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The inauguration of Heritage International School in 2017 was a novelty in the educational market in the Republic of Moldova, as it came with a more modern, innovative air and the curriculum was not known in our country. Implementing the IPC was a big challenge; we wanted to include our youngest learners and both the English and bilingual sections of the school.

For the classes where subjects are taught in English, we could easily adapt and implement the IPC. The challenge was to accomplish this in the bilingual classes, which follow the national curriculum. Learning takes place in the native languages of Russian and Romanian; English is taught as a second language. Teachers had to implement the IPC while respecting all the requirements of our national education system. Cross-reference research was completed where experts from our institution identified the common learning goals between our national curriculum and the IPC. From this starting point, we were able to achieve our aim of a mixed curriculum.

To implement the IPC and develop students’ ESL competencies, it was decided to select six units for each academic year. We selected units to inspire children’s curiosity and motivate them to discover more about the world. The biggest challenge was how to ensure we improve learning when teaching the themes in a foreign language. Cooperation between ESL and homeroom teachers was needed to develop students’ holistic perception of the world and to show children that what they are learning is relevant beyond their English classes, it is related to the challenges and reality of the world around them.

All the IPC units are created to guide learning and encourage learners to ask themselves relevant questions. They know that they are going to do research work, investigate, collaborate, and try to find answers to achieve a common goal. They learned to apply their language skills from the very first unit where they study with ‘Brainwave’. While students learned about the brain and how it works, they developed language skills using vocabulary specific to their milepost. This enabled them to talk about their knowledge and express their understanding of the theme.

In the 4th grade unit ‘Myths and Legends,’ we learned about types of stories and how people used these to explain natural phenomena through IPC and language lessons. During language learning, students discovered that many countries have similar stories, legendary figures, or mythological creatures that are connected to shared areas of the human experience. For example, a spirit that takes care of the house when people are not home or while they are sleeping, in Moldova it is called “Spiriduș”, in Slavic traditions such as Russia and Ukraine it is ”Domovoy”, “Hob” in Northern England and “Kobold” in Germany.

Children were so impressed that they decided to make their own superheroes which would help not only their country but the whole world. Through the ESL, Romanian and Russian lessons they learned about the structure and features of legends and myths, reading stories in different languages. They reinforced their knowledge by studying other World mythology in the IPC tasks.

A major success is seeing children being curious about research or impatient to present their findings and share their learning with their peers. Our students like helping each other and praising each other’s work; but our favourite moment is when they celebrate not only the result but also the learning process. Another achievement is when they realise that the theme connects learning across the subjects including ESL, Romanian, Russian, Mathematics, and Science, etc., this is the moment they understand that all these pieces are parts of a whole.

Learners enjoy sharing their experiences with parents and siblings. They look forward to planning the Exit Point, so they can present their new knowledge, demonstrate their skills, and share their deepening understanding. They use their newly acquired English for the Exit Points when they invite the community to share in their findings and view projects.

The Sustainable Learning Goals symbolises the main issues that we are facing around the globe as we are striving for a better future. In the IPC, the learners are given the opportunity to develop the global competence through interesting and exciting challenges that are linked to the Sustainable Development Goals.

At Straits International School, Rawang, while working on our Year 3 unit ‘Different Places, Similar lives’, we came across the International Task that highlights two learning goals: Know about organisations that help others and be able to associate cause and effect related to global events and/or issues. The children first researched organisations that help people in need in Malaysia. We came across a few of them and contacted them. We were lucky enough to get a response from one of the global charities ‘The Lost Food’. They were very happy to come to our school to share about what they do during our Key Stage assembly.

It was interesting to hear about the numbers and information that was shared with us. Almost 1/3 of food produced in the world is either lost or wasted. In Malaysia 3000 tonnes of edible food is thrown away each day. This is enough to feed 10 million people. This organisation help rescue an average of 10 tonnes of food per week from going to the landfill and unfortunately is it still not enough. To be able to help and support this global issue, we need to start now, and the best place is from school where children are given to opportunity to learn and understand what is happening around us.

After this talk, we started the ‘Clean your plate challenge’, where we paid attention to how much food the children eat and waste. We took some pictures of the bin to help them see how much we waste. We continued this process for three weeks, and we could slowly see some changes where children started to take smaller amounts of food, checking the time before going for a second round, encouraging each other and becoming more aware of how much they really need to eat and understanding the concept of ‘what we want, and what we really need’. 

To keep the momentum going, we continued this process by carrying out ‘The Food Drive’ where the children rescued some of the food items that they don’t need or are nearly expired in their own homes. The Year 3s helped to organise the items into different categories to see what type of food were being donated the most. It was then donated to the lost food charity. Learning experiences like this is something that our children will always remember, and I hope these little things that we do in school can inspire them to do more in the future for a better world. I truly appreciate ideas like this!

We are delighted to share that the International Primary Curriculum was named Overall Supplier of the Year at the Education Today School & Supplier Awards 2022. 

A fantastic evening celebrating learning, meeting inspirational people and presenting a well deserved award to the primary school of the year, Kirton Primary School. 

We would like to thank everyone who voted for the IPC and those who have contributed to content over the years. Jacqueline Harmer, Head of IPC says she was, 

“Proud to represent the IPC community of educators who contributed to the extensive review of the IPC.”

A big thank you to all our subscribing schools who embed the IPC in their schools and continue on the path to help improve learning. We wouldn’t be where we are without you.

With over 20 years of experience in delivering the world-renowned International Primary Curriculum (IPC), the forward-thinking IPC2020 curriculum was launched for learners aged 5-11 years old, with the aim to help prepare children for opportunities and challenges that occur now and in the future. 

The primary curriculum encourages learners to be globally competent, socially conscious, and motivated to positively contribute within a local and/or global context, something that has become increasingly essential over the last few years especially during this historic moment in time.