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Academics
Early Years Programme at TCIS
At TCIS we ensure the learning is rich, meaningful and visible to the children and learning community. We thrust to create an environment that promotes inquiry. Teachers practice play pedagogy and play an important role in young students’ learning journey.
” Exposure to artists of past and present, visit to galleries and museums are also a vital part of child’s art education.
The holistic approach to early childhood education
At TCIS, our pedagogical philosophy is inspired by best practices in early year’s education. Along with the academic, we provide young learners with the opportunity to explore PSPE, Art and Dance. Club activities like puppet making and clay modelling enable learners to construct their own meaning, to be creative, develop a strong sense of identity, and inquiry-driven global citizens.
TCIS Culture of Learning in EYP
We respect and value the cultural, family and life experiences that strengthen the richness of our learning community. We believe communication is most important to learning and we maintain open dialogue and collaboration with families. Our teaching practices support the belief that young children learn through play and it allows them to have a sense of agency.
Learning Spaces and Learning through Play
We plan our learning spaces carefully to promote inquiry. These spaces stimulate children’s innate sense of wonder and natural desire to seek answers to their questions through play. In early childhood, play is the inquiry and, we provide various opportunities to learners by providing a class time of dedicated inquiry and play. Water play, sand play and outdoor plays are few examples of play where the TCIS learners have choice and agency in how to spend their time. Conversations and collaboration during this playtime help us develop intrinsically motivated young learners. We strive to engage learners into focused learning engagements where children embrace opportunities to build and apply skills, knowledge and conceptual understandings.
The Role of the Facilitators
We call our teacher homeroom facilitator. We maintain the student-teacher ratio and have 2 teachers in every early year class. The role of the teacher is to facilitate learning, to be listening to and observing the children’s interactions and dialogue using a range of tools—including note-taking, photography and video—to document the students’ learning journeys.
Curriculum in EYP
Math
Students explore numbers and record their work by writing numbers and working with the numbers in a practical way. Students do lots of work with shapes and are building on their learning of patterns (which actually helps with algebra when they are older)
Unit of Inquiry
During the year, the children study four Units of Inquiry. These units are transdisciplinary meaning they include different subjects.
Language Arts
The language of instruction is English and comprises of speaking and listening, writing, and reading. The children listen to lots of stories and are encouraged to express themselves in lots of different ways. The syllabus comprises of letters, phonetics, put letters together to make words, sight words and simple sentence construction.
Dance, PE, and Visual Arts
Primary Years Programme at TCIS
“ Children must be taught how to think, not what to think – Margert Mead
At TCIS, we believe that teaching a child to question, think and learn is most important to facilitate learning.
TCIS is a Candidate School*
for the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP) and is pursuing authorization as an IB World School. TCIS is a candidate school* for the PYP. This school is pursuing authorization as an IB World School. IB World Schools share a common philosophy- a commitment to high-quality, challenging, international education- that we believe is important for our students.
* Only schools authorized by the IB Organization can offer any of its four academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), the Diploma Programme (DP), or the Career-related Programme (CP).
Candidate status gives no guarantee that authorization will be granted.
We believe in nurturing and developing caring individuals and lifelong learners. The inquiry-led and transdisciplinary framework of PYP challenges learners to think for themselves and take responsibility for their learning as they explore local and global issues and opportunities in real-life contexts which enable them to take responsible actions. The Primary Years Programme at our school we welcome learners at Nursery when the children enter our school at the age of three and culminates in grade 5.
PYP pedagogy combines the best research and practice from a range of national systems with a wealth of knowledge and experience from international schools and educators to create a relevant and engaging learning path.
In the early years, our approach focuses more on play pedagogy learning through play. Keeping the commitment to the inquiry we design and practice our PYP curriculum by keeping in mind three interrelated questions:
- What do we want to learn?
A written curriculum which includes student skills and expectations, learning outcomes and concepts for each subject area. - How best will we learn?
Teaching and learning strategies that promote inquiry, encourage student agency, support best educational practice and cater to the learning needs of all students ensuring student success. - How will we know what we have learned?
The use of effective and authentic assessment practices that monitor individual student progress and guide future planning and learning experiences.
At TCIS, the IB PYP :
- Provide a learner-centred framework
- Focus on learners’ academic, social & emotional well-being
- Encourages students to take responsibility for their learning through fostering intrinsic motivation
- Support students imbibe and exhibit dispositions as a foundation upon which international-mindedness will develop and flourish
- Provides students with opportunities to work collaboratively and independently
- Cultivates learning experiences that have relevance across subject areas and that reaches beyond the boundaries of the subject areas to connect to what is real in the world.
TCIS Culture of Learning in PYP
PYP inside and outside the classrooms
At TCIS we believe that children should learn to understand the links between subjects and their own experiences to connect to the world around them and solve problems in real-life situations. When planning Units of Inquiry, teachers ensure that the appropriate National Curriculum standards and PYP standards are embedded into their lessons.
Subject areas are integrated rather than being taught in isolation and are tied together through six themes.
These themes are described as Transdisciplinary because they focus on issues that go across subject areas and are selected for their relevance to the real world.
In PYP we inquire into six themes
- Who We Are
- Where We Are in Time and Place
- How the World Works
- How We Organise Ourselves
- How We Express Ourselves
- Sharing the Planet
Learner Profiles
Along with academic skills, the IB PYP believes in developing certain dispositions in students, which are called the Learner Profile :
- Inquirer
- Knowledgeable
- Communicator
- Principled
- Thinker
- Balanced
- Risk-Taker
- Open-Minded
- Caring
- Reflective
Core Subjects
In addition to learning traditional subjects through Units of Inquiry, some ‘stand-alone’ learning experiences do take place, particularly with Mathematics and Language.
Our core subjects are:
- Language Arts (English)
- Mathematics
- Science (Part of Units Of Inquiry)
- Social Studies (Part of Units Of Inquiry)
- PSPE (Personal, Social, Physical Education)
- Arts (Dance, Music, Visual Arts)
Assessment
Assessment at TCIS reflects an assessment of each and every aspect of the educational sphere based on specific learning outcomes, to enable students to adjust with needs and changes of the future.
We believe that assessment is an ongoing process; facilitators and students collaborate to develop an assessment culture to achieve assessment capability among all members of the learning community.
At TCIS, we employ a range of assessments to accumulate student’s progress.
- Pre-Assessment
- Formative Assessment
- Summative Assessment
- Assessment of the key elements of the PYP
Student Agency
” Enable[s] people to play a part in their self-development, adaption, and self-renewal with changing times” (Bandura in Learner Agency, IB 2018).
Student agency is closely connected to self-efficacy and can be remembered as “voice, choice and ownership”. At TCIS we motivate learners to believe in themselves and have a strong sense of identity.
We exercise agency in the following ways:
- Guide students to craft learning goals
- Involve them in planning learning engagements, assessments or success criteria
- Allow them to make choices
- Voice their opinions and ideas
- Motivate them to take initiative, responsibility & ownership
- Develop approaches to learning & dispositions
International Mindedness
TCIS encourages international-mindedness as our students are global citizens who are and will be interacting with people from the different cultural background. We celebrate differences and cultural heritage by promoting respect and acceptance.
Taking Action
IB PYP is action-driven curriculum and action is a part of who we are. We want our learners to make a positive contribution to the world. Students are motivated to take action on many different levels to make this world a better place. These actions allow learners to develop self –awareness.
Learning community
Parents are an important part of the learning community. At TCIS, we organize many events throughout the school year and there are many opportunities for our parents to get involved and be a partner in a child’s learning journey.
For further information about the IB and its programmes visit http://www.ibo.org.
IB Middle Years Programme at TCIS
MYP Year 1 – 5 (Grades 6 – 10)
TCIS is a candidate school* for the MYP. TCIS is pursuing authorization as an IB World School.
IB World Schools share a common philosophy- a commitment to high-quality, challenging, international education- that we believe is important for our students.
* Only schools authorized by the IB Organization can offer any of its four academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), the Diploma Programme (DP), or the Career-related Programme (CP). Candidate status gives no guarantee that authorization will be granted.
The IB MYP comprises of eight subject groups providing a broad and balanced curriculum.
The International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (IB MYP) at TCIS allows students to experience a holistic education with an international perspective. We promote the concept of lifelong learning, fostering creativity through life skills, teamwork and collaboration.
The IB MYP is a coherent, comprehensive and challenging programme for students aged between 11-16 years. MYP motivates students and help them to achieve success in school and in life beyond the classroom. The IB MYP program is designed to be inclusive for students of all interests and academic abilities. MYP offers opportunities to develop their potential, to explore their own learning preferences, to take
appropriate risks, to reflect on and develop a strong sense of personal identity. The IB MYP aims to develop active learners and internationally minded young people. The IB MYP builds on the knowledge, skills and attitude developed by students during their IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) and prepares them for the demanding requirements of the IB Diploma Programme (DP).
The IB MYP focuses on
- providing students with a real-world learning experience, connecting their studies to the world around them
- providing academic challenges and opportunities to develop the knowledge, attitudes and life skills
- providing students with the values and opportunities that will enable them to develop sound judgments, make wise choices and respect others in the global community
- providing a framework of learning that encourages students to become creative, critical and reflective thinkers
- addressing holistically students’ intellectual, social, emotional and physical well-being
- empowering students to inquire into a wide range of issues and develop ideas which are significant at local, national and global levels
The IB MYP comprises of eight subject groups providing a broad and balanced curriculum.
- Language and literature – English
- Mathematics
- Sciences – Integrated Sciences (Physics, Chemistry and Biology)
- Language acquisition – Hindi/French/Kannada
- Individuals and societies – History, Geography and Economics
- Arts – Visual Arts and Drama
- Physical and health Education
- Design – Product design and Digital design
Language Arts
Each year, students in the MYP also engage in at least one collaboratively planned interdisciplinary unit that involves at least two subject groups. At TCIS students learning is facilitated to reveal connections between these fields of knowledge and they get to use the acquired knowledge from one area to build understanding in other disciplines.
The MYP helps students develop both, subject-specific and interdisciplinary understanding. The curriculum framework shifts the emphasis from teacher-led instruction to student-led learning wherever possible.
The MYP helps students develop both, subject-specific and interdisciplinary understanding. The curriculum framework shifts the emphasis from teacher-led instruction to student-led learning wherever possible.
The MYP curriculum framework includes:
Key and related concepts:
These concepts are big ideas, which form the basis of teaching and learning in the MYP. They ensure breadth and depth in the curriculum and promote learning within and across traditional disciplines.
Global contexts:
There are many different things that one would need to understand in order to understand the world. All of these things can be broken down in to six categories, known as the Global Contexts. Global Contexts are designed to encourage the students to make worthwhile connections between the real world and classroom learning. These contexts provide the starting points for inquiry into what it means to be internationally minded, framing a curriculum that promotes multilingualism, intercultural understanding and global engagement.
Approaches to Learning (ATL Skills):
IB MYP approaches to learning skills help students manage their own learning. They provide a foundation for success in further education and the world beyond the classroom.
The 5 ATL skills focuses on thinking, communication, social, self-management and research, thereby making a holistic approach to learning. The ATL skills categories into 10 developmentally appropriate clusters. This framework provides common ground from which we at TCIS develop our own ATL planning based on MYP units, student needs, and local circumstances and requirements. These ATL skills and clusters has great influence on student’s education i.e., they learn how to learn.
Community Project:
The community project focuses on community and service, giving students an opportunity to develop an awareness of needs in their immediate communities and address those needs through service learning. At TCIS, the students complete the community project in Year 3 (Grade 8). Students will be engaging in a sustained, in-depth inquiry leading to service as action in the community.
As a part of ‘Service as action’, students in Year 1 and Year 2 at TCIS will participate in the community where they live paying special importance to developing their sense of social responsibility and, improving those skills that will prepare them to contribute more effectively for their community project in Year 3.
Personal Project:
The personal project provides an excellent opportunity for students to produce an individual and creative product or outcome to demonstrate the consolidation of their learning in the MYP. At TCIS, students complete the personal project in Year 5 (Grade 10).
Each student develops a personal project independently. It is a self-initiated and self-directed learning, constructing in-depth knowledge on a topic of interest, and developing an understanding of themselves as learners. Students are engaged in practical explorations through a cycle of inquiry, action and reflection. Students decide what they want to learn about, identify what they already know, and discover what they will need to know to complete the project.
Assessment:
Assessment is integral to all teaching and learning. MYP assessments are criterion based assessment model. All MYP subject groups have four assessment criterion and all the criterion are equally weighted – each out of 8 points. In concurrence with the MYP assessment guidelines teachers assess using the prescribed subject-group objectives using the assessment criteria for each subject group in each year of the programme.
The plans for assessment at TCIS is both formative and summative. Formative assessment are ongoing assessment conducted during the teaching and learning process. Summative assessments are conducted at the end of a unit of inquiry to determine the degree to which the students have mastered the specified objectives. Summative assessments are designed to provide evidence for evaluating student achievement using required MYP subject-group-specific assessment criteria. In order to provide students with opportunities to achieve at the highest level, MYP teachers develop rigorous tasks that embrace a variety of assessment strategies. All criteria in every subject is covered at least twice in the year.
Students must complete eight e-Assessments for the internationally-recognised IB MYP certificate.
On-screen examinations are conducted for the below mentioned subject groups.
- Mathematics
- Language and literature
- Sciences
- Individuals and societies
- Interdisciplinary learning
- e-Portfolios (coursework) for the below mentioned subject groups
- Language acquisition
- Physical and health education, arts, or design
MYP: From principles to practice
For further information about the IB and its programmes visit http://www.ibo.org.
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