The Primary school covers the years Prathom 1(Year 2 UK) to Prathom 6 (Year 7 UK). There are three classes in each year group. Each class contains pupils of all abilities and is assigned two class teachers; a local teacher and an overseas one. The primary school classes currently follow the Immersion Programme up to Prathom 6.

     The primary school is led by the Head of Primary (Thai Curriculum) and the overseas teachers are supervised by the Head of Primary (British Curriculum). There are currently 20 overseas teachers in the Primary school from the UK, Australia, the United States of America and Canada. All teachers are qualified to teach primary age pupils in their own country and all have previous primary teaching experience.

     The maximum number of pupils in each class is 24 and they are seated in four tables of six pupils. Each class is divided into Group A and Group B having a maximum of 12 pupils in each group. The pupils spend most of their study time in these groups, and only occasionally do they have whole class lessons.

     The Immersion Programme consists of three study stages that are comparable to the U.K. system:

• Early Years - Kindergartin 2 and 3

• Key Stage 1 - Prathom 1 - 2

• Key Stage 2 - Prathom 3 - 6

     Our curriculum is made up of three core subjects, which are:

• Language Arts - Literacy and General English taught by overseas teachers

• Thai Language – taught by the Thai class teacher

• Mathematics

    The following areas are also taught by the overseas teachers and in Thai by the Thai teachers:

• Science

• Theme Studies = Geography / History

• Reading Workshop

• Personal, Social and Health Education

• Physical Education (taught by a specialist Thai P.E. teacher)

• Art

    The pupils also study the following subjects in Thai:

• ICT

• Experimental Science

• Dance

• Swimming

• Piano

• Scouts

     Our curriculum planning takes into account the individual needs of our pupils and is constantly reviewed and evaluated to ensure that we provide quality of education. Quality teaching is provided by enthusiastic and motivated teachers. Wherever possible, appropriate links are made between the Thai National Curriculum and U.K. National Curriculum as followed by the Immersion Programme.

     The Immersion Programme follows the Thai National Curriculum and programmes of study as prescribed in the National Curriculum of England and Wales. However, modifications have been made to the UK Curriculum to take into account the specific language needs of the children and the local culture.

Kindergarten

    Our objective is for the pupils become familiar with English and gain confidence through regular English and Physical Education lessons taught by a Native English speaking teacher. Vocabulary and simple sentence structures are taught through songs, activities and games. 

Prathom 1(ages 6-7),

    In this year the emphasis is on acquiring English language, developing phonemic awareness and being able to function successfully in a bi-lingual classroom situation.

Our objective is to create a curriculum that is relevant and interesting and a stimulating learning environment in which individual needs are catered for by careful differentiation and planning. The children are encouraged to participate fully and enjoy learning and this is facilitated by the small teaching group size.

At Prathom 1 level, a teaching assistant provides extra language support to children at least twice a week. The teaching assistant also hears children read and discusses their books.

Prathom 2 -6 (ages 7-12)

    The children experience a more varied range of study with a greater emphasis on scientific and international oriented topics. At this stage we aim to provide challenging lessons that will help our pupils develop inquisitive and informed minds. They have the opportunity to explore, investigate and analyse throughout their academic studies.

Language Arts

    The aim of our Language Arts curriculum is to develop our pupils' abilities to communicate effectively with confidence and fluency in both speaking and writing and to be able to listen and read with understanding. Whilst we follow the UK Literacy as far as possible, we also utilize methodology and materials that are suitable for speakers of English as a foreign language (EFL), especially in the early years.

Those pupils requiring learning support in Language Arts are supported by one of our 4 Filipino teaching assistants.

Mathematics

    Our Mathematics programme follows the UK National Numeracy Strategy very closely. We emphasise the development of mental mathematics and allow the children frequent opportunities to participate in practical investigations.

The main areas of the mathematics curriculum as well as the associated vocabulary are revisited and built upon systematically during the course of each year.

Theme Studies and Science

    Theme Studies comprises of topics from history, geography, science and physical, social and health education. The children undertake project work that is based on themes from the QCA schemes of work but suitably modified to reflect our South East Asia location.

    Our Science curriculum is based on the UK National Curriculum. The emphasis is put on learning from first hand experience through experiments conducted inside and outside of the classroom. An important part of each unit is the development of scientific enquiry skills – thinking creatively, observing and evaluating, planning and designing experiments, and drawing conclusions. As with all subjects, the pupils are given extensive language support in order for them to successfully undertake each task.

    The Amnuay Silpa Immersion programme also has correspondence links with a school in New Zealand which provides a motivating way of developing the pupil’s literacy and IT skills.