IB Primary Years Programme
Victoria is committed to combining leading education research, various
teaching pedagogies, and drawing upon the experience of our expert multilingual teaching faculty in
designing our curriculum. When deciding on the best way to educate our students, we asked ourselves,
“How do young children learn effectively?” To this end all our kindergartens are authorised International
Baccalaureate (IB) World Schools offering the Primary Years Programme (PYP), and our nursery campus prepares
children to transfer happily to kindergarten with the necessary skills. The PYP inquiry based
programme is supported by the Columbia University Teachers College Reading and Writing Project (TCRWP), a
strong literacy programme that develops avid and skilled readers, writers and inquirers. Most importantly,
our classes are led by qualified native speaking teachers (English, Cantonese and Putonghua) providing a
bilingual / trilingual approach to learning.
International Baccalaureate (IB)
The IB Primary
Years Program (PYP) model is student-led and inquiry based with teachers playing the role of facilitators
helping the children to construct knowledge. Through this process, children continually ask questions,
collect, analyse, organise, and report on the information they have found.
Teachers begin with finding out what the children know and what their experiences have been. They then
design, plan and implement ‘Units of Study’, which they deliver through creating an engaging, ‘inquiry
based’ learning environment. This allows children to be creative and imaginative in their exploration of
their daily environment, Hong Kong, and the wider world.
Children actively participate in many and varied hands-on activities that cover all areas of the
curriculum. Mathematics is taught by using concrete resources so that the children have a clear
understanding of an abstract concept, e.g shape and space. In science, children will carry out many
experiments, e.g growing plants in the dark, in the sunshine, with water and without water, in order to see
what plants need to survive. These lessons all connect under the banner of a Unit of Inquiry, such as
“Sharing the Planet”.
Art, music, and physical activity are scheduled activities and an important part of learning.
The PYP is a fun and engaging way to learn that ensures that knowledge and understanding stay with the
child.
What is an inquiry based learning environment?
Inquiry is the learning style of the Primary Years Programme. It is a structured approach to learning that
enables independence for children to participate and take ownership of their learning. Children show
self-discipline by completing all tasks set by teachers, and going that step further, to explore centres
that support, extend and consolidate their learning.
The students embark on the Inquiry Cycle by:
Tuning in – “What do I know about this topic?” Teachers foster young children’s curiosity in the topic by
providing engaging and relevant provocation.
Finding out – “What do I want to know about this topic?” By experimenting, sharing, and discussing their
ideas with others during personal and group inquiry activities, children gain a further understanding of the
topic.
Sorting Out – “How does it relate to what I know?” Young children learn to collate and analyse the
information collected during inquiry.
Going further – “How might I organise my information and ideas?” Children have a wider base of
knowledge and they look to deepen what they are learning. They might organise their information and ideas in
different ways.
Synthesising and Reflecting – Children process what they have learnt, then form their own opinions and
understandings. “How does it connect with what we are learning?” Learning to use different objects is very
important for young children to develop their inquiry techniques.
Acting and Applying – “What have I learned that I can use elsewhere?” “Taking action” allows children to act
upon what they have learnt.
For more information, please visit http://www.ibo.org
International Baccalaureate (IB)

Teachers begin with finding out what the children know and what their experiences have been. They then design, plan and implement ‘Units of Study’, which they deliver through creating an engaging, ‘inquiry based’ learning environment. This allows children to be creative and imaginative in their exploration of their daily environment, Hong Kong, and the wider world.
Children actively participate in many and varied hands-on activities that cover all areas of the curriculum. Mathematics is taught by using concrete resources so that the children have a clear understanding of an abstract concept, e.g shape and space. In science, children will carry out many experiments, e.g growing plants in the dark, in the sunshine, with water and without water, in order to see what plants need to survive. These lessons all connect under the banner of a Unit of Inquiry, such as “Sharing the Planet”.
Art, music, and physical activity are scheduled activities and an important part of learning.
The PYP is a fun and engaging way to learn that ensures that knowledge and understanding stay with the child.
What is an inquiry based learning environment?
Inquiry is the learning style of the Primary Years Programme. It is a structured approach to learning that enables independence for children to participate and take ownership of their learning. Children show self-discipline by completing all tasks set by teachers, and going that step further, to explore centres that support, extend and consolidate their learning.
The students embark on the Inquiry Cycle by:
Tuning in – “What do I know about this topic?” Teachers foster young children’s curiosity in the topic by providing engaging and relevant provocation.
Finding out – “What do I want to know about this topic?” By experimenting, sharing, and discussing their ideas with others during personal and group inquiry activities, children gain a further understanding of the topic.
Sorting Out – “How does it relate to what I know?” Young children learn to collate and analyse the information collected during inquiry.
Going further – “How might I organise my information and ideas?” Children have a wider base of knowledge and they look to deepen what they are learning. They might organise their information and ideas in different ways.
Synthesising and Reflecting – Children process what they have learnt, then form their own opinions and understandings. “How does it connect with what we are learning?” Learning to use different objects is very important for young children to develop their inquiry techniques.
Acting and Applying – “What have I learned that I can use elsewhere?” “Taking action” allows children to act upon what they have learnt.
For more information, please visit http://www.ibo.org
Columbia University Teachers College Reading and Writing Project (TCRWP)
Columbia University Teachers College Reading and Writing Project (TCRWP):
Teachers College Reading and Writing Project (TCRWP) is a research based, well established, dynamic reading
and writing project out of Columbia University, USA. Its staff developers carry out constant research
and travel worldwide delivering up to the minute training to teachers. Victoria’s kindergartens are
proud to be in partnership with TCRWP receiving yearly onsite training from their staff developers for their
English and Chinese teachers. Since the introduction of this project Victoria’s kindergarten students
stamina for reading and writing within a meaningful context has prepared them to succeed as avid readers and
writers as they progress into primary schools.
In the classroom, children participate in readers and writers workshops where they learn and are given a
chance to apply the skills of what real readers and writers do. The workshop begins with a short mini
lesson, the teacher models one strategy and the children are given opportunities for active engagement,
where they also try the strategy independently or with a partners. After the mini lesson, the children are
able given an extended period time to write and read independently where they build stamina and try the
strategies that have been taught. During that time, the teacher acts as a facilitator monitoring how
children can independently apply what has been taught, hold small group strategy group sessions or
individual conferences with each child to help them progress in their skills as readers and writers. It is a
great opportunity for the children to be creative and allows them to build on their communication skills by
presenting and sharing their learning to their teachers and peers.
For more information, please visit http://readingandwritingproject.org
Teachers College Reading and Writing Project (TCRWP) is a research based, well established, dynamic reading and writing project out of Columbia University, USA. Its staff developers carry out constant research and travel worldwide delivering up to the minute training to teachers. Victoria’s kindergartens are proud to be in partnership with TCRWP receiving yearly onsite training from their staff developers for their English and Chinese teachers. Since the introduction of this project Victoria’s kindergarten students stamina for reading and writing within a meaningful context has prepared them to succeed as avid readers and writers as they progress into primary schools.
In the classroom, children participate in readers and writers workshops where they learn and are given a chance to apply the skills of what real readers and writers do. The workshop begins with a short mini lesson, the teacher models one strategy and the children are given opportunities for active engagement, where they also try the strategy independently or with a partners. After the mini lesson, the children are able given an extended period time to write and read independently where they build stamina and try the strategies that have been taught. During that time, the teacher acts as a facilitator monitoring how children can independently apply what has been taught, hold small group strategy group sessions or individual conferences with each child to help them progress in their skills as readers and writers. It is a great opportunity for the children to be creative and allows them to build on their communication skills by presenting and sharing their learning to their teachers and peers.
For more information, please visit http://readingandwritingproject.org
Maker Centered Learning with Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Agency by Design: Early Childhood in the Making, a research initiative of Project Zero,
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Victoria Educational Organisation is honoured to work with researchers at Project Zero, a research centre at
the Harvard Graduate School of Education, to explore and develop an Early Childhood specific framework that
supports maker-centred learning. The maker-centred learning concepts the Project Zero research team is
investigating along with the in-depth thinking routines focused on maker-centerd learning goals nicely
complement several of the concepts currently built into the IB PYP curriculum. Maker-centerd learning ideas
support enabling young children to begin to deconstruct and analyse the made dimensions of their world and
encourage them to think more deeply about the objects and systems that they engage with in their everyday
lives.
Victoria Educational Organisation is honoured to work with researchers at Project Zero, a research centre at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, to explore and develop an Early Childhood specific framework that supports maker-centred learning. The maker-centred learning concepts the Project Zero research team is investigating along with the in-depth thinking routines focused on maker-centerd learning goals nicely complement several of the concepts currently built into the IB PYP curriculum. Maker-centerd learning ideas support enabling young children to begin to deconstruct and analyse the made dimensions of their world and encourage them to think more deeply about the objects and systems that they engage with in their everyday lives.
Victoria is committed to combining leading education research, various
teaching pedagogies, and drawing upon the experience of our expert multilingual teaching faculty in
designing our curriculum. When deciding on the best way to educate our students, we asked ourselves,
“How do young children learn effectively?” To this end all our kindergartens are authorised International
Baccalaureate (IB) World Schools offering the Primary Years Programme (PYP), and our nursery campus prepares
children to transfer happily to kindergarten with the necessary skills. The PYP inquiry based
programme is supported by the Columbia University Teachers College Reading and Writing Project (TCRWP), a
strong literacy programme that develops avid and skilled readers, writers and inquirers. Most importantly,
our classes are led by qualified native speaking teachers (English, Cantonese and Putonghua) providing a
bilingual / trilingual approach to learning.International Baccalaureate (IB)
The IB Primary
Years Program (PYP) model is student-led and inquiry based with teachers playing the role of facilitators
helping the children to construct knowledge. Through this process, children continually ask questions,
collect, analyse, organise, and report on the information they have found.Teachers begin with finding out what the children know and what their experiences have been. They then
design, plan and implement ‘Units of Study’, which they deliver through creating an engaging, ‘inquiry
based’ learning environment. This allows children to be creative and imaginative in their exploration of
their daily environment, Hong Kong, and the wider world.Children actively participate in many and varied hands-on activities that cover all areas of the
curriculum. Mathematics is taught by using concrete resources so that the children have a clear
understanding of an abstract concept, e.g shape and space. In science, children will carry out many
experiments, e.g growing plants in the dark, in the sunshine, with water and without water, in order to see
what plants need to survive. These lessons all connect under the banner of a Unit of Inquiry, such as
“Sharing the Planet”.Art, music, and physical activity are scheduled activities and an important part of learning.The PYP is a fun and engaging way to learn that ensures that knowledge and understanding stay with the
child.What is an inquiry based learning environment?
Inquiry is the learning style of the Primary Years Programme. It is a structured approach to learning that
enables independence for children to participate and take ownership of their learning. Children show
self-discipline by completing all tasks set by teachers, and going that step further, to explore centres
that support, extend and consolidate their learning.The students embark on the Inquiry Cycle by:
Tuning in – “What do I know about this topic?” Teachers foster young children’s curiosity in the topic by
providing engaging and relevant provocation.
Finding out – “What do I want to know about this topic?” By experimenting, sharing, and discussing their
ideas with others during personal and group inquiry activities, children gain a further understanding of the
topic.
Sorting Out – “How does it relate to what I know?” Young children learn to collate and analyse the
information collected during inquiry.
Going further – “How might I organise my information and ideas?” Children have a wider base of
knowledge and they look to deepen what they are learning. They might organise their information and ideas in
different ways.
Synthesising and Reflecting – Children process what they have learnt, then form their own opinions and
understandings. “How does it connect with what we are learning?” Learning to use different objects is very
important for young children to develop their inquiry techniques.
Acting and Applying – “What have I learned that I can use elsewhere?” “Taking action” allows children to act
upon what they have learnt.For more information, please visit http://www.ibo.org
teaching pedagogies, and drawing upon the experience of our expert multilingual teaching faculty in
designing our curriculum. When deciding on the best way to educate our students, we asked ourselves,
“How do young children learn effectively?” To this end all our kindergartens are authorised International
Baccalaureate (IB) World Schools offering the Primary Years Programme (PYP), and our nursery campus prepares
children to transfer happily to kindergarten with the necessary skills. The PYP inquiry based
programme is supported by the Columbia University Teachers College Reading and Writing Project (TCRWP), a
strong literacy programme that develops avid and skilled readers, writers and inquirers. Most importantly,
our classes are led by qualified native speaking teachers (English, Cantonese and Putonghua) providing a
bilingual / trilingual approach to learning.International Baccalaureate (IB)

Years Program (PYP) model is student-led and inquiry based with teachers playing the role of facilitators
helping the children to construct knowledge. Through this process, children continually ask questions,
collect, analyse, organise, and report on the information they have found.Teachers begin with finding out what the children know and what their experiences have been. They then
design, plan and implement ‘Units of Study’, which they deliver through creating an engaging, ‘inquiry
based’ learning environment. This allows children to be creative and imaginative in their exploration of
their daily environment, Hong Kong, and the wider world.Children actively participate in many and varied hands-on activities that cover all areas of the
curriculum. Mathematics is taught by using concrete resources so that the children have a clear
understanding of an abstract concept, e.g shape and space. In science, children will carry out many
experiments, e.g growing plants in the dark, in the sunshine, with water and without water, in order to see
what plants need to survive. These lessons all connect under the banner of a Unit of Inquiry, such as
“Sharing the Planet”.Art, music, and physical activity are scheduled activities and an important part of learning.The PYP is a fun and engaging way to learn that ensures that knowledge and understanding stay with the
child.What is an inquiry based learning environment?
Inquiry is the learning style of the Primary Years Programme. It is a structured approach to learning that
enables independence for children to participate and take ownership of their learning. Children show
self-discipline by completing all tasks set by teachers, and going that step further, to explore centres
that support, extend and consolidate their learning.The students embark on the Inquiry Cycle by:
Tuning in – “What do I know about this topic?” Teachers foster young children’s curiosity in the topic by
providing engaging and relevant provocation.
Finding out – “What do I want to know about this topic?” By experimenting, sharing, and discussing their
ideas with others during personal and group inquiry activities, children gain a further understanding of the
topic.
Sorting Out – “How does it relate to what I know?” Young children learn to collate and analyse the
information collected during inquiry.
Going further – “How might I organise my information and ideas?” Children have a wider base of
knowledge and they look to deepen what they are learning. They might organise their information and ideas in
different ways.
Synthesising and Reflecting – Children process what they have learnt, then form their own opinions and
understandings. “How does it connect with what we are learning?” Learning to use different objects is very
important for young children to develop their inquiry techniques.
Acting and Applying – “What have I learned that I can use elsewhere?” “Taking action” allows children to act
upon what they have learnt.For more information, please visit http://www.ibo.org
Ms Queenie Wong, Parent of Jasmine Tsui and Quentin Tsui
