QBS uses the International Baccalaureate’s Primary Years Programme (PYP) as its curriculum framework and has been an authorised IB World School since May 2010. The school is currently preparing for an evaluation visit in 2019. These visits allow us as a school to celebrate our best practice and to look for future possibilities and strengths.
How do children learn at QBS?
Children at QBS develop their knowledge, approaches to learning, attitudes and understanding of concepts through inquiry. Classrooms foster curiosity and promote discovery by making learning relevant to the “real world” and challenging for each student. We start from children’s prior knowledge and build on each student’s strengths, experiences, and cultural and linguistic background to support learning. We encourage children to become independent learners and critical and creative thinkers who are empowered to take action.
Class teachers in each year group work as a collaborative team, supported by specialist teachers in the areas of Expressive Arts, Physical Education, Information Literacy, Information Communication Technology (ICT) and Mandarin to provide a transdisciplinary curriculum. Children create new conceptual understandings by drawing links between and across the traditional disciplines.
What is the curriculum?
The curriculum is made up of three parts:
The Written Curriculum
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The written curriculum at Quarry Bay School ensures coverage and progression vertically and horizontally across the school. This is achieved through:
- Scope and sequence documents: These documents produced by ESF outline the conceptual understandings and learning outcomes for students at each stage in their learning.
- Programme of Inquiry: This is the overview of all units of inquiry the students will engage with over 6 years at QBS.
- Curriculum Overview: This is the overview of learning across disciplines within a year group.
- Maths Overview: This outlines Maths coverage within the strands of Number, Data Handling, Shape and Space, Measurement and Pattern and Function across the academic year for each year group.
- Language Overview: This outlines the Reading, Writing, Viewing and Presenting, Speaking and Listening, handwriting and spelling provision within a year group. Language Overviews for Years 1-3 also cover Learning to Read provision.
- Specialist Overview: Specialist teachers have overviews for coverage within their subject area horizontally and vertically across the school.
- Planners: Year groups and specialists use IB planners for each of the six transdisciplinary themes covered across the year as well as language addendums and stand alone planners for Maths and non-integrated specialist units.
The Taught Curriculum
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The taught curriculum at Quarry Bay School supports the school to achieve its vision and mission by:
- Commitment to inquiry as the leading vehicle for learning
- Providing a range of learning experiences
- Allowing children to communicate their learning in a range of ways
- Planning purposeful learning engagements
- Achieving balance across curriculum areas
- Developing knowledge, approaches to learning, attitudes, concepts and action in learners
- Personalising learning to meet the needs of all learners
- Developing the attributes of the Learner Profile
- Developing independent learners
The Assessed Curriculum
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The assessed curriculum at Quarry Bay School includes:
- Formative assessment – ongoing teacher assessment to identify what the students know and the next steps in their learning
- Summative assessment – the culmination of teaching and learning where students demonstrate what they have learned
- Recording – student data is recorded informally through teacher notes and records and formally on a school tracking device to identify progress in learning
- Reporting – student progress is communicated throughout the year in the form of Parent Consultation Meetings, Interim and End of Year Reports and the Celebration of Learning Day