The British School in Tokyo

Primary Curriculum
Informationwww.bst.ac.jp | Tel: 03-5544-9160

Message from Head of Primary
A very warm welcome to the BST Primary School. It is a great
privilege to be leading this excellent school, offering anoutstanding British education from Nursery at age 3, to Year 6 atage 11, with wonderful facilities in central Tokyo.
I firmly believe in the importance of providing an innovative andchallenging all-round education during the Primary School years.
I am therefore delighted that our recent ISI inspection report(January 2012) affirmed that BST offers an “excellent education”
to students at all levels.
Our committed and highly professional staff offer outstanding
teaching of a broad and contextually enriched curriculum,individualised to meet the needs of all students. Together, withthe wealth of extra-curricular activities, we strive to develop
potential from within, encouraging each student to grow inconfidence, flourish academically and develop a life-long love oflearning.
To get a real flavour of the very special experience BST offers
each student academically and pastorally, please do come andvisit us.
Together with the staff and students, I look forward towelcoming you.
Eleanor LoranHead of Primary

The Learner Profile
The BST Learner Profile and Teaching Framework presents ourcollective educational philosophy by outlining the attributes
that will most likely produce life long, high performing learners.
We believe that by using this shared approach we will help toachieve our vision of nurturing each student’s unique potential
and a strong sense of self, built around purpose and passion.

EYFS Curriculum
In line with UK standards, we follow the EYFS (Early YearsFoundation Stage) curriculum which sets standards for thelearning, development and care of children from birth to5 years old. The curriculum is broken down into 7 areas oflearning and development (3 Prime and 4 Specific areas).
Each area of learning and development consists of a numberof Early Learning Goals (ELG’s), 17 in total, which are used tosupport early childhood development. The Early Learning
Goals (ELGs) are the goals or targets for children to achieveby the end of the Reception year. They will be working
towards these goals throughout the EYFS. Furthermore, the3 Characteristics of Effective Learning (CoEL) are used tounderpin the learning that takes place in the Early Years.
Children in the EYFS will be supported across the wholecurriculum, engaging primarily in child-initiated challenges aswell as targeted and well planned teacher inputs to ensurechildren develop across the curriculum.
By the end of Reception, a summary of your child’sdevelopment and achievement in response to the Early
Learning Goals (ELGs), as defined in the EYFS Curriculum is
produced in the format of an EYFS Profile, alongside an ‘Endof Year’ report. This supports their transition into Year 1 andonto the English National Curriculum.
In the EYFS Profile, your child will be given an attainment levelfor each of the 17 aspects of learning. Assessments take placethroughout the year through teacher observation of children’s
learning and development, as they take part in adult-led andchild- initiated activities and planned observations. Each childwill be assessed as either ‘emerging, expected or exceeding’against each aspect of developmental learning.
To be awarded at the ‘expected’ level, the class teacher will
have observed them consistently achieving it independently
on at least 5 occasions. The judgment of ‘emerging’ simply
means they are working within the level but have notconsistently demonstrated their ability to achieve it whilst atschool.

Enabling Environments
Our learning environments are strongly influenced by theprinciples of the Reggio Emilia approach, which was founded by
Loris Malaguzzi, who believed the environment should be viewed
as the ‘third teacher’ and which should be carefully designed tosupport and inspire children’s learning and development. Our
child centred environments encourage children to take ownershipof their learning, with open ended opportunities for explorationand discovery.
Learning spaces are flexible and communication friendly, with
opportunities for the children to work on a variety of different
levels and have autonomy over how and where they work, bothindividually, or collaboratively with others.
Children’s work and learning is documented and shared with thecommunity through neutral displays, where the children’s work
brings the colour to the classroom. We promote and put value into
sharing the process of learning rather than just the final product,and encourage our children to constantly reflect and collaborate
in order to move their learning and ideas forward.

Primary Curriculum
EnglishThe English curriculum at BST provides children with thenecessary skills, knowledge and attitude to access a range oftexts, as well as create their own pieces of ambitious writing.
They explore high-quality texts right from Nursery to Year6, as well as rigorously practising the skills needed to accessreading and writing.
Phonics
In EYFS and Year 1 the teaching of phonics is an importantpart of the English curriculum. Children will learn how to apply
their phonic knowledge and skills in order to decode words,
learning how to blend the different sounds in unfamiliar
words.
Reading
Throughout their school life, children will experience a rangeof reading books. Sharing and listening to exciting stories
encourages a love of reading.
All children will have taught guided reading sessions. During
these sessions they will be exposed to a wide range of texts
and genres, and be explicitly taught the reading skills needed
to become confident, competent readers. The Guided
Reading format varies depending on the year group andis decided by class teachers in discussion with their teams,
considering the needs of their class.
Writing
At the heart of our English curriculum at BST are high-quality,engaging texts. Each year group chooses these texts to fit
in with the wider topics being studied across the curriculum,
so that the children’s writing is always contextualised. The
children are exposed to a wide range of text types andexplore writing a variety of texts, so that by the end of Key
Stage 2 they have the skills to tackle any writing opportunitythat presents itself.

MathsOur children are taught to apply their sense of number andnumber patterns, as well as shape, space and measure to coremathematical concepts including number and place value, often
identifying and representing numbers using objects and pictorial
representations.
We recognise the value of equipping our children with the skills tounderstand the mathematical world around them.
Inquiry-Science and Humanities
Our inquiry approach to learning is largely based on the Concept
Based Inquiry approach (or CBI). It very much encourages
learning in a way which leads to transferable understanding andways of thinking that equip children with the knowledge to learn
in the context of the modern world. Ultimately children form theirown knowledge and understandings rather than being given
them and they are encouraged to ask questions and explore theirideas, alongside their teachers who act as a guide to support
them on this journey. Children have the opportunity to develop
their understanding of themselves and the human body, as wellas the world around them.

KS1 Curriculum
Key Stage 1 (KS1)
Leaving the EYFS environment behind and moving to Year 1
can seem like a big step for both children and their parents,
but at BST we do all we can to make this transition as
seamless as possible and continue to develop our creative,
child-centered approach to learning.
Learning through play remains a key part of life in Year 1 but
as children move through the year, their day becomes a little
more structured.
In Years 1 and 2 (Key Stage One) we are committed todeveloping independent learners who foster curiosity, agrowth mindset and embrace challenge. At BST we always
endeavour to set high expectations and we support all ourstudents to reach their potential. We believe in providing
children with rich learning opportunities that stimulate andbroaden their knowledge, skills and understanding instilling alifelong love of learning.

KS2 Curriculum
Key Stage 2 (KS2)At BST we provide a broad and balanced skills based curriculum,
which has its foundations in the English National Curriculum but
extends well beyond its boundaries.
Our curriculum is designed to foster curiosity, engagement andappropriate challenge. We truly believe that all children arecapable of high academic and personal success. We aim todevelop students who can think for themselves, who are sociallyconfident, and who have the skills to succeed at study, work andin life.
Our broad and balanced programme focuses on the attributesof the BST Learner Profile, such as being inquisitive, showing
empathy and hard work with an emphasis on the acquisition ofcore skills in literacy and numeracy. These skills are then applied
to meaningful lines of inquiry, providing exciting opportunities
to explore key concepts in science, humanities and the arts.
Technology and a 1:1 personal device provision is used to support
all aspects of the inquiry process from research to publicationand from design to construction. Computing skills are furtherenhanced by a weekly lesson taught by our digital technologies
specialist teachers.
Whilst we are first and foremost a British School we are extremely
proud of our Japanese context and wherever possible we
make links to the culturally rich environment that surrounds
us. Throughout the school year there is a range of day trips,
residential expeditions and service learning opportunities thattake advantage of everything Japan has to offer and challenge
young, inquisitive minds.
Competency in Japanese language is an expectation for all
students and specialist teachers offer bespoke classes according
to language ability and experience. In addition, children have theopportunity to learn French. Children develop their knowledge
and understanding of a language through a variety of interactive
methods, including: role play, group work, interactive activities,
singing songs and studying Japanese culture.
Physical Education and Music are taught by specialist teachers
and where possible follow relevant links to the inquiry based
programme. Children experience a wide range of sports andmusical genres and have the opportunity to compete in sports
teams and perform in musical productions and ensembles.

Expeditions & Outdoor Education
In keeping with our philosophy that education should extend
well beyond the confines of the classroom, BST Outdoors is anambitious school-wide programme offering opportunities forstudents to develop some of the important skills and attributes
that will stand them in good stead for the rest of their lives.
It includes participation in a broad range of adventurous
expeditions and challenges, and our upper Primary students areinvited to complete the Junior Duke Award.
From Year 1 onwards our students participate in our Outdoors
residential programme which generates much enthusiasm andexcitement throughout the school. For some students these trips
provide a first taste of life away from home and they certainly
encourage the development of independence and resilience in asafe environment.
We have found that such shared experiences are often thestarting point for lasting friendships.