Let's discover why OVIS chose IPC
This is the 4th article of OVIS
Wuhan Optics Valley International School (OVIS) is a strategic project of the Wuhan East Lake Hi-tech Zone Management Committee to create a good environment for talent and serve the industrial upgrading of Optics Valley.
Located in the heart of Wuhan Optics Valley, OVIS covers an area of 6,000 square metres as a consistent 15-year school from kindergarten to high school, with one class in each grade at the K-12 level and an expected intake of around 20 students per class. We are currently open for the kindergarten and primary school sections.
Previously, we introduced Kindergarten at OVIS.（OVIS Kindergarten is coming）
Today, we will elaborate on the International Primary Curriculum (IPC), the core curriculum for primary schools, which is carefully delivered by OVIS.
01
What is the International Primary Curriculum (IPC)?
The International Primary Curriculum (IPC) is a curriculum for primary school children aged 5-11 years that incorporates academic education, personal development and international learning through creative teaching approaches and thematic units. It has been adopted by more than 1,800 schools in over 90 countries worldwide.
IPC is a thematic unitised curriculum based on a series of rigorous learning objectives, with each thematic unit lasting an average of 6-8 weeks. Despite the independence of the units and the diversity of the themes, it integrates subjects such as history, science, geography, physical education and the arts, each of which is of interest and relevance to children today.
The IPC learning objectives are divided into subject objectives, personal objectives and international mindset objectives. Students can master these learning objectives as they study some interactive, creative and fun thematic units.
02
What is the design philosophy of the IPC programme?
The IPC programme was developed and designed according to three guiding guidelines.
Part.1
What kind of future world will
our students face?
The world is constantly evolving, so teaching needs to be modified to help students transition and adapt smoothly to the changing social environment. This brings the IPC programme into play as one of the focuses is on developing an international perspective for students in its curriculum.
Part.2
What kind of students are
most likely to succeed?
A person's attributes determine whether they will be able to do their best in subsequent studies and whether they will be able to make the most responsive choices in an ever-changing environment. This requires curriculum designers to make the best possible presumptions about the future state of the world.
The IPC curriculum, therefore, emphasises the development of a holistic approach to personal attributes while fostering an international perspective in children.
Part.3
What’s the difference between IPC
and the traditional learning model？
IPC focuses on a student-led approach that allows students to take ownership and are enthusiastic about learning.
Identifying what students need to learn and how they need to learn it is a key focus of the IPC curriculum. This is why the IPC curriculum is developed and implemented with a focus on flexible curriculum modules and an innovative selection of thematic units that cater to the needs and interests of children in different age groups.
03
How exactly do I learn in class?
Specifically, students will be guided through the process of 'Unit Entry - Knowledge Mapping - Topic Overview - Inquiry Activity - Record Integration - End of Unit'.
All thematic units are designed to be independent and cross-curricular.
In the case of the 'Chocolate' theme, for example, from the perspective of history, children will learn about the Aztec discovery of chocolate and the changing history of chocolate consumption. When it comes to geography, children develop map-making skills by finding and comparing the geographical areas where cocoa beans are grown, processed and consumed. From the scientific aspect, the children are taught about the melting and cooling of objects.
Maths and English are also applied as tools in this process. Topics such as these will require the teacher to have a combination of interdisciplinary teaching skills or a combination of subjects to be taught.
The teacher will set a unifying topic for students to think about. For instance, teachers of all subjects ask students in class the question "Can natural disasters be beneficial?" There is no standard answer to this question, but it can lead students to explore it in the context of what they have learned.
In summary, the learning process in the OVIS International Primary Curriculum usually commences with the 'harvesting of knowledge'. This process involves the teacher discovering what the children have learned so that they can determine what they need to learn next. Only in this way can each child's learning path be tailored to their own needs.
04
How does IPC prepare the children for their future?
The feedback from our frontline teachers indicates that students who study the IPC, because of the solid foundation of knowledge laid in primary school, transit very smoothly to various secondary school programmes around the world (e.g. Cambridge International Junior School Programme, IB Secondary Programme).
05
Why did OVIS choose to offer the IPC programme?
Why did OVIS choose to offer the IPC programme?
When we established OVIS, we first considered what kind of school we wanted to start and what kind of children we needed to cultivate.
We expect our students to graduate not only with excellent academic results, but also with curiosity, creative thinking, critical thinking skills and a globally competent learner.
Especially at this stage of primary school, it is important to develop a passion for knowledge. If children are given knowledge, skills and ways of understanding the world in a fun way, they are also bound to be more flexible and able to adapt with changes in their lives.
As a result, we have chosen to adopt the International Primary Curriculum as the core of our primary school curriculum. We will continue to examine and evaluate our curriculum and teaching system in the future, implementing the best learning tools to achieve the school's vision.
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