At our international primary school in Bejing, Shunyi, Key Stage 1 spans Years 1 and 2 (Ages 5–7), while Key Stage 2 spans Years 3–6 (Ages 7–11). Building on the skills first introduced in Early Years, our students become more mature and experienced in formal methods of learning. Our teachers take a skills-based approach to enable our students to develop their understanding of topics in social, cultural, and academic ways.
INTERDISCIPLINARY TEACHING AND LEARNING
We inspire our students by connecting subject areas across themes and topics. For example, if we’re learning about transport, this involves not just reading stories, but also examining wheel mechanisms, studying the history of transport, and discovering how to read maps. In this way, our Interdisciplinary Teaching encompasses Literacy, Science, the Humanities, ICT, and Design & Technology.
DEVELOPING LITERACY
Our teaching of literacy is divided into units – through which our students learn about fiction, non-fiction, and poetry through reading, writing, grammar, phonics, and spelling. Our students continue to practise the mechanics of carefully reading the printed word, while also developing a broader understanding of texts through role-playing, retelling, or asking and answering questions.
MASTERING MATHS
We teach Maths using a balance of practical and recorded activities, so that our students learn about topics around numbers, shapes, space, measurements, and data-handling. We expand and deepen our students’ understanding of numbers through problem-solving activities and examples from everyday life – so that, while they are moving away from practical ways of counting – they still realise the relevance of numbers in the world around them.
EXPERIMENTING IN SCIENCE
Our students learn about living processes and physical processes, through materials, plants, and animals. In our brainstorming sessions, they learn how to hypothesise. In our practical activities and thought-provoking experiments, they learn how to test out their ideas.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACHIEVEMENT
At BSB Shunyi, we offer a truly global experience with outstanding teachers and exceptional educational opportunities from our youngest to eldest students. Our students are empowered to be and do their best, while also learning to make a difference in the world beyond the classroom.
