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Branksome Hall

Three young girls in school uniforms sit together on a rope swing in a playground surrounded by trees. Sunlight filters through the branches, and other children play in the background.

Primary Years Programme

The PYP is all about teaching young students how to learn.

How to Apply

JK–Grade 6

The Junior School sparks a joy and interest in learning that will stay with a student for life. Caring teachers stimulate natural curiosity. Small classes allow for the personal attention that helps a young girl thrive and develop her self-esteem.

What PYP Offers

The Primary Years Programme (PYP) is a framework designed to foster holistic development and nurture a lifelong love of learning.

From Junior Kindergarten through Grade 6, the PYP challenges students to think critically, research deeply and develop globally minded perspectives on a broad range of issues.

Students experience learning that is engaging, significant, challenging and relevant as it spans between, across and beyond traditional subject boundaries.

A group of young children sits in a circle on a green rug in a brightly lit classroom, listening to an adult. The room has large windows, tables, shelves with supplies, and colorful paper in the foreground.

The PYP Framework

The PYP framework is developed and revised based on the latest research related to brain development and how children learn.

The PYP Framework

The PYP curriculum framework encompasses five key elements: knowledge, conceptual understandings, skills, dispositions and action. These are developed through six transdisciplinary themes. Learners are empowered to take initiative, develop the attributes of the IB Learner Profile and engage in meaningful action within their communities through their learning.

Development of Approaches to Learning Skills

Students cultivate the Approaches to Learning that include thinking, communication, research, social and self-management skills. These transferable skills help students learn how to learn, equipping them to navigate new challenges, reflect on their thinking and take ownership of their learning.

Six Transdisciplinary Themes

Guided by six transdisciplinary themes of global significance, students broaden their learning by developing their conceptual understandings, strengthening their knowledge and skills across, between and beyond subject areas.

Inquiry-Based Instruction

Inquiry is at the heart of the PYP. Drawing from the transdisciplinary themes and students’ interests, purposeful, student-centered inquiry provides authentic opportunities for learners to explore, question and make sense of the world around them. It nurtures curiosity, deepens understanding, challenges assumptions and fosters a genuine enthusiasm for lifelong learning.

Let Her Curiosity Lead the Way

Through Branksome's Primary Years Programme, young minds explore, question and grow every day.

How to Apply

Two young girls smiling, standing close together. One girl stands behind the other with her arms wrapped around her in a hug. Both are wearing plaid skirts and white shirts. The image is in black and white.

PYP Coordinators

Have a question? Reach out to our academic coordinators.

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Lara Down Assistant Head and PYP Coordinator

Andrea Mills

Andrea Mills Assistant Head and Pyp Coordinator