Curriculum

We deliver this learning through the International Primary Curriculum (IPC), tailored to students in HK and our community context. The IPC is a comprehensive, thematic, creative curriculum designed for children 5-11 years old, with a clear process of learning and with specific learning goals for every subject, for international mindedness and personal learning. We bring learning to life by empowering students to follow their passions, take ownership and find ways to apply their learning in their daily lives. 

In order to provide strong Maths and Literacy foundations, our English programme is based on the UK National Curriculum, which emphasises reading, writing, speaking and listening. Our Maths programme follows the White Rose Maths approach, which develops children’s conceptual understanding of mathematics by using concrete objects, pictorial representations and abstract thinking.

English

English literacy is essential for learning, thinking and communicating in the global era, and it is integrated throughout YCA’s primary education. Students follow a well-structured language programme based on the UK National Curriculum. This programme teaches pupils to speak and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others whilst also developing their love of reading through a variety of engaging core texts. In our writing programme, we focus on articulating and communicating ideas, and then organising them coherently and dynamically  for the reader. At YCA we have a well established progression of clearly articulated objectives for all areas of English literacy learning. This allows our students to build their knowledge, skills and understanding through a well-paced, developmentally appropriate continuum.

Maths

Students love our mathematics programme. It covers essential mathematical skills and knowledge. At YCA, mathematics provides students with essential skills and knowledge in number and algebra, measurement and geometry, and statistics and probability. Our teaching and learning approach and methods help to develop confident, creative users and communicators of mathematics. Students will be equipped with the ability to make connections between mathematics with real-life scenarios, other curriculum subjects and apply problem-solving and reasoning skills to a variety of situations. A key strength of the curriculum is that it develops an increasingly sophisticated understanding of the four mathematical concept areas, recognizing connections between the areas and making it an accessible and enjoyable subject to study.

Chinese

YCA’s Chinese programme encourages children of all proficiencies to enjoy conversing in the language and developing a love of the language. The programme uses ACTFL proficiency guidelines and IB language scope and sequence as standards. The programme aims to provide an education in both oral and written Chinese. The classes are taught in Mandarin with Traditional Characters. Our dedicated teaching team offers support across all levels.

We offer three language pathways to best accommodate our learners. Placement is based on each student’s skills and their level of language exposure at home.

• Foundation Pathway students will develop abilities in conversing in Mandarin in everyday life situations. For our non-native students, the teacher will provide English instructions, flash cards and games to support home learning.

• Intermediate Pathway students will learn how to communicate in social situations, explain and identify story structures and foster abilities in writing, appreciating and understanding literary works.
• Advanced Pathway students will present and discuss their writing with peers and adults as well as writing, appreciating and understanding advanced literary works.

Christian Studies

We provide a bespoke Christian Education curriculum called Journey 2:52, based on the verse: Luke 2:52. It is developed on the premise that faith is a personal journey, and though we are all at different stages of our lives, we are able to learn and grow together in our faith. The curriculum teaches Christian values and is grounded in our shared vision for all students – to grow in Christlikeness and develop in mind, body and spirit.

Wellbeing

At YCA we foster a holistic, strength-based approach to student well-being by highlighting key elements of the Jigsaw (UK PSHE Curriculum) and Positive Education Enhanced Curriculum (Australian Geelong Grammar Curriculum). By using the strengths of both curriculums, we aim to proactively teach children the skills and concepts of well-being using evidence-based practices from the field of positive psychology. Our well-being curriculum teaches concepts and activities that are developmentally appropriate for the social and emotional development of children at different ages and stages. At the beginning of the school year, all children carry out lessons as part of our Social and Emotional Toolkit which includes the topics: Self-Control, Solve It Together, Big Problem vs. Small Problem, Helpful vs. Hurtful words, Fair vs. Equal. Our uniquely adapted curriculum is designed to ensure that children in YCA will be equipped with a toolkit of strategies to support their social and emotional growth; cultivating positive relationships, emotions and character traits that will allow them to live healthy and fulfilling lives full of abundance.

Physical Education

At YCA, our high-quality Physical Education curriculum inspires all pupils to understand and adopt healthy attitudes and habits with regard to physical fitness and well being. Our programme is taught twice weekly and supports students in developing the skills required to become physically confident and access a wide range of sports. These opportunities build character and help to embed values such as fairness and respect. We are blessed with a wide range of facilities in the local community that enables us to access a broad range of sporting activities such as swimming, basketball and football.

Innovation / STEM / Coding

At YCA we know that powerful learning in science based subjects sparks curiosity in children. Children are able to develop this curiosity by asking questions and engaging in hands-on, real-world learning experiences. Our Innovation Space at YCA combines a fully operational science lab with a growing maker space/design technology area. This provides opportunities for students to engage in cross disciplinary project based learning such as building mars rovers, coding robots and designing and constructing their own inventions.  

Our curriculum is built around students studying scientific and engineering principles that govern the world around them. We empower them to ask questions and refine their questions so that they can investigate and find answers by themselves. Our aim is we want them to be able to follow a cycle that allows them to prototype, to test, to refine and to communicate their ideas and leverage the power of community.

Arts

At YCA we value creativity. Our high-quality art curriculum engages, inspires and challenges pupils whilst equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art. As students develop these skills, they become confident in thinking critically and developing a more rigorous understanding of what art is. We believe that art should contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our community and offer children the experience of taking their artistic skills outside the classroom by visiting galleries, engaging in community projects and displaying their work in the community.

Music

We follow a well-researched and field tested music programme called The First Steps in Music. This curriculum prepares and nurtures students’ music growth in three ways: to be tuneful, to be beautiful and to be artful. There are eight parts to every lesson from pitch exploration to song fragments to Arioso (child-created tunes) to Movement with the beat. The classes are taught following the Orff music education approach, where students are taught Music Literacy, develop confidence in Music Performances and have a good understanding of different music genres through Music Appreciation.