Learning - UWCSEA's Curriculum from K1

Our K–12 academic curriculum is shaped by our UWC Mission. Through our academic programme, students develop life-long intellectual habits and passions. Learning goals for our students build logically through each grade, preparing students for the next academic challenge and for life beyond school.

The UWCSEA Academic Curriculum is mission-aligned and aims to develop student understanding of concepts necessary for building a peaceful and sustainable future. These understandings are derived from UNESCO’s Education for Sustainable Development Goals and, along with the skills and qualities of our UWCSEA Learner Profile, are reinforced through the other four elements of our learning programme.

Explore academics by school

Primary School (K1–G1)

The learning activities of infant-aged children are interdisciplinary in nature, reflecting their experiences outside of school. In developmentally appropriate ways our littlest learners explore concepts and develop a well-rounded understanding of these concepts, as well as an ability to connect ideas and knowledge across different academic disciplines.

Infant School learning is inquiry-based and students engage in units of study and learning that work towards age-appropriate conceptual understandings in the following academic disciplines:

Literacy
Language other than English or English as an Additional Language
Mathematics
Humanities
Science
Music
Art
Physical Education (PE)

Specialist teachers deliver Music, Languages and PE lessons. Coaches work with classroom teachers to support Literacy, Mathematics and age-appropriate integration of technology in the classroom.

Students also explore topics such as personal identity, self awareness, family and friendships through our Personal and Social Education (PSE) programme. The PSE programme aims to support them in developing a sense of belonging as they explore their own independence and autonomy.

The Infant School learning is intentional and connects directly to our K–12 curriculum. Teachers adjust their unit and lesson plans to ensure students’ backgrounds, interests and learning needs are taken into account. Each student is supported by a teaching team that includes their classroom teacher and teacher assistant.

Primary School (G2–5)

The Junior School (G2–5) academic curriculum is structured around a holistic, inquiry-based approach to learning. This is integrated with a personal and social education programme (PSE) that supports students in exploring topics such as friendships, family, personal identity, and self-awareness.

The school day begins at 8am and ends at 3pm. Many students then participate in the after school activity programme until 4.15pm. The school week is divided into 43 periods, and while periods can vary in length according to the time of day and the day of the week, the average length is around 40 minutes per period.

Junior School staff are organised into small teams to ensure that students feel welcome and supported. A student’s main contact is with the classroom teacher, who is supported by a teaching assistant.

Specialist teachers provide lessons in Physical Education, Music, Art and Languages. Instructional coaches work with classroom teachers to support Mathematics, Literacy and the age-appropriate integration of technology into their classroom practice.

Our service curriculum is also woven into the academic programme through the units of study, as students are introduced to a 'Systems Thinking' approach which involves the initial investigation of an issue, to planning a response, and taking appropriate action. They learn to take informed and purposeful action by choosing between action types for example: direct action, indirect action, advocacy, and research. Students are coached at all stages of the process, to be reflective, evaluating the impact of their intervention. Finally, they share their learnings with their peers with the goal of inspiring others.

Middle School (G6–8)

Our Middle School programme extends the concept-based learning of Primary School, and refines interdisciplinary learning into individual subjects. Students have specialist teachers for each subject, who guide them in fundamental skills required for higher studies in each discipline.

These teachers specialise in teaching Middle School age students. Students are taught in class groups except for subjects that require differentiation for specific learning goals, such as languages and physical education.

Students are offered a broad and balanced range of subjects in the Middle School programme. The core subjects are English, Mathematics, Science and Humanities, including History and Geography, which both weave in some basic economic theory through our specially designed concept-led courses. In addition, courses in Visual Art, Drama, Music, a Language other than English (or EAL if needed), Physical Education and exploratory subjects in a number of Design and Technology specialisms ensure that students are able to develop knowledge and skills across a range of academic disciplines.

Through exposure to the varied range of Middle School subjects, students are prepared to make informed choices when asked to select the specialised two-year courses that are offered in Grades 9 and 10 as part of our High School programme.

High School (G9–12)

UWCSEA offers an academically challenging and personally enriching High School programme. As our students will tell you, UWCSEA is a great place to spend your High School years in a dynamic welcoming environment.

One key quality in all our High School students is their positive approach to learning. Central to the College’s values is the view that effort and commitment are vital qualities if a student is to be happy and successful. Students are expected to maintain strong effort profiles and be actively and positively engaged in the classroom and in school life. We encourage our students to be self-disciplined and considerate of others.

There are four curriculum offerings in the High School; the curriculum stream a student joins depends on the age and stage at which they join the College:

Grade 9 (normally at age 14): UWCSEA Courses provide a modular approach to learning for students entering the College in Grade 9 and 10.
Grade 10 (normally at age 15): a robust IB preparation, our Grade 10 UWCSEA Courses programme on each campus equips students with a firm foundation of knowledge and skills from which to begin the IB Diploma Programme.
Grade 11 (normally at age 16): graduates are awarded a UWCSEA High School Diploma, and most students also undertake the two-year IB Diploma Programme (IBDP) which culminates in external examinations and an internationally recognised pre-university qualification

In the High School, our academic programme specifically takes into account the requirements of external examining body that sets the IB Diploma examinations that the majority of our students sit at the end of Grade 12. UWCSEA was the first school in Asia to offer the IB Diploma, and has been offering one of the most extensive IB Diploma subject offerings to students in Singapore since 1977. It is also the only school in Asia to currently offer the innovative new IB course 'Systems Transformation: Leadership for Change', as part of global pilot in partnership with the International Baccalaureate.

Grade 9 and 10: UWCSEA Programme

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Dover Campus Grade 9 and 10 Programme

East Campus Grade 9 and 10 Programme

IB Systems Transformation: Leadership for Change

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Dover Campus IB Diploma Programme

East Campus IB Diploma Programme

Academics in action: concept-based teaching and learning

Q&A on academics at UWCSEA

How will my child adjust to your curriculum? They have been attending a different school system and we want them to transfer in successfully.

The conceptual nature of our curriculum focuses on ideas that can transfer across the world. This supports students who are joining us from different countries, educational systems and backgrounds. For example, while the content of a chosen text in English or a specific time period in History may vary between educational systems, the concepts that underpin that subject area remain the same and the learning is therefore transferable between systems.

Teachers at UWCSEA are well versed in supporting students moving into their classrooms from other educational systems, and provide differentiated opportunities in each classroom to support these students. In subjects such as mathematics and languages, we sometimes ask incoming students to sit an assessment so as to understand their individual attainment specific to the UWCSEA curriculum. We can then place them in the most appropriate class, where they can be both appropriately supported and challenged as they transition into UWCSEA.

We don't think we'll be in Singapore for graduation—will my child be able to transfer successfully from your concept-based approach to a different system?

Because our curriculum focuses on teaching concepts (rather than specific knowledge on specified content), and we do this through a focus on developing skills and qualities that support students to then apply these in their learning across different contexts, our students are able to transition into new curricula models and schools should you need to relocate before graduation. Our anecdotal evidence suggests that students who leave before graduating are well-equipped for their new curricula and classrooms.

Feedback from our alumni tells us that the holistic nature of the UWCSEA experience means that the education they experienced here continues to positively influence their lives well into the future, even if they did not graduate from UWCSEA.

Why doesn't UWCSEA use an internationally recognised programme in K–8? How does the programme differ from the IB PYP?

The design of the written curriculum is informed by our Guiding Statements, the needs of our individual students, the depth of experience of our teachers, and research-based best practice drawn from around the world. Adopting additional external programmes from K–8, which bring their own standards and frameworks, would reduce the College’s ability to work flexibly to implement a mission-aligned education for our students.

When constructing the learning goals of our K–12 curriculum, we used the IB Diploma Programme as a yardstick. This allowed us to work backwards and develop rigorous, developmentally appropriate learning goals for our K–8 students.

Many of our teachers bring many years experience in teaching the IB PYP at other international schools around the world when they join UWCSEA.

How does UWCSEA ensure students are keeping up with those who attend schools with recognised external curriculum (e.g., IB PYP, IB MYP, IPC)?

Assessment of the knowledge, skills and understandings of the UWCSEA curriculum takes place in a variety of ways. Within the context of the classroom, teachers construct formative (ongoing) assessments to gain a snapshot of student understanding, as well as end of unit assessments that summarise each student’s learning progress.

The College likewise uses data from external assessments, such as ISA testing (currently run annually for students in Grades 3–10), or the IB Diploma examinations (end of Grade 12), to look for school-wide learning trends that may inform our regular curriculum review cycles.

UWCSEA's concept-based curriculum was developed following extensive research that examined best educational practice across the world, and our educational leaders continue to refine our unique curriculum across all five elements—academics, activities, outdoor education, personal and social education and service.

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