International Primary

An International Education

From the Early Years Foundation Stage, children can transfer, on completion of a successful admissions interview, to Years 1 and 2 of the Primary School, where they begin a more formalised approach to learning. The HAIS curriculum is broad and diverse and, whilst it is subject-based, there are many opportunities for a cross-curricular approach to learning. Much of the timetable is classroom-based, with each class having a teaching support assistant.

In this very important phase of their education, children apply the skills they have learned in the Foundation Stage and begin to develop new approaches to learning. As children progress through Years 1 and 2, we encourage them to become increasingly independent as learners by helping them to:

Be resilient – show determination and initiative.
Be resourceful – self-select resources that help with their learning.
Be reflective – thinking about the next step in their learning and how to do better next time.

The curriculum for Years 3 to 6 is designed to ensure children gain learning experiences that develop mastery of linguistic, mathematical, scientific, technological, social, physical, aesthetic and creative skills and abilities. The class teachers are responsible for the delivery of the Cambridge International Primary Curriculum subjects and the pastoral care of our students. The Cambridge International Primary Curriculum at HAIS develops the skills, knowledge and understanding to prepare learners for a smooth transition to Cambridge Lower Secondary.

Core Subjects

STAGES 1 & 2

By the beginning of Year 2, pupils should be able to read all common graphemes (letters and letter combinations used to represent sounds). They should be able to read unfamiliar words containing these graphemes accurately and without undue hesitation by sounding them out in books that are matched closely to each pupil’s level of word reading knowledge. They should also be able to read many common words taught so far (for example, shout, hand, stop, or dream) without needing to blend the sounds out loud first. Pupils’ reading of common exception words (for example, you, could, many, or people) should be secure. Pupils will increase their fluency by being able to read these words easily and automatically. Finally, pupils are able to retell some familiar stories that have been read to and discussed with them or that they have acted out during Year 1.

During Year 2, teachers continue to focus on establishing pupils’ accurate and speedy word reading skills. They make sure that pupils listen to and discuss a wide range of stories, poems, plays, and information books. The sooner pupils read well and do so frequently, the sooner they are able to increase their vocabulary, comprehension and knowledge across the wider curriculum.

In writing, pupils in Year 2 should be able to compose individual sentences orally and then write them down. They should be able to spell correctly many of the words covered in Year 1. They should also be able to make phonetically plausible attempts to spell words they have not yet learnt. Finally, they are taught to form individual letters correctly, establishing good handwriting habits from the beginning.

STAGES 3-6

By the beginning of Year 3, students should be able to read books written at an age-appropriate interest level. They should be able to read them accurately and at a speed that is sufficient for them to focus on understanding what they read rather than on decoding individual words. They should be able to decode most new words outside their spoken vocabulary, making a good approximation to the word’s pronunciation. As their decoding skills become increasingly secure, teaching is directed more towards developing their vocabulary and the breadth and depth of their reading, making sure that they become independent, fluent, and enthusiastic readers who read widely and frequently.

By the beginning of Year 5, students should be able to read aloud a more comprehensive range of poetry and books written at an age-appropriate interest level with accuracy and a reasonable speaking pace. They should be able to read most words effortlessly and work out how to pronounce unfamiliar written words with increasing automaticity.

They should be reading widely and frequently, outside as well as in school, for pleasure and information. They should be able to read silently, with good understanding, inferring the meanings of unfamiliar words, and then discuss what they have read.

By the end of Year 6, students’ reading and writing should be sufficiently fluent and effortless for them to manage the general demands of the curriculum in Year 7 across all subjects, and there will continue to be a need for students to learn subject-specific vocabulary.

Specific requirements for students to discuss what they are learning and to develop their wider skills in spoken language form part of the HAIS English curriculum. In Years 5 and 6, students’ confidence, enjoyment and mastery of language are extended through public speaking, performance, and debate.

STAGES 1 & 2

The principal focus of mathematics teaching in Years 1 and 2 at HAIS is to ensure that pupils develop confidence and mental fluency with whole numbers, counting, and place value. This involves working with numerals, words, and the four operations, including using practical resources (for example, concrete objects and measuring tools). At this stage, pupils develop their ability to recognise, describe, draw, compare and sort different shapes and use the related vocabulary. Teaching also involves using a range of measures to describe and compare different quantities, such as length, mass, capacity/volume, time and money.

By the end of Year 2, pupils should know the number bonds to 20 and be precise in using and understanding place value. An emphasis on practice at this early stage will aid fluency.

Pupils read and spell mathematical vocabulary at a level consistent with their increasing word reading and spelling knowledge in Years 1 and 2.

STAGES 3-6

The principal focus of mathematics teaching in the upper primary school at HAIS is to ensure that students extend their understanding of the number system and place value to include larger integers. This will develop the connections that students make between multiplication and division with fractions, decimals, percentages, and ratios.

At this stage, students develop their ability to solve a wide range of problems, including increasingly complex properties of numbers and arithmetic and problems demanding efficient written and mental calculation methods.

By the end of Year 4, students should have memorised their multiplication tables up to and including the 12 multiplication tables and show precision and fluency in their work.

In Year 5, with this foundation in arithmetic, students are introduced to the language of algebra as a means for solving a variety of problems. Teaching geometry and measurement consolidates and extends knowledge developed in numbers. Students classify shapes with increasingly complex geometric properties and they learn the vocabulary needed to describe them.

By the end of Year 6, students are fluent in written methods for all four operations, including long multiplication and division and secure in working with fractions, decimals, and percentages.

Students can read, spell and pronounce mathematical vocabulary correctly.

STAGES 1 & 2

The principal focus of science teaching in Years 1 and 2 at HAIS is to enable pupils to experience and observe phenomena, looking more closely at the natural and humanly constructed world around them. They are encouraged to be curious and ask questions about what they notice. They are supported to develop their understanding of scientific ideas by using different types of scientific enquiry to answer their own questions, including observing changes over a period of time, noticing patterns, grouping and classifying things, carrying out simple comparative tests, and finding things out using secondary sources of information. They begin to use simple scientific language to talk about what they have found out and communicate their ideas to a range of audiences in various ways. Most of the learning about science is done through the use of first-hand practical experiences. There is also some use of appropriate secondary sources, such as books, photographs, and videos.

Pupils read and spell scientific vocabulary at a level consistent with their increasing word reading and spelling knowledge in Years 1 and 2.

STAGES 3-6

The principal focus of science teaching in the upper primary school at HAIS is to enable students to develop a deeper understanding of a wide range of scientific ideas. They will do this by systematically exploring and talking about their ideas, asking their own questions about scientific phenomena, and analysing functions, relationships, and interactions. They will encounter more abstract ideas and begin to recognise how these ideas help them to understand and predict how the world operates. They will also begin to recognise that scientific ideas change and develop over time. They will select the most appropriate ways to answer science questions using different types of scientific enquiry, including observing changes over different periods of time, noticing patterns, grouping and classifying things, carrying out comparative and fair tests, and finding things out using a wide range of secondary sources of information. Students will be able to draw conclusions based on their data and observations, use evidence to justify their ideas, and use their scientific knowledge and understanding to explain their findings.

Students should read, spell, pronounce and use scientific vocabulary correctly.