I hope everyone is enjoying some holiday and family time together. It’s always a long trek for the students from August to December, so they really need this break!  

This message is about a change to our school curriculum that we have been considering for some time. From August 2023, we will be continuing the IB PYP into Grade 6 and in future our MYP programme will begin in Grade 7. Many schools do this and there are a number of benefits to students from this approach. 

One of the main reasons for this change is that Grade 6 students are still quite young and can sometimes struggle with the transition to the MYP. Schools that continue the PYP approach in Grade 6 often find that the students benefit from working with fewer teachers. By contrast, the challenge for many students when Grade 6 is taught with an MYP approach is that they will usually have four or five additional teachers to work with and each subject has a separate schedule of assignments and assessments. 

In practice, what this change will mean for our Grade 6 students is that they would be taught with a similar approach to Grade 5. The students would have one main homeroom teacher and the main subjects would be integrated through Units of Inquiry. To ensure the academic level is correct for Grade 6, our MYP team will be working closely with the PYP teachers to ensure an appropriate progression of learning in each subject area. We will also continue to use MAP Growth testing twice a year to externally monitor and check progress. At the end of Grade 6, the students will then transition to the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) when they start Grade 7. The MYP will run from Grade 7 to Grade 10, as a four year programme, finishing with the MYP E-Assessments and receiving an MYP Certificate at the end of Grade 10.  

The consultation process leading to the decision to extend the PYP to Grade 6 has included all staff, the KIS board, our current Grade 5 parents, and also information gathered from other schools and the IBO (International Baccalaureate Organisation). After a process of looking at the pros and cons of this change, we are agreed that a PYP Grade 6 would be the best way forwards for KIS and the board has now approved this change. Our admissions information, handbooks and so on will be updated in due course.

Enjoy the rest of the holiday!