IBPYP Early Years

The IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) Early Years lays the foundation for future learning for students aged 3 – 5. We believe that every child deserves the best possible start in life and is entitled to the support that will enable them to fulfil their unique potential from an early age.

Our approach in Early Years is shaped and influenced by the International Baccalaureate® Primary Years Programme (IBPYP), that provides a framework within on which we develop quality learning experiences.

Very young learners need stimulating, supportive interactions with their peers and teachers and the effective use of curricula. The early years settings of the Primary Years Programme (PYP) provides each child with unique, constant learning, and makes them capable of being resilient, confident and self-assured.

Children learn and grow best in empowering environments where the offered learning experiences respond to individual needs and where authentic and active partnerships are established between educators, parents and children.

Every child develops in different ways and at a different pace and aim to ensure that each child is provided with the opportunity to experience and represent the world around them in their own unique way, developing their understanding through direct and practical experiences.

The Importance of Play

Play plays an essential role in establishing students’ well-being and happiness. It helps them learn and find stimulation. It is their route to growth – physical, intellectual and emotional – and is the most important activity that a child can undertake in the pursuit of learning.

Our Early Years education programme offers a play-based learning environment, that is designed to meet a child’s needs for all types of play, both indoors and out, providing them with valuable first-hand experiences upon which their future learning will be built.

Teaching and Learning Environment in the Early Years Programme

The Programme is grounded in constructivism, inquiry and concept-based learning, promoting a system of learning and teaching that develops critical thinking skills and contributes to the development of the whole child.

At the heart of this system is an approach that addresses the skills and attitudes required to be developed as part of a child’s early developments. The PYP framework consists of six transdisciplinary themes:

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 Organise Ourselves
6. Sharing the Planet

Students in Pre-KG and KG1 explore four of the PYP transdisciplinary themes, while KG2 students explore all six.

IBPYP Early Years at Dar Al Marefa

Building strong positive relationships between educators and students is a key element to our success. Our students feel cared for, listened to, and secure in a safe learning environment.

We place extensive focus on their development of social skills, including effective speaking and listening, to provide children with a solid base from which to begin their lifelong learning journey.

Our KG Department prides itself on its innovative and effective methodology, at the core of which is a highly successful bilingual approach to learning. Students are exposed to both Arabic and English equally throughout the week and, through play, are able to inquire, investigate and cooperate together in both languages.

The Early Learner

The PYP acknowledges the unique needs of early learners, aged 3 to 6 years. It is a distinguishing feature of the programme which recognizes that learners in this age range require approaches to learning and to teaching that honor their developmental stage, and the importance of play as the vehicle for inquiry. Since experiences during the early years lay the foundation for all future learning, the PYP framework allows educators to make choices to best enable learners to flourish.

Early learning in the PYP is a holistic learning experience that integrates socio-emotional, physical and cognitive development. In the PYP classroom, it takes place in dynamic environments that promote play, discovery and exploration.