The ISA Elementary Years
A world of discovery that sparks curiosity, builds confidence, and nurtures meaningful connections for a lifetime of learning.
A strong foundation
The first stage of our IB World School curriculum begins with the Primary Years Programme (PYP). It is here that we embrace what children do naturally: wonder about themselves, others, and the world around them. Our curriculum is designed to help them build on what they already know, make sense of new experiences, and grow by responding to unexpected challenges.
At ISA, our dedicated teachers nurture students every step of the way, fostering a supportive environment that helps them build confidence. The values of the IB Learner Profile are central to our daily school life. Through their learning, children are encouraged to be thinkers, communicators, and risk-takers, while developing a growing awareness and empathy for others.
Children are natural-born inquirers, always full of questions. The PYP framework organizes our curriculum around six transdisciplinary themes. Using these themes, our teachers design comprehensive projects, known as ‘Units of Inquiry’, that encourage children to ask their own questions and take the lead in their learning.
Learning through Inquiry
The PYP themes provide a lens through which students can explore big ideas and make meaningful connections across all subjects. Here’s how each theme comes to life in our classrooms
Learning through subjects
While we explore big ideas through our themes, students also build foundational skills in a variety of discrete subjects taught by our experienced teachers.
Each child has a homeroom teacher who serves as a key point of contact for their academic and personal well-being. This special, nurturing relationship ensures every child is known as an individual and receives personalized attention in classes of around 15-20 children. The homeroom teacher is responsible for teaching the core subjects of English language, social studies, mathematics, and science.
Our classroom environments are designed to inspire, with modern furniture, resources, and views out to our garden areas. We believe a child’s surroundings should spark creativity and curiosity. Our teachers collaborate closely across a grade level, creating a connected classroom that allows for a seamless and integrated approach to learning through team teaching. Students also work with specialist teachers for art, music, physical education, and languages.
Dig deeper into our core subjects
Explore the sections below to learn more about how our curriculum sparks curiosity and builds skills in each academic area.
Learning in Action Showcase
While we may learn new skills in individual subjects, we believe that true understanding happens when we can apply and connect them. Read on to see some examples of how our transdisciplinary projects are pulling the subjects together.
Time Travel Catastrophe
Last year, Grade 4 students produced their own play, ‘Time Travel Catastrophe’, bringing together a glorious combination of subjects to create a remarkable final product. They were communicators as they worked together to write the script in English language and even principled as they negotiated the play’s place in the school calendar. As thinkers, they applied their knowledge of mathematics to calculate the finances for the production. The design and construction of the set and costumes required them to be knowledgeable in the arts, and managing the lighting and sound brought their understanding of science and technology to life.
Above all, they were center stage, taking on the role of risk-takers as they performed in front of an audience. Throughout the process, they developed crucial Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills, including communication skills as they rehearsed their lines, social skills as they collaborated in groups, and self-management skills as they took on individual responsibilities to make the project a success. The project perfectly illustrates how students can pull subjects together, bringing learning to life in a way that is both meaningful and memorable.
Exploring Connection and Form
In Grade 5, students explored the concept of Form, discovering how it connects to art, science, and the human body. This project began in Physical Education, where they explored how balance works in increasingly complex formations, using their own bodies to create physical connections with others. Students were inquirers, capturing different examples on camera and considering the “energy maps” of their postures as they developed their physical compositions.
The inquiry continued in Art, where students were inspired by artist Henry Moore’s sculptures. They became thinkers, translating their physical balances into three-dimensional forms by creating their own sculptures. They represented lines of energy first in their sketches and then in their final product. The most challenging part of the unit was the highly impressive presentation to parents and teachers, where students demonstrated their communication skills as they explained the thinking behind their creations.
By pulling together Art, Physical Education, and Science, the students created a remarkable final product that showed their deep understanding of the concepts of form and connection.
The Lemonade Stand
Our Grade 1 students put their classroom learning into action by creating and running a lemonade stand for the whole school. They were communicators as they created a marketing campaign to advertise their delicious lemonade. As knowledgeable and principled students, they put their mathematics skills to the test, calculating a budget, managing the business, and counting their earnings—all of which were donated to charity.
The project was also a practical science lesson, as students explored the concept of displacement by adding ice to make their lemonade stock go further. They were risk-takers when they approached the Head of School for a loan to buy supplies and were open-minded when they discovered that lemonade recipes can differ around the world.
By taking on a real-world project, the students pulled together a variety of subjects, developing their collaboration skills and embodying the values of the IB Learner Profile. The project proved that the lessons learned from this hands-on, interdisciplinary approach have a lasting and profound impact, as reflected in the excited comments from the Grade 1 students who knew there was more to their delicious lemonade than met the eye!
Sun Safety Awareness Campaign
In Grade 3, a campaign to raise sun safety awareness demonstrates the power of student agency – learning with purpose and taking action. Students were inquirers as they investigated the science behind UV exposure, and caring as they identified a problem in their community. They became risk-takers as they chose to respond by creating a plan that would benefit everyone.
As part of their campaign, they hosted an assembly for their peers, created a sun safety bulletin board, and ran a popcorn stall to attract fellow students to learn about the importance of sun safety. All of these activities required a wonderful mix of subjects and skills, from the language arts needed to create their public-facing materials to the mathematics involved in running the popcorn sale.
This project perfectly illustrates how transdisciplinary learning pulls subjects together. By taking meaningful action, the students saw firsthand the real-world value of their learning, proving that their knowledge in science and mathematics could be used to create a campaign that benefited their entire community.
Supporting every child
At ISA, we understand that all children, even the most confident learners, can have bad days or find certain topics difficult. We believe in providing flexible, tailored support by responding to individuals as needed. This approach is further enhanced by our commitment to Universal Design for Learning (UDL), a flexible teaching framework that makes lessons accessible to diverse learners from the very start.
For students with learning variabilities, our dedicated learning support teachers provide instruction both in the regular classroom and in small groups. For students learning English as an additional language (EAL), our EAL teacher works closely with classroom teachers to help them build basic English competence needed to succeed in their mainstream classes.
Our commitment to a child’s wellbeing goes beyond academic support. Students can receive extra help from a qualified counselor, and we are proud to offer additional resources such as our immersive room and sensory space, and weekly visits from a therapy dog. Our strong partnership between home and school ensures that every student is supported in a caring and holistic way.
Moving on from Elementary School
Find out about the next stage of learning in our Middle School Experience
A balanced life
Alongside the curriculum it’s important to develop other interests and skills at Encore! Sports, clubs and activities
Timetables
Here is a sample timetable to show how the week looks for Elementary School students
Travelling to support curriculum
Find out about the field trips which support the curriculum in the Elementary School
Is this the right foundation for your child?
If a curriculum that sparks curiosity, builds confidence, and nurtures a lifelong love of learning sounds like the perfect fit, we’d love to tell you more. Get in touch with our admissions team today to arrange a visit and see our campus for yourself.