Curriculum Contents

IST's Curriculum Contents are tied to the national curricula and standards of France and Germany, and draw from the Arizona State Standards, the Argentine National Curriculum and the National Curriculum of England and Wales amongst other sources. Our programme also has as a goal the development of an international-mindedness in our students.

The Curriculum is divided into:

• the Core Curriculum
• the Specialist Curriculum

The Core Curriculum of Language, Social Studies, Mathematics and Science is taught through the target languages or Languages A. Pre-School classes are taught entirely in Chinese, French, German or Spanish so that students entering the Junior School are orally equally proficient in both English and the non-English Language A. Students also learn the basic skills of reading and writing in the non-English Language A as these skills are directly transferable into English.

The Specialist Curriculum of Art, Music, Drama, Information and Computer Technology (ICT) and Physical Education is taught through the language of the teacher.

Please click here to see how the Core and Specialist Curricula develop and fit together.

• Topics
• Skills

The list of "Topics" corresponds to a traditional curriculum form and what students still study today in a traditional school, and indeed may appear to most parents to be what they studied when they were at school. "Topics" suggests Knowledge, Understanding, Creativity, Originality, Insight and Critical Response.

Unfortunately, a topic-based curriculum does not provide an indication as to exactly what a student learns, to what depth s/he studies it or whether s/he in fact learns anything. For this reason, the focus of the IST Curriculum is defined as a list of "Skills", what a student is expected to be able to do. "Skills" suggests the Demonstration or Application of Contents, Learning and Study Skills, Interpersonal Skills, and Subject-Specific Skills. The IST Skills are essentially a set of expected outcomes or standards, and they define what we expect our students to be able to perform or demonstrate with the Topics that have been studying.

All language programmes follow the same Curriculum although the associated language teaching points may vary, as may the depth or order of Topics. However, the Skills covered are the same.