International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme

The IB certification process is a long and rigorous one – which means that not just any school is able to satisfy the organisation’s standards. As an IB World school, a staged approach towards the introduction of teaching and learning experiences is implemented and then closely monitored via regular visits by the IB PYP teams. Authorisation generally takes approximately three years, giving the school and its community time to throughly plan, construct and establish all aspects of the programme.

Within the IB Primary Years Programme, six subject areas are identified: 

• Languages
• Mathematics
• Science
• Social studies
• Arts
• Personal, social and physical education

Transdisciplinary Themes

Six transdisciplinary themes underpin what is the most significant and distinctive feature of the IB Primary Years Programme. These themes are used by IB World Schools to incorporate local and global issues into the curriculum and effectively allow students to look beyond the confines of subject focused learning.

These transdisciplinary themes help teachers to develop units of inquiry–investigation into important ideas identified by the school that require a high level of involvement by students. These inquiries are substantial, in-depth and usually last for several weeks. Examples of some of the transdisciplinary themes include:

• 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

To find out more about the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme please visit the official PYP Website or contact
Head of Junior School, Mr Ian Lloyd on [email protected] or (02) 6776 5817.