INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS
Pudong ~ Shanghai, China

Our aim at the British International School, Shanghai is to provide your children with the best possible education.

Our system is based on the National Curriculum (England) and applies to all our pupils of statutory school age, Year 1 (5 years old) and above. It is organised on the basis of four Key Stages with individual progress monitored by standardised assessment tests. Our children in Pre-nursery learn through play and work, with the focus on developing speech and social skills. We have a full timetable each day covering all aspects of potential learning giving children the opportunity to learn at their own pace. Thus, creative development, through art, music, dance and role play, stories, mathematical development, communication, language and literacy, physical development, personal, social and emotional development, knowledge and understanding of the world and outdoor games, will be their areas of learning. Our goal is to ensure that your child reaches the appropriate level of learning before moving on to the Foundation Stage Curriculum which begins when children reach the age of three.

Our children in Nursery & Reception (Foundation Stage), aged 3-4 years old, follow the Foundation Stage Curriculum based on the recommended UK Early Learning Goals. It acts not only as a transition between home and school, but also develops in children the learning habits necessary to access education at a later age.

The Foundation Stage Curriculum is organised into six areas of learning:

• Personal, social and emotional development

• Communication, language and literacy

• Mathematical development

• Knowledge and understanding of the world

• Physical development

• Creative development 

The Early Learning Goals establish expectations for most children to reach by the end of the Foundation Stage, but are not a curriculum in themselves. The Foundation Stage develops key learning skills such as listening, speaking, concentration, persistence and learning to work together and co-operate with other children. It also develops early communication, literacy and numeracy skills that will prepare young children for Key Stage One of the National Curriculum.

The National Curriculum (England):

• Sets out the most important knowledge and skills that every child has a right to learn

• Gives standards that measure how well children are doing in each subject so teachers can plan to help them do better

• Is a framework given to the teachers by government (England), so that all school children are taught in a way that is balanced and manageable, but difficult enough to challenge them 

A more formal structure ensures that children develop their potential in all areas of the National Curriculum, but especially in the core subjects of English, Maths and Science. In Key Stages One and Two the children are taught mainly by the class teacher, making use of cross-curricular topics embracing not only the core subjects, but also:

• Art

• Design

• Technology

• Geography

• History

• Information and Communication Technology

• Music

• Personal, Social and Health Education

• Physical Education

• Chinese and French are taught: 

  at appropriate levels depending on your child's fluency in these languages

The complete National Curriculum (England) can be accessed at www.nc.uk.net.

The British International School, Shanghai, while basing its curriculum on the UK model, also reflects the locality of the school in Shanghai, China. We provide an appreciation of the different cultures and religions from which our children come.