Primary Years Programme Curriculum framework

The written curriculum

The most significant and distinctive feature of the IB Primary Years Programme is the six transdisciplinary themes.

These themes are about issues that have meaning for, and are important to, all of us. The programme offers a balance between learning about or through the subject areas, and learning beyond them.

The six themes of global significance create a transdisciplinary framework that allows students to “step up” beyond the confines of learning within subject areas:

1. Who we are
2. Where we are in place and time
3. How we express ourselves
4. How the world works
5. How we organize ourselves
6. Sharing the planet

The programme puts great emphasis on learning about these transdisciplinary themes. Each theme is addressed each year by all students, with the exception of students aged 3 to 5, who may engage explicitly with four of the themes each year. The themes provide the opportunity to incorporate local and global issues into the curriculum.

The traditional disciplines retain a role in the IB Primary Years Programme. The six specified subjects are language, mathematics, science, social studies, arts, and personal, social and physical education.

The overall expectations for each subject area are defined for each year of the programme.