Welcome to PYP!
Walking into the KIS primary classrooms is always such a great joy for me. I love seeing how excited the children are about their learning and how much they care about making the world a better place. KIS teachers are passionate about helping children discover their strengths and improve upon them.
Children at KIS are encouraged to show agency: to have voice, choice and ownership in their learning. We want them to take action on what they learn. Although we have a structured curriculum framework, we encourage students to follow their interests and ask deep questions about the ideas we introduce as well as those they encounter out in the real world. We want to see them develop as inquirers, thinkers and change-makers. We want the children to develop their creativity in order to make our world a more beautiful and entertaining place.
As an IB school, we follow the IB Primary Years Programme (IB PYP). The PYP is a curriculum format that allows for this type of inquiry and action to happen, yet it also has high academic goals in its expectations of how the children learn to think about and process their learning through concepts and transdisciplinary skills.
KIS is a school where we are working together towards these goals. Parents are a welcome and necessary part of our learning community. We value the various linguistic and cultural backgrounds of our students. We celebrate that we are not all the same.
I welcome you to our learning community.
Sincerely
Sofie Jørstad
Head of Primary / PYP Coordinator
Learning through agency
Students in the PYP are encouraged to show agency. This means that they have voice, choice and ownership in their own learning. They should be able to express what they think and feel about a topic. They are encouraged to make choices about what and how they explore the big ideas. Taking responsibility for their learning is promoted. Taking action on what they learn helps it stick.
Learning through trips
Students throughout the PYP participate in many excursions in the local community and the nearby area. Many of these trips are directly connected to the Programme of Inquiry. Others are related to the Personal, Social and Physical Education (PSPE) program.
Grade 3-Grade 6 goes on overnight trips every year outside of Kongsberg towards the end of the school year.
Learning through play
Our PYP places a premium on the joyful exploration of ideas. Through play students have the chance to explore their curiosities and deepen their understanding of their learning. They become skilled at being group members, asking questions and exploring. Play gives students the opportunities to develop their social skills, problem solving, and physical development. We can also develop our IB learner profile by collaborating, making judgments, learning how to learn and becoming increasingly independent.
Concept-based learning
There is so much information in the world, and more is becoming available every day. Students in the PYP are encouraged to use conceptual lenses as they learn new facts. These conceptual lenses help them organize and evaluate the information. They are encouraged to see how knowledge is interconnected.
Inquiry-based learning
Children are naturally curious. They are constantly asking questions and are interested in figuring out the world around them. The teaching and learning in the PYP seeks to harness this natural curiosity in repeated cycles of inquiry.
Caring environment
Grade 1 students are assigned their own Grade 6 buddy to help ensure a transition from kindergarten to school that feels safe and supported for each new student.
Learning in the PYP
The IB Primary Years Programme is a curriculum framework for children ages 3-12. At KIS, the PYP covers grades 1-6. We have an inquiry and concept-based curriculum that is organized according the 6 transdisciplinary themes outlined by the IB. We seek to develop skills within the various approaches to learning (thinking, research, social, communication, self-management).
Grade 1 at KIS
All new Grade 1 students are given a lot of support to help them feel comfortable here at KIS.
In the spring, the incoming grade 1 students have the opportunity to visit KIS at least five times. During two of those visits they are paired up with grade 5 students who will be their buddies when they are in grade 1. Throughout the year, the grade 6 students help their grade 1 buddies feel safe and welcome at KIS. They look after them on the playground at the beginning of the year in particular. They get together at least once a week to do projects together, practice math problem solving together or do some reading together. They sit together during all school assemblies.
In the years following grade 1, the buddy classes continue to support one another through computer help, game testing, and other interactive activities.
More information
Click the below links to visit the IB-website and learn more about the advantages of the Primary Years Programme.
WHO WE ARE
An inquiry into the nature of the self; beliefs and values; personal, physical, mental, social and spiritual health; human relationships including families, friends, communities and cultures; rights and responsibilities; what it means to be human.
WHERE WE ARE IN PLACE AND TIME
An inquiry into our orientation in place and time; personal histories; homes and journeys; the discoveries, explorations and migrations of humankind; the relationships between and the interconnectedness of individuals and civilisations, from local and global perspectives.
HOW WE EXPRESS OURSELVES
An inquiry into the ways in which we discover and express ideas, feelings, nature, culture, beliefs and values; the ways in which we reflect on, extend and enjoy our creativity; our appreciation of the aesthetic.
HOW THE WORLD WORKS
An inquiry into the natural world and its laws; the interaction between the natural world (physical and biological) and human societies; how humans use their understanding of scientific principles; the impact of scientific and technological advances on society and on the environment.
HOW WE ORGANISE OURSELVES
An inquiry into the interconnectedness of human-made systems and communities; the structure and function of organisations; societal decision-making; economic activities and their impact on humankind and the environment.
SHARING THE PLANET
An inquiry into rights and responsibilities in the struggle to share finite resources with other people and with other living things; communities and the relationships within and between them; access to equal opportunities; peace and conflict resolution.
The Programme of Inquiry is the organizational framework PYP schools use to give an overview of the units the students will study. Each of the six transdisciplinary themes is studied each year in order to inquire into each part of the definition of the themes at least once, preferably more, during their time in PYP.
The themes are investigated using a transdisciplinary approach, with at least two subject areas supporting the learning for each unit. The single subject English, Norwegian, Maths, Arts, Physical Education and Music also support the learning in the units of inquiry through investigating them through their subject’s understandings, knowledge and skills.
Below is an overview of the six transdisciplinary themes the students inquiry into each year. For the fully detailed overview of what each class will inquire into in a given class, click here.