Primary Years Programme (ages 3-12)

The Primary Years Programme (PYP), for students aged 3–12, focuses on the development of the whole child, addressing social, physical, emotional and cultural needs, and is geared towards creating independent, confident and respectful learners.

The Primary Years Programme (PYP), for students aged 3–12, focuses on the development of the whole child, addressing social, physical, emotional and cultural needs.At the Aga Khan Primary School Dar es Salaam, teaching and learning is centered around the principles and standards of the Primary Years Programme (PYP) which is designed for students from Kindergarten 1 to Grade 6 (ages 3- 12).

It is an international, transdisciplinary programme designed to foster the development of the whole child, not just in the classroom but also through other means of learning. The PYP encourages children to actively learn about the social and physical world around them and to become active learners and enquirers.

The Curriculum
The PYP seeks to enhance student's thinking skills and deepen their understanding of themselves, their environment and our changing world. It prepares students for the essential skills and understandings they will need for the future. It focuses on the total growth of the developing child, touching hearts as well as minds and encompassing social, physical, emotional and cultural needs in addition to academic welfare. 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. At the centre of the PYP is a commitment to structured inquiry. The children participate more in problem solving, asking questions, actively seeing explanations and forming hypotheses and generalizations original to them

The PYP is geared towards creating independent, confident and respectful learners.The curriculum consists of five essential elements: concepts, knowledge, skills, attitude, and action. The knowledge element is enhanced through inquiry into six transdisciplinary themes of global significance: who we are, where we are in place and time, how we express ourselves, how the world works, how we organize ourselves, and sharing the planet. The PYP thus develops students who are versed in a spectrum of areas of knowledge, intellectually curious, principled, caring, open-minded, well-balanced, and reflective learners. The six principal subject areas include: language; social studies; mathematics, science and technology; the arts; personal, social and physical education.

As a PYP candidate school we strive to develop students who are:

• Inquirers
• Thinkers
• Communicators
• Risk-takers
• Knowledgeable
• Principled
• Caring
• Open-minded
• Balanced
• Reflective
  

Aga Khan Primary School is a candidate school* for the Primary Years Programme (PYP). The school is pursuing authorization as an IB World School, which will take place in May 2012. IB Schools share a common philosophy, a commitment to high quality, challenging, international education that Aga Khan Primary School believes is important for our students.

*Only schools authorized by the IB organization can offer any of its three academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), or the Diploma Programme. Candidate status gives no guarantee that authorization will be granted.