VICTORIA (BELCHER) KINDERGARTEN

International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP); VEO Language and Literacy Programme; Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education Maker-Centered Learning. Our school is an IB World School which offers the PYP across all grades. This programme works cohesively with our Language and Literacy Programme, and also smoothly intertwines with the framework MCL. The PYP provides an inquiry based, child-centred, transdisciplinary framework that builds conceptual understanding. The six subject areas of language, maths, science, social studies, arts, and personal, social, and physical education (PSPE) are taught through transdisciplinary themes in order to help students make connections between the subjects. The PYP also aims to foster lifelong learners who possess the 10 attributes of the learner profile: inquirers, risk-takers, knowledgeable, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, thinker, reflective, and balanced. By providing diverse inquiry based learning engagements, the PYP cultivates the students’ international awareness. In conjunction with Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education, we support maker-centred learning through an early childhood specific programme and framework for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths (STEAM). Maker-centred learning empowers young learners as creators by developing skills and various thinking routines that foster a “can-do spirit” for learners. Language development also plays a vital role in our school. Through our VEO Language and Literacy Programme, students are able to participate in balanced literacy which includes: reading and writing workshops, shared reading, guided reading, read aloud, interactive writing, shared writing, and more. Through balanced literacy, students learn various strategies to read and write independently and confidently.