Overview: Arts in the PYP exemplify learning through inquiry because of the emphasis on, and the nature of, the creative process. Arts provide a unique vehicle to enhance the understanding of the transdisciplinary themes by providing both students and teachers with a range of mediums with which to access the units of inquiry. Arts support the acquisition of essential knowledge and skills, the development of conceptual understanding, the demonstration of positive attitudes, and the taking of action.

Overview: In the final year of the PYP, students participate in a culminating project, the PYP exhibition. This requires that each student demonstrates engagement with the five essential elements of the programme: knowledge, concepts, skills, attitudes and action. It is a transdisciplinary inquiry conducted in the spirit of personal and shared responsibility, as well as a summative assessment activity that is a celebration as students move from the PYP into the middle years of schooling.

Overview: The need to communicate is instinctive. The development of language is fundamental to that need to communicate; it supports and enhances our thinking and understanding. Language permeates the world in which we live; it is socially constructed and dependent on the number and nature of our social interactions and relationships.

PYP schools have a special responsibility to recognize and support language development to ensure that all students are provided with the environment and the necessary language support to enable them to participate fully in the academic programme and in the social life of the school, as well as to develop as individuals. All teachers in a PYP school are considered teachers of language.

Every learner benefits from having access to different languages, and, through that access, to different cultures and perspectives. Acquisition of more than one language enriches personal development and helps facilitate international-mindedness. (Making the PYP Happen, 2009).

Overview: In the PYP, mathematics is viewed primarily as a vehicle to support inquiry, providing a global language through which we make sense of the world around us. It is intended that students become competent users of the language of mathematics, and can begin to use it as a way of thinking, as opposed to seeing it as a series of facts and equations to be memorized. The power of mathematics for describing and analysing the world around us is such that it has become a highly effective tool for solving problems. It is also recognized that students can appreciate the intrinsic fascination of mathematics and explore the world through its unique perceptions. In the same way that students describe themselves as “authors” or “artists”, a school’s programme should also provide students with the opportunity to see themselves as “mathematicians”, where they enjoy and are enthusiastic when exploring and learning about mathematics. (Making the PYP Happen, 2009).

Overview: In the PYP, personal, social and physical education (PSPE) is concerned with the individual’s well-being through the promotion and development of concepts, knowledge, attitudes and skills that contribute to this well-being. Well-being is intrinsically linked to all aspects of a student’s experience at school and beyond. It encompasses physical, emotional, cognitive, spiritual and social health and development, and contributes to an understanding of self, to developing and maintaining relationships with others, and to participation in an active, healthy lifestyle.

Overview: The importance of science in an international curriculum is recognized as universal and transcends the boundaries of gender, cultural, linguistic and national biases. The inclusion of science within the curriculum develops an understanding of, and competence in using, the facilities of a rapidly changing scientific and technological world while gaining a positive image of science and its contribution to the quality of life today. It also involves the development of an appreciation for the scientific contributions of people from various cultures and backgrounds. (Making the PYP Happen, 2009).

Overview: The aim of social studies within the PYP is to promote intercultural understanding and respect for individuals and their values and traditions. In support of the IB mission statement, the social studies component of the PYP curriculum will encourage students to “understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right”. Therefore, there is a strong emphasis on the reduction of prejudice and discrimination within the classroom, the school, the community and the world. (Making the PYP Happen, 2009).

We believe learning about, and through Drama, is fundamental to the development of the whole child, further promoting confidence, creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving and presentation skills, as well as developing social interactions.

Drama is integral to the Primary Years and Whole School Arts Program here at Dwight School Seoul. It is a powerful mode of collaboration and communication, through which students explore and construct a sense of self, and develop an understanding of the world around them. Drama provides students with a wide range of opportunities and means to respond to their experiences and engage with historical, social and cultural perspectives.