tasks and projects that encourage students’ creativity. Our students are regularly encouraged to choose creative ways of solving problems, also when presenting what they have learned at the end of a teaching unit.

The curriculum is based on six transdisciplinary topics chosen for their relevance:

• Who we are
• Where we are in time and place
• How we express ourselves
• How the world works
• How we organise ourselves
• Sharing the planet

These topics are developed through knowledge and skills from the areas of:

• Language (German, English)
• Social studies
• Mathematics
• Arts (including drama, music and visual arts)
• Science
• Personal, social and physical education

Language Curriculum
Mathematics Curriculum
Programme of Inquiry

The PYP Unit of Inquiry promotes ownership by empowering students to take action at the end of a teaching unit based on what they have learned. During their projects, PYP students are inspired to think about themselves and their world and to solve problems.

Outside of class, our students are active and responsible in the Student Action Group. This group supports student action throughout the primary school to bring about lasting change in our school and wider school community, and acts as a conduit between students and the school administration. Our students can focus their energy in the following areas: Eco-Wolves, Young Changemakers and Peer Mediators.

Our students regularly start their day with activities that promote mindfulness. By reflecting on their own feelings and actions in conjunction with the characteristics of the IB Learner Profile, they find out a lot about their own personalities and the effect of their actions on other people.

Our Tandem programme, which has already been successful in Kindergarten, is continued in the Primary School, which includes the Reception class. In this class, the children are taught in German and English, similar to how they were previously taught in the Tandem Kindergarten. The concept is called “one person, one language” (OPOL). In this authentic way, our students learn to easily switch between the two languages in a playful way and develop a more comprehensive understanding of the learning units.

If you have further questions regarding the Primary Years Programme, please have a look at our PYP Handbook.