>10 Things Headteachers should know about the IPC

10 Things School Leaders should know about the IPC

The International Primary Curriculum (IPC) was originally designed and created by Fieldwork Education to provide an international curriculum for a group of 14 schools around the world. The IPC was launched in 2000 and is now being implemented in over 1000 schools in 65 countries. The IPC was introduced into the UK in 2003 where there are now almost 800 primary schools using the IPC to deliver a creative, rigorous curriculum to children of all abilities. Membership support is available to all schools who purchase the IPC.
The principle of the IPC is to focus on a combination of academic, personal, and international learning for children worldwide combined with innovative, exciting, engaging and real ways to learn.
Fundamental to the IPC approach to learning is a clear progression in skill development. This even applies to the personal learning goals which emphasise adaptability, resilience, thoughtfulness, cooperation and respect and which, as a result of progressive skill development, help children to become able and inspired learners.
The IPC is the first curriculum in the world to have international-mindedness explicitly built into the learning. Internationalism is embedded throughout, helping children to develop a coherent international-mindedness through all subjects; approaching their learning from their own local perspective as well as from the perspective of others around the globe.
The IPC is helping to engage and inspire children of all abilities as a result of stimulating, child-centred, thematic, cross-curricular units of work which encourage collaborative learning and address learning styles and multiple intelligences.
Ninety different thematic units of work (each spanning between 4 and 8 weeks) on such stimulating, modern-day topics as Treasure, the Rainforest, Mission to Mars and Beyond, Chocolate, Fit for Life, The Olympics and Making the News span from early years through to early secondary education. Through its cross-curricular approach, each unit separates yet integrates the foundation subjects and science while enabling links to literacy and numeracy and each unit ensures rigour, identifying clear outcomes.
The IPC directly supports teachers by providing rigorous and meaningful teaching frameworks. As a result, this allows teachers to spend more time planning creative, personalised learning for their children.
The IPC provides comprehensive curriculum materials with cross referencing of IPC learning goals to a number of National Curricula including English, Welsh and Dutch. It also supports member schools with a global community of other IPC members to link with, professional development and conferences, a member’s website which includes a forum for teacher communication and a platform for sharing resources, and an on-line Assessment for Learning programme that assesses all the foundation subjects plus international-mindedness.
Consistently, IPC schools are receiving ‘excellent’ and ‘outstanding’ reviews for curriculum provision (see section: Ofsted/Inspection Reports). In the UK, HMI and QCA have both applauded the IPC’s rigour and ability to engage multiple intelligences. Mick Waters of QCA has recently described the IPC as “excellent.” Schools are attributing improvements in SATs and other test results to it. Other schools are associating improved attendance levels with the IPC.
Over the past five years the IPC has been the stimulus for change in schools around the world of wide-ranging standards. Many good schools are investing in the IPC as a means of going from good to great. Conversely, there is evidence to show that the IPC is a major player in turning around poor schools. The IPC is just as successful in inner-city schools as it is in small remote, rural schools, just as relevant for children who need challenge and extension as it is for children in academies.