Welcome to Key Stage 2

Our Primary School is a unique and special international community school that puts our children at the heart of everything we do. The school’s philosophy is based around the holistic development of our children, ensuring that all students are given every opportunity to pursue their individual strengths and realise their potential. Discovery Bay International School’s Key Stage 2 consists of Years 3–6 and is the final of three parts of the children’s learning journey in our Primary School. Our children follow the Key Stage 2 National Curriculum of England, which is adapted and personalised to suit our international context and is delivered through a concept- and inquiry-based pedagogy. Our approach to learning is supported through our use of technology, the personalised challenge we offer all students and the support we give them to develop their independent and critical-thinking skills.

As in all sections of our Primary School, in Key Stage 2, we view students as having extraordinary potential for learning and the ability to form their own understandings of the world around them. Our focus is upon nurturing creative, resilient and independent learners who are excited and confident to experiment and explore through active learning. We pride ourselves on the excellent pastoral care given to support students throughout their time in the Primary School, maintaining a focus on wellbeing and positivity as they move through Key Stage 2 and into Secondary. The DBIS Learner Profile provides the foundations to support the children in becoming lifelong learners and critical thinkers. Supporting the development of different learning dispositions, behaviours and habits continues to be integral to our approach in Key Stage 2.

We continue also to value the role the environment (both physical and emotional) plays in ensuring students feel safe, valued and a sense of belonging in their school as this has a positive impact on their progress and attainment. Our environments are purposefully planned to ensure students are equipped with all the resources they need to learn and to enable them to follow personal lines of inquiry. Student voice and agency continue to play an important part in our Key Stage 2 learning environments, and this is reflected in the design of our classrooms and the learning walls that are present within them. We truly value the cultural diversity of our students and ensure the curriculum offers the opportunity to celebrate, understand and reflect upon the importance of internationalism. We encourage students to share their cultural backgrounds and information about celebrations and traditions that are important to their family, enabling all children to learn about and appreciate the rich community and diverse world in which they live. In Key Stage 2, our timetable moves towards a more subjectspecific format; however, it remains flexible enough to allow students the time and space to explore concepts and delve deeper into personal inquiries that emerge from their learning, especially within the Discovery curriculum.

We continue to identify the students’ strengths so that learning can be tailored to meet individual starting points, and we consider the knowledge, skills and understanding the children will need in order to successfully transition between year groups and eventually to Secondary School. Our students are supported to take risks, think critically and develop understandings through open-ended and guided inquiry, as well as through explicit teaching and activities. We passionately believe that learning does not just happen in the classroom, so we continue to offer an outstanding range of quality experiential and outdoor learning opportunities as well as an exciting and even greater range of extracurricular activities (ECAs), giving our students the opportunity to pursue their many and diverse personal interests and talents. Due to the distinct nature of living in Hong Kong, DBIS students are extremely aware of their global footprint. Environmental awareness is interwoven into the ethos of the school, with students continually searching for opportunities to make their community a more sustainable environment.

We place great importance on positive relationships and interactions amongst all members of our Primary School community as these support our holistic and inclusive approach. Throughout our Primary School, we view parents as our children’s first teachers, and by working in partnership, we can ensure that all students continue to value and enjoy their time at DBIS, that they are sufficiently challenged and supported in their learning and that they realise their potential in an inclusive, nurturing environment.

I hope the following pages give you an insight into our outstanding learning experience in Key Stage 2.

Hannah Tait Head of EYFS & Primary