Ages 5–11
An International Baccalaureate World School that meets all the requirements of the Swedish national curriculum.
Our Bilingual IB Programme has been an authorised International Baccalaureate World School since 2009. The Primary Years Programme (PYP) at our school caters for pupils aged between 5 and 11. The programme is based on the IB framework in combination with the Swedish national curriculum (Lgr22). These classes are taught both in English and Swedish, providing an invaluable opportunity for pupils to learn in a bilingual context.
Our Early Years class for students aged 5–6 is a mixed class, with about 18 students and two teachers. One of the teachers uses English as the language of instruction with the pupils and the other teacher uses Swedish. That way our Early Years students get a good basis for both languages to succeed in our programmes.
The Bilingual IB Programme is located at Luntmakargatan 101.
Being an IB World School means that it is our aim to educate for life. Our ambition is to create internationally minded and knowledgeable citizens. We know that our students get a good start for higher education, whether it be a Swedish gymnasium, the IB Diploma Programme or a college or high school somewhere else in the world. Many come back to visit, providing us with positive feedback regarding the success of our goals.
The PYP focuses on the overall development of the child as an inquirer in the classroom, and in the world at large. The programme includes six specified subjects – language, maths, science, social studies, arts, and personal, social and physical education – and emphasises interdisciplinary skills and independent inquiry.
PYP focuses on a range of areas related to pupils’ overall development, including academic, social and emotional well-being; independence and the ability to take responsibility for their own learning; understanding the world and functioning comfortably as part of it; and establishing personal values centred around a global outlook and consideration for others.
The PYP comprises three pillars: the learner, learning and teaching, and the learning community. Student agency, which ensures that students have a voice and choice and take ownership of their learning, is at the centre of the enhanced PYP.
In the classroom
Units of inquiry are built around the six PYP transdisciplinary themes: Who we are; Where we are in place and time; How we express ourselves; How we organise ourselves; How the world works; and Sharing the planet. All science and social studies education is taught inside the framework of the units, and often many other subjects are part of them as well. If some subject-specific goals and skills do not fit under the unit work, they are taught as stand-alone topics.
The teacher and students look at the inquiry at hand through different conceptual lenses, to give the students chances to make connections across subject boundaries. The PYP key concepts are form, function, responsibility, causation, connection, change and perspective.
It is important for students not only to learn certain skills, but also to understand them and to connect skills in different subject areas to each other. The PYP transdisciplinary skills are thinking, social, communication, self-management and research skills.
The PYP believes that successful inquiry will lead to responsible student action. As an IB school, it is Vasa International’s obligation to make sure that there is opportunity for action within the unit of inquiry. The teacher guides the students in choosing action, and acting and reflecting on their action in order to make a difference in the world.
The culmination
The Exhibition is an important part of the PYP. In the final year of the programme, students undertake a collaborative, interdisciplinary inquiry process that requires them to identify, investigate and propose solutions to real-life issues or problems. They then present their findings to the community.
As the culminating experience of the PYP, the Exhibition offers students an exciting opportunity to demonstrate independence and responsibility for their own learning, and it is also a way to celebrate their transition from the PYP to the MYP.
