International Primary Curriculum Milepost 1 Sample Unit

International Primary Curriculum covers the following subjects:
Art
Geography
History
ICT
Music
PE
Science
Society
Technology
International
World Languages

All of the above subjects have a set of Learning Goals (outcomes) for knowledge, skills and understanding. We do also have Learning Goals for Language Arts and Mathematics. However we haven’t included Maths and English as subjects in their own right, as schools tend to have their own plans for these subjects, and tend to make links with their IPC theme where appropriate. Our collaboration with CLPE, and the mapping document they have created, linking a text to every unit really helps with linking to English.

Every IPC unit follows a set Learning Process:
Entry Point – WOW factor, the hook to get the children engaged, motivated and inspired
Knowledge Harvest – Finding out what the children already know, want to know (taking ownership of their learning) and what they think they know (highlighting any misconceptions). The Knowledge Harvest also helps with teachers forward planning
Big Picture / Explaining the Theme – The ‘Big Picture’ is for the teachers, and should provide enough information about the theme for the teachers to deliver it. Explaining the Theme is for the children, to help explain what they will be learning in each of the subjects that the unit covers. Although children are; learning in a thematic way, we do not want them to lose track of becoming mini scientists, artists, historians etc.
Research & Record activities – This is where the block subject learning kicks in, we have created several research and record activities for each subject, each activity has been written with specific learning goals in mind, they are clearly identified per task. The tasks can be personalized and adapted; it is the learning goals that they cover that are the main outcome.
Exit Point – A celebration of everything that has been learn throughout the theme

There are ideas in every unit for all the above stages. IPC is a tool for teachers to then adapt and personalise and make it work for their children, their school, their community.

Units can last anything between 2-11 weeks long, so the amount of units a class would complete really does depend on which units they select. To help with coverage and breadth of subjects we have created a route planner. This allows teachers to see immediately what coverage per subject they get for knowledge, skills and understanding, by simply dragging and dropping their units into the necessary term. We have also created a sample route for National Curriculum coverage, including a corresponding cross reference document.

There is assessment for learning across Milepost 1-3, it is a skills based assessment, assessing key skills in a three tier approach of ‘Beginning’, ‘Developing’ and ‘Mastering. There are rubrics in teacher speak and child speak for every key skill we have identified, along with next steps advice to help teachers set the necessary goals for children to progress. We have also partnered with a number of assessment providers, these tools allow schools to track progress and attainment and manipulate the data to pull of reports to evidence this. At present Target Tracker and Classroom Monitor have the rubrics, with others to follow soon.

We also have a Self Review Document, this allows schools to assess how well they have implemented and embedded the IPC. It is broken down into 9 area’s and each has a rubric to assess that criterion, and advice as to what evidence you may need etc. This is a perfect tool to help with School Improvement planning. It is also the document that we base accreditation on, if you decided to go down that route.