At Wellingborough Prep School, our aim is to provide our pupils with a curriculum which is relevant, engaging and enables them to make academic progress whilst developing a love of learning.
For this reason, we have invested in the leading, world-renowned International Primary Curriculum (IPC). This curriculum has been implemented in many top-performing schools in places such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Norway, as well as over 1,000 schools in the UK, and will begin at Wellingborough in September for pupils from Year 1 to Year 6. We believe that this exciting new innovation will enable our pupils to be engaged, active and collaborative learners who have a genuine curiosity for what they are doing and a desire to develop their knowledge, skills and understanding of the world around them.
The International Early Years Curriculum (IEYC) is tailor-made for children aged between three and five years of age and we are implementing this in our early years setting (Nursery and Reception). The IEYC was written by practising early years specialists and provides the same mix of practical, rigorous support for teachers and exciting, appropriate work for children as the IPC main programme for five to 11-year-olds. The early years programme also helps children to become familiar with the IPC learning process for each unit and prepares them for progression to the IPC main programme.
Skills for life are not developed in the final few years of a child’s education, they are developed by starting early and with many years of contact with important ideas. The IPC ensures that children are actively encouraged to discover the world around them, to take a closer look at the world both in and beyond school, to ask questions and to seek answers about how things work and what makes them tick.
A crucial part of teaching is motivating learners and an excellent curriculum instils in children a love of learning for its own sake. Some of the most effective learning occurs when connections are made between subjects and something that we benefit from at Wellingborough is our wealth of subject specialist teachers who can enable our pupils of all ages to make those connections and build their skills as well as their knowledge.
The IPC engages children to learn in a fun, dynamic and progressive way. It inspires children to develop critical thinking skills, greater independence and a global perspective. A robust structure ensures that children are consistently challenged to adopt an open mindset and approach their learning in a creative way.
The IPC learning goals are cross-referenced to meet the National Curriculum guidelines, ensuring our pupils are learning in a rigorous as well as creative and relevant manner, achieving national expectations and beyond. However, we believe that the learning does not stop once these learning outcomes have been met. Through the implementation of the IPC, we will be able to extend and deepen the children’s knowledge by providing a more creative approach.
The IPC also utilises a core principle that a curriculum is not just a ‘collection of facts’ to be learned to pass a test but rather a means of carefully defining the knowledge, skills and understanding that children need to learn. The IPC topics enable children to remain motivated through all subjects in the curriculum. It also allows them to make purposeful links and connections throughout their learning and to see how their subject learning is related to the world in which they live.
Within each topic, the IPC utilises many ideas for collaborative learning, active learning, learning outside the classroom, role play and children learning from each other.
The Learning Goals are the foundation upon which the IPC is built. They define what children might be expected to know, what they might be able to do and the understanding they might develop as they move through school.
Subject Learning Goals cover knowledge (the facts and information children might learn), skills (those practical abilities children need to be able to do) and understanding (the deeper awareness of key concepts which develops over time).
Personal Learning Goals underpin each unit – they represent the attributes that we believe children will find essential in the 21st Century. They help children to develop qualities that will enable them to be at ease with the continually changing context of their lives.
International Learning Goals help children begin the move towards an increasingly sophisticated national, international, global and intercultural perspective and develop a sense of ‘international mindedness’.
At Wellingborough Prep School we are striving to provide the very best in education and inspirational learning.
This dynamic new curriculum provides our pupils with the most current, evidence-based teaching practices and, we believe, makes their learning journey a thrilling voyage of discovery that will give them a tremendous stepping stone to their future education.
Katharine Owen
Head of Prep School
Wellingborough School
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