ISM – An IB World School
International School Mainfranken offers the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP) and the Diploma Programme (DP). We are an IB World School which means that ISM is fully accredited to deliver a rigorous International Curriculum.
All IB programs aim to develop internationally minded people, who demonstrate the attributes of the Learner Profile. IB learners strive to be: Inquirers, Knowledgeable, Thinkers, Communicators, Principled, Open-Minded, Caring, Risk-takers, Balanced and Reflective. This is done through the delivery of a curriculum which is engaging, relevant, challenging and significant.
The International Baccalaureate emphasizes putting learning in a global context and making real-world connections with learning. The curriculum at ISM is designed to support this aim, encompassing students’ academic welfare, as well as their social, physical, emotional and cultural needs.
The International Baccalaureate® (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP)
ISM offers the Primary Years Programme (PYP) of the International Baccalaureate for students between the ages of 6 and 12 years. The PYP combines the best research and practice from a range of national systems, with a wealth of knowledge and experience from international schools, to create a relevant and engaging educational framework for all children.
The Primary Years Programme has an overlying framework for its curriculum. Six transdisciplinary themes are covered each year. Students inquire into different themes which are meaningful, relevant and have global significance. These themes cover:
- Who We Are
- How the World Works
- Where we are in Place and Time
- How we Organise Ourselves
- How We Express Ourselves
- Sharing the Planet
Core Principles
Transdisciplinary
Students learn concepts and issues across all disciplines and can make connections between them. They’re also able to apply what they’ve learned to their own lives, as teachers pull real-world, local and global, issues into the classroom.
Inquiry and Concept-Based
Our teachers impart knowledge through guiding open-ended inquiry directed by students themselves. Students ask questions, making sense of the world around them. They explore their thinking and that of other students, and learn to negotiate and compromise with others when their thinking differs.
Action Driven
Students are encouraged to take action on their learning—and this action can come in the form of doing or just thinking or feeling differently about something.
Reflective
The PYP incorporates reflection, time for students to think about their work, to think about what they learned, what they did well and what they could have done differently. Through this reflection comes growth as well as the ability to handle feedback.
Our teachers also reflect and continually think about how to improve and optimize the curriculum to meet each student’s needs.
Approaches to Learning
The PYP position is that, to conduct a purposeful inquiry and to be well prepared for lifelong learning, students need to master a range of skills beyond those generally referred to as basic. These skills are relevant to all the subject areas as they support the complexities in the lives of the students. These skills are valuable, not only in the units of inquiry, but also for any teaching and learning that goes on within the classroom, and in life outside the school.
At ISM, we have sequenced the ways that students demonstrate the approaches to learning at each grade level.
