Curriculum

The School Vision and the Mission, Philosophy, Aims and Objectives (MPA&O) are at the heart of everything we do at The British School. 

Vision
“A caring community, striving for excellence, where every individual matters.”

Mission
“The British School aims to develop responsible, well-informed, open-minded, confident and caring individuals by providing an educational community within which all pupils are motivated to realise their full potential through a challenging British-based education in a non-discriminatory and bi-cultural environment.”

Our Curriculum Model

This is the underlying philosophy of our curriculum:

The inner circle represents the pupil, who is the centre of everything the school does. Values, as espoused in the school’s Mission statement and pastoral elements of the curriculum surround the core, supporting the pupil’s overall development.

The subsequent circles represent the cross-curricular skills, themes and links which are developed through integrated planning across year groups and subject areas in order to recognise and explore the holistic nature of knowledge and learning. The study of contemporary and local issues, both across and within subject areas, gives relevance to what is learned.

The discrete subjects - grouped into Mathematics, Sciences, Languages, Humanities, Arts and Physical Education - are represented in the next circle, recognising their integrity and unique contribution to knowledge and learning.

The outer circle contains the ‘Seven Principles’ which guide all stakeholders towards the fulfilment of The British  School Curriculum vision. The seven principles of the curricular vision are:

1. ATTITUDE: It is vital that teachers and pupils develop a positive attitude to their work and in their relationships with others.
2. LIFE-LONG LEARNING: The central purpose of education is to enable and encourage life-long learning by developing a sense of curiosity and by acquiring the skills which make learning an effective and enjoyable experience. All stakeholders are learners within a learning community.
3. RELEVANCE: Within the established curriculum framework, every opportunity must be taken by all teachers to develop both relevance and utility for the majority of the pupils by incorporating local and contemporary issues into their programme and teaching.
4. INTEGRATION: It is the duty of every department to find ways in which to integrate their work with that of other departments.
5. GUARDIANSHIP: Every member of staff should act as a guardian of these principles and ensure that they are put into practice. Managers are responsible for supporting colleagues and monitoring progress towards fulfilling these principles.
6. HOLISTIC LEARNING: The development of the whole person is the basis for success, including academic achievement and a readiness to make a positive contribution to society. It is therefore the role of every teacher to take a holistic approach to education that is academically challenging for each individual pupil but also acknowledges the importance of - and supports and encourages the development of - a wide range of skills, abilities and talents for all pupils.
7. TEACHING FOR LEARNING: Every teacher must follow the curriculum framework and principles of teaching for learning and supporting assessment strategies as defined by school policy.

Pupil Profile

Alongside the curriculum model is the ‘pupil profile,’ which makes explicit the attributes of TBS pupils that underpin the MPA&O.
Our aim is not only to develop diligent and effective learners in the academic sense but to support the overall healthy development and positive outlook of young people.
The pupils are brought up in a diverse community, which is outward looking and expects its members to understand the wider world, its challenges and opportunities. We give much attention to encouraging initiative and independence. We expect our pupils to be well-motivated, caring, out-going and positive. We encourage them to participate fully in the life of the school and in the local community.
All of our graduates aim for a place at university either in Brazil or overseas and the curriculum demands are progressively academic in order to enable them to achieve this. The emphasis on academic achievement, however, is balanced by our concern to develop our students’ physical, emotional and social needs. Our objective is that they will be thoroughly well prepared for the next important stage of their lives.

These are the Pupil Profile Attributes:
Friendship, Respect, Caring, Perseverance, Responsibility, Honesty, Acceptance
Cooperation, Self-discipline, Independence, Motivation, Enquiry.

Learning and Teaching

Pupil learning is the central purpose of everything that happens in the school. Moreover, the school recognises itself as a learning community in which all members are learners, with open minds and a readiness to improve their knowledge, understanding and performance.
The school is responsible for helping pupils prepare for life in two broad aspects – the acquisition of knowledge and skills and the development of social and personal attitudes and values. While much teaching and learning is broken down into specialist subjects and disciplines, the cross curricular and holistic aspects of learning are constantly recognised and developed. Throughout the school, pupils are encouraged to take increasing control of, and responsibility for, their own learning.
The school employs a variety of strategies to deliver the curriculum, including whole-class teaching, individual work and cooperative group work. Practical experiences, both inside and outside the classroom, are a vital aspect of our curriculum. Throughout the school, day outings, fieldtrips and residential trips are organised to support learning.

Language of Instruction

English is the language of teaching and learning throughout the school and is used in all areas except for Brazilian Studies, Modern Languages and Portuguese.

All teachers are bilingual, allowing children to develop both Portuguese and English simultaneously.

In Pre-Nursery and Nursery classes, Portuguese is used as an initial means of communication with children who are non-native English speakers. For new overseas arrivals a ‘Portuguese for Beginners’ class is offered.  

There is no equivalent English beginner’s programme, which means that pupils entering the school at any level other than Foundation Stage must have an appropriate level of proficiency in the English language.  Support for Foundation Stage and Lower Primary children is offered in certain cases.

Meeting Individual Needs - the Learning Support Partnership

Every child is an individual with their own special strengths and levels of success which can change at different times during their learning journey. The school acknowledges the needs of all its learners by having in place a dedicated team of learning support specialist teachers.  Children who may be experiencing any kind of learning difficulty will be identified as early as possible and given extensive support both in and outside the classroom, for as long as is deemed necessary by both the classroom teacher and the learning support teacher.

In the Secondary School, pupils see a much greater number of teachers throughout the day and it is the Class Tutor’s role to monitor a child’s daily welfare. Class Tutors liaise with the student’s subject teachers on a regular basis about academic progress, behaviour and attitude.

A Careers and University Guidance programme offers advice on university applications and career choices and includes a two-week Work Experience programme for all Class 10 students.

Behaviour Management at The British School

The MPAO is the heart of all we do at TBS, and in order to ensure that we are able to fulfil our mission we have a behaviour policy in place.

Good behaviour doesn’t always just happen, and as such we have to ensure that the children are guided in this skill of making positive choices that will be essential throughout their lives.

For more, see also: Behaviour Management at The British School

Assessment, Reporting & Grades

All teachers are continuously assessing the learning of their pupils in order to inform both pupil achievements and their own teaching.

From Infant 1 onwards, at the end of each unit teachers assess the key objectives, pupils write a comment on their learning and targets are set. 

In Foundation Stage and Primary, four written reports per year are sent to parents, containing assessment of these units:
April for Learning Unit 1; July for combined Learning Units 2 and 3; September for Learning Unit 4 and December for combined Learning Units 5 and 6.

In addition to written reports Parent and Teacher consultations are held twice a year (four times in Foundation Stage).

From Class 5 to 11, four written reports per year are sent to parents, containing assessment and effort grades.