PRIMARY · PYP
Ages 6–11
Where thinkers find their voice
The IB Primary Years Programme develops curious, knowledgeable, and caring young people - students who ask questions, think critically, and take action on what they discover.
The IB Primary Years Programme develops curious, knowledgeable, and caring young people - students who ask questions, think critically, and take action on what they discover.
At ASB, the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) is built around six transdisciplinary themes that take students beyond traditional subject boundaries: Who we are; Where we are in place and time; How we express ourselves; How the world works; How we organize ourselves; and Sharing the planet. Through units of inquiry, students don't just absorb content - they investigate, debate, experiment, and construct their own understanding. The result is literacy, numeracy, and critical thinking, built within a framework that makes learning meaningful.
A trilingual programme. Academic instruction is delivered in English. Daily Spanish and Euskera classes keep students rooted in local culture while they master global communication.
Each unit of inquiry unfolds over 6–8 weeks. Here's how a real unit - "Sharing the planet" - comes to life in a Primary classroom.
The teacher presents a challenge: "Who does the ocean belong to?" Students share what they already know and what they want to find out. Questions go up on the inquiry wall.
Students research marine ecosystems, read about overfishing, interview a local marine biologist via video call, and analyse data on plastic pollution in the Bay of Biscay.
Maths: graphing ocean temperatures and fish populations. Literacy: persuasive writing to a local council. Art: creating an installation from collected beach plastic. Science: water filtration experiments.
Students decide what to do with what they've learned. One group writes to the local ayuntamiento. Another organizes a beach clean-up. A third creates an awareness campaign for the school.
Students present their learning to parents and peers, evaluate what worked, and reflect on how their thinking changed. The teacher assesses understanding against IB criteria.
In one unit, students have used reading, writing, maths, science, art, and social studies - not as separate subjects, but as tools to understand something real.
Every spring, the entire fourth grade transforms into Hogwarts - months of rehearsal, hand-made costumes, a packed auditorium. One of the defining moments of Primary life at ASB.
Third-grade students write, illustrate, and perform their own poems - developing voice, confidence, and a love of language.
The whole program gathers each month to celebrate learning, share achievements, and connect across every grade level.
Every Primary student has a class teacher and Teaching Assistant who know them well - their strengths, their interests, how they learn best. ASB Primary uses the Second Step programme, a social-emotional learning curriculum building empathy, self-regulation, and friendship skills across all grades.
For students who need additional support: our ELL programme supports English Language Learners; Student Support Services provides individualised academic and learning support. No child navigates Primary alone.
In Grade 5, every student takes on the PYP Exhibition - a sustained, independent research project on a real-world issue they genuinely care about. They set the question, lead the research, and present their findings and proposed action.
It's demanding, and intentionally so. Students learn to manage a long-term project, work through uncertainty, and communicate their ideas with confidence. Many parents tell us it's the moment they see their child become an independent learner.
The curiosity, critical thinking, and independence built in the PYP - inquiry, critical thinking, independence, multilingualism - are the exact foundations the Middle Years Programme builds on.
Explore Middle School (MYP) for ages 12–16 →Visit our campus, meet our Primary teachers, and discover how the PYP brings learning to life every day.