Through this, they can develop social skills and explore language.

Children develop phonics skills through fun, practical learning activities.

Play has an important role in child development and learning at school.

Our storybook approach to teaching literacy provides excitement and a solid context for developing speaking, listening and writing skills.

What is the main language of instruction at the school?

Most lessons are instructed in English, based on an adapted English National Curriculum with an international perspective.  

Lessons in local curriculum subjects (in Uzbek and Russian) are additionally provided to host-country nationals.  When local curriculum lessons are in progress, expatriate children receive additional lessons or clubs instructed in English.

What classes will you open in 2019-20 and 2020-21?

WIST will offer the full range of Early Years and Primary classes to children aged 2-11. Our core curriculum is an adapted UK Early Years Foundation Stage and English national curriculum. Additional lessons in Uzbek and Russian are also provided, to ensure that all national educational requirements are met for host-country nationals.

The terms MS (Mainstream) and Accelerated English (AE) are explained on the Curriculum page.

What curriculum do you deliver in your Preschool (ages 2-4)?

Our Preschool classes use the internationally respected Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum for children aged birth – five years.  We respect and value how the EYFS prioritises the bedrock of early childhood development – growth in communication skills, healthy physical development and personal, social and emotional development – and strongly believe that if a child is progressing in these areas and feels safe and happy in school then they will make excellent overall progress.

Preschool teachers also lay the foundations for success in reading, writing and mathematics using a blend of intelligently designed educational play activities and focused individual and group sessions that nurture specific skills.  The emphasis on literacy and numeracy increases somewhat in Nursery and quite distinctly in Reception as children near transition to the Primary School.

What curriculum do you deliver in your Primary School (ages 5-11)?

Children in Years 1-6 will study an adapted English national curriculum comprised of the following subjects Additional lessons in Uzbek and Russian are also provided, to ensure that all national educational requirements are met for host-country nationals.:

• English
• Guided Reading
• Mathematics
• Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths (STEAM)
• Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE)
• Humanities (History and Geography)
• Physical Education (PE)
• Modern Foreign Languages (MFL, such as Russian, French, Spanish and German)
• Art and Design
• Music

Pupils in our Primary School will enjoy an exciting range of learning experiences blending collaborative and project-based learning with educational play and traditional teaching.  This is an approach proven to promote sustainable high levels of academic achievement as well as personal, social and emotional wellbeing.

WIST’s state-of-the-art IT infrastructure, with interactive whiteboards, mobile devices and cutting-edge educational software in all classes, is one of the keys to our vision for an authentic 21st-century learning journey.

How will the school meet the educational needs of children with different levels of proficiency in English?

In line with our ambition to be a high-achieving school and also one that nurtures children’s potential, pupils aged 4 and older will enter one of two educational streams: Mainstream (MS) or Accelerated English (AE). 

Streaming students in this manner will enable children who already have full academic proficiency in English to achieve at the highest possible level from day one, while ensuring that EAL Children who speak English as an Additional Language – i.e. those to whom English is one of a number of languages they speak or who have a mother tongue other than English. learners also receive teaching specifically tailored to their needs.

In Primary School Mainstream classes, lessons will be pitched at a similar level to those taught at any first-rate international school.  We aim for these students to meet or exceed UK age-expectations in assessments by the end of Primary school; most will significantly exceed these by the end of Secondary School.

In Primary School Accelerated English classes will be similarly aspirational environments using teaching approaches closely adapted to the needs of emergent English-speakers. In practical terms, this means making extensive use of colourful images, dual language resources, language-rich educational play activities, hands-on learning and a wide range of other strategies proven to accelerate English language acquisition.

The school aims for the vast majority of children to graduate from Accelerated English to Mainstream within 1.5 – 2 years; we will carefully monitor pupil progress and class numbers to make this a reality.

How do your teachers ensure that learning is enjoyable and exciting for children?

Learning in the Preschool

Learning in the Preschool for the most part involves educational play intelligently designed to meet the key curriculum objectives.  Teachers facilitate learning by carefully observing, questioning and prompting children and generally minimise ‘teacher-talk time’ addressing whole class groups.

Preschool classrooms are exciting, ‘enabling environments’ with a range of activities for children to choose from.  For example, every class has a role-play area which links to the topic/s that the class is learning about; this might be modelled on a farm, a zoo, a post office, a police station or a  travel agency…. the possibilities are endless. Role-play areas are a powerful catalyst to imaginative play, nurturing communication and collaboration skills, vocabulary and mathematical development.  Budding ‘shoppers’ and ‘shopkeepers’ practise their counting,  ‘police officers’ listen to people’s descriptions of lost or stolen possessions and ‘travel agents’ and ‘travellers’ discuss holiday destinations, book flights and choose hotels.  This is great fun and, when facilitated skilfully by professional teachers, results in powerful learning!

More formal, teacher-led activities also occur during the course of the day, such as teaching letter sounds, phonics, counting or adding, but these are generally conducted in small groups for age-appropriate periods of time, rather than as whole-class ‘lessons’.  According to educational research, children are capable of passively listening and concentrating for their chronological age + 2 minutes (i.e. a 4-year-old child can listen effectively for around six minutes); hence we limit ‘teacher talk time’ and maximise opportunities for learning in fun and practical contexts.

Outdoor learning is absolutely central to our approach to Preschool education.  We are fortunate to have fully-equipped playgrounds and outdoor learning areas specifically tailored to our curriculum.  Weather permitting, it’s our aim for Preschool children to spend around 50% of their learning time outside, enjoying being in the open air!

Learning in the Primary School

Children in our Primary School experience a blend of traditional and modern teaching.  Educational games, collaborative and project-based learning and the use of technology are balanced with high-quality teaching and opportunities for diligent practice of core skills such as reading, writing and mathematics.  This approach optimises pupils’ engagement and, in doing so, encourages sustainable high levels of academic achievement and a positive attitude to learning.

According to educational research, children are capable of passively listening and concentrating for their chronological age + 2 (i.e. an eight-year-old is can listen effectively for around 10 minutes); in recognition of this, we blend concise teacher-led sessions, lasting approximately 10-12 minutes, with independent, paired and group work.

Opportunities for pupils to choose topics and activities that interest them and to select the level of challenge of the work that they undertake are woven into the fabric of both curricular and extracurricular provision.