Primary Years Programme - Amman Academy

PRIMARY YEARS PROGRAMME

OVERVIEW

Primary Years Programme (PYP)

The Primary Years Programme PYP is designed for children from Early Years 2 to Year 5. It aims to develop the whole child in both the classroom and the world outside.

The PYP curriculum framework is transdisciplinary and seeks to approach learning in consideration of the whole child through constructive inquiry. This approach focuses on developing students' academic, social, and emotional well-being.

The curriculum emphasizes the importance of international-mindedness, encouraging students to make personal connections with their own values while considering different perspectives.

We foster student agency through a Play-Based inquiry approach to learning in the Early Years (EY1, EY2, and Kindergarten) as well as promoting student agency through years 1-5 to help students develop personal connections to the purpose of their learning, leading to the Grade 5 Exhibition.

The IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) for children aged 3 – 12 nurtures and develops young students as caring, active participants in a lifelong journey of learning.

The PYP curriculum is relevant, challenging, significant, and engaging for all learners. Through its inquiry-led, transdisciplinary framework, the PYP challenges students to think for themselves, ask questions and seek answers about the world around them and take responsibility for their learning as they explore local and global issues and opportunities in real-life contexts.

The program nurtures and develops young students as caring, active participants in their lifelong journey of learning.

Inquiry Based Learning

Children love to learn, and here at Amman Academy, we believe that learning is a partnership with each student, family and school. We know that learning is continuous through life, and we learn best in a happy, supportive and encouraging environment. Our school’s family friendly environment is ideal for your child’s growth and development. We are looking forward to a very happy association with you and your child. If you are brand new to the school, then welcome! It is our great pleasure to have you join us, and entrust the care of your children to our very capable staff. We look forward to many years of growing and learning together! We believe in the old saying that ‘it takes a village to raise a child’. Welcome to our ‘village’.

Inquiry Learning is:

Exploring, wondering and questioning
Experimenting and playing with possibilities
Making connections between previous learning and current learning
Making predictions and acting purposefully to see what happens
Collecting data and reporting findings
Clarifying existing ideas and reappraising perceptions of events
Deepening understanding through application of a concept
Making and testing theories
Taking and defending a position
Solving problems in a variety of ways

PYP Structure

The PYP encourages a collaborative approach to teaching and learning, allowing educators to design learning experiences, lessons and programmes to meet children’s individual academic, social, physical, emotional and cultural needs. These learning experiences transcend the classroom and engage students within communities in a local, national and global context. The PYP emphasizes a student-centered approach to learning, thus making it responsive to the needs of all students regardless of ability, nationality or educational background.One of the most significant and distinctive features of the IB Primary Years Programme is the way it is structured around six transdisciplinary themes. These themes are about issues that have meaning for, and are important to, all of us. The programme offers a balance between learning about or through the subject areas, and learning beyond them.

The six themes of global significance create a transdisciplinary framework that allows students to “step up” beyond the confines of learning within subject areas.

They are:

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

The curriculum is arranged and taught through large, cross-curricular units of study known as Units of Inquiry (UOI). These grade specific units of inquiry are arranged under the six transdisciplinary themes to develop a programme of inquiry for the school year. Each year level has one unit of inquiry for each transdisciplinary theme each year. The units allow for in-depth investigations into important ideas, identified by the teachers, and require a high level of involvement on the part of the students. These substantial inquiries usually last for six weeks. All of the units of inquiry which the students learn about are collectively known as the Programme of Inquiry.

All curriculum areas are integrated where appropriate, however single subject teaching also occurs separately. The class teacher takes responsibility for teaching most of the subjects, however the children attend specialist lessons for Visual Arts, Music, Physical Education, Civics and Religion.

Assessment is an important part of each unit of inquiry as it both enhances learning and provides opportunities for students to reflect on what they know, understand and can do. The teacher’s feedback to the students provides the guidance, the tools and the incentive for them to become more competent, more skillful and better at understanding how to learn.

Through the PYP, Amman Academy offers a world class balanced curriculum programme that not only focuses on students acquiring significant knowledge, but also develops the essential skills, conceptual understanding, and positive attitudes needed to succeed in the world today while at the same time encouraging students to take meaningful action.