International School in Tai Po, Hong Kong

Norwegian International School, Hong Kong:
The Norwegian International School (NIS) is an independent, non-profit, Christian school that provides an intimate, family oriented quality education for international and Chinese students in Tai Po, south of Hong Kong in southern China. We follow International Primary Curriculum (IPC) with programs taught in English. In a nutshell IPC takes specific subject learning goals and delivers learning through well-planned thematic studies. The goals fall in domains of science, geography, history, ICT, art, music and P.E.

The International Primary Curriculum (IPC) is a relatively new curriculum that is being established in many schools around the world. This is integrated curriculum that focuses on specific subject learning goals in thematic units of work. Learning goals include those from Science, Arts, Geography, History, Society, Personal Growth, and International learning amongst others. This is supported by other subject curriculums in Christian Studies, Math, English, Chinese, Music and P.E. Some classes are combined where mix age groups can learn together whereas some classes may be divided into small groups to teach according to student ability.

Through these subjects, children are able to respond in different and exciting ways to the themes they are studying. When they do this, children are both using and developing their knowledge and skills in each subject. The IPC is based on the most recent research into the brain and learning. The units of work are set up so that students most effectively access learning

English and English as an Additional Language EAL
The medium of instruction in the school is English. A good part of the morning is spent in learning it in the Language Arts period. As we are aware that many of our children come from families where the English is not the primary language at home, teachers employ EAL (or ESL) approaches to help students become strong readers and effective communicators in English.

For younger learners, particular emphasis is given to learning to decode words through synthetic phonics.

Chinese
Chinese is important in Hong Kong as it is for the future of many of our children. The school is looking for ways to make the learning environment more bilingual so that students can have adequate practice and experience in using the language. Putonghua lessons are taught 3 times a week using traditional Chinese characters.

The strength of our Chinese program rests on our co-teaching approach that addresses the learners’ different skill levels.

Maths & Science
Maths is a stand alone subject that is based on a British curriculum whereas science is integrated with many of the IPC units of work.

The Arts
Art work is incorporated into many IPC units. Teachers choose from a variety of art forms for teaching the skills and appreciation for works in drawing, painting, sculpting, and modeling. Similar drama is also incorporated in IPC units and Language Arts.

Music is taught as a stand alone subject and focuses on music appreciation, theory and history, and developing skills in choir, and instruments that include percussion, hand-bells, recorder, and ukulele.

Athletics
The P.E. program ranks among the favorite subjects with students at NIS. The students’ level of fitness is our primary concern. Fitness testing, conditioning and developing specific skills are included in the lessons which take place on the football pitch beside the school and the indoor sports hall at the Tai Po Market complex. Students focus on individual fitness and sports goals as well as team work and co-operation.

NIS students participate in inter-school competitions and Hong Kong wide competitions. After-school-activities also provides many opportunities to enjoy different sports and games.