Primary Education

The programme for Years 1 and 2 is based on the International Early Years Curriculum (IEYC), which provides a rich, play-based learning environment for our youngest students.

Through this programme, we encourage young children to explore and discover the world around them, giving them the freedom to follow their natural curiosity. Learning through play and interacting with their surroundings allows us to support and respond to each child's individual development.

The IEYC is all about the real world. We bring elements of everyday society into the classroom, allowing children to explore the world through imaginative role-play. They become police officers chasing criminals, firefighters putting out fires, gardeners creating gardens, performers putting on theatre shows and plumbers installing pipes in and around a house.

These activities take place within different IEYC themes, such as Animal Antics, Let's Eat and Flowers and Plants. Learning through themes helps children develop enthusiasm for learning, make connections and find meaning in what they discover. They do this through interaction with their teachers, other children and the materials they use during play.

The International Primary Curriculum (IPC) was originally developed by Fieldwork Education in collaboration with the Foundation for Dutch Education Abroad (Stichting Nederlands Onderwijs in het Buitenland). Together with the original developers, the curriculum was further developed for and by a group of fourteen Dutch and international schools from around the world.

These schools wanted to offer a curriculum that not only focused on learning but also reflected the needs of an increasingly interconnected world. Today, the IPC is used in more than 1,000 schools across 65 countries. Schools working with the IPC form a vibrant global community of member schools, where teachers and schools learn from and inspire one another.

The curriculum consists of more than 80 different thematic units, each lasting between four and eight weeks. These units cover a wide range of stimulating and engaging topics, such as Treasures, The Rainforest, Mission to Mars, Chocolate, Health and Fitness, The Olympic Games and Making the News.

The IPC provides a continuous learning pathway from Year 1 through to Year 8. Subjects such as history, geography and science are taught in an integrated way, while meaningful connections are also made with language and mathematics. Each unit follows a clear structure, with specific learning objectives and expected outcomes.

Over the years, the IPC has proven to be an effective curriculum that inspires and motivates children to learn.

At DENISE, our IPC themes are planned around the learning objectives we aim to achieve, while also ensuring that we meet the requirements of the Dutch national curriculum. This creates a balanced educational programme that reflects both the school's ambitions within an international context and the standards set by the Dutch education system.