 British Curriculum

The curriculum offered in Primary is multi-disciplinary,

interactive and internationally-minded. HELP International
School embraces a personalised model with students’
individual strengths and needs at the core of all learning and
teaching. Our mission is to maximise the potential and
accelerate the progress of every child. We strive to ensure all
of our students feel successful; develop a love of education;
and become confident, future-ready learners.

 International Primary Curriculum (IPC)

HELP International School adopts the International Primary
Curriculum (IPC) which ensures rigorous and participative
learning through an interdisciplinary enquiry-based approach
where students’ knowledge, skills and understanding are
developed. Learning with IPC takes a global approach,
embedded with a clear process of learning which covers three
main goals – academic, personal and international
mindedness. The themes are chosen to cater to the needs of
the students’ interest and age group, ensuring a balance in
subjects and learning styles.

 Singapore Mathematics
The Singapore Mathematics method is a highly effective
teaching approach that has been widely adopted in various
forms around the world over the past twenty years. The focus
of the syllabus is on future skills, with students applying their
mathematical knowledge and skills to solving problems in a
real-life context. The curriculum is now firmly embedded into
our daily learning timetable and has proven the vehicle for
creating confident and capable young mathematicians.
Levels

Milepost 1: Milepost 2 Milepost 3

Year 1 Year 3 Year 5
Year 2 Year 4 Year 6

Subjects taught:
• English (Reading, Writing, Phonics, Speaking and Listening)
• Mathematics
• Science
• Mandarin
• Bahasa Malaysia
• History
• Geography
• Computer Science
• Art
• Design and Technology
• Physical Education
• Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE)
• Music

Mr. Martin Van Rijswijk, Principal

Martin last served as the Principal of Whangarei School in New
Zealand

Mr. Shane Campbell, Deputy Principal,

Primary
 Mr. Matthew O’Shea, Deputy Principal,
Head of Secondary (KS3 & KS4)

Mr. Paul Lau, Head of Secondary (Sixth

Form)

Dr. Felicia Paulraj, Assistant Principal,

Secondary
HIS aims to be a school that helps your child celebrate “Life in
All Its Fullness” .The school motto translates from Latin as
“Life in All Its Fullness”. It reflects our mission to help
students live a life of significance and to succeed in life as
global citizens. It is our vision to become a world-renowned
school that embodies a holistic educational philosophy to
prepare our students to live full and significant lives as adults.
The raintree symbolises the fullness and abundance of life we
celebrate as a school.

The circle surrounding the raintree symbolises the globe and

reflects our commitment to adopting a global perspective of
education, uniting the best of East and West. The branches of
the tree are shaped to resemble the Chinese character “仁”,
which is a highly significant and meaningful character in both
the Chinese language and culture. It refers to the virtues of
“benevolence”, “goodness”, “kindness” and “integrity”. This
reinforces our belief that to live a full life and be a complete
person, we must remember that we are part of a community
and we need to be a blessing to others.

A Rich History of Academic Excellence

In the past 30 years, the HELP Education Group has helped
students attain success and meaning in life by providing them
with a world-class education. Hundreds of our graduates have
secured scholarships at world-class universities like Oxford,
Cambridge, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Chicago, UCLA, University
College London, Imperial College (London), London School of
Economics, Nottingham UK and the Australian National
University.
HELP International School (HIS) continues this fine tradition of
excellence and has quickly established itself as one of the
fastest-growing international schools in Malaysia with:

Over 1,400 students

Over 150 experienced teachers from all over the world
World-class facilities in a purpose-built campus just 30
minutes
from the KL city centre
A holistic and all-rounded education model combining the best
of Western and Eastern values
A research-led education programme supported by HELP
University’s
Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Behavioural
Science with its world-renowned Psychology Department
The ten Masteries are the foundation of the educational
approach at HELP International School. They reflect a learning
journey that equips young people with the essential skills to
live ‘life in all its fullness’.

1 – Intellectual Mastery
Developing a curious mind to enquire, evaluate and reflect
upon self, community and beyond.

2 – Emotional Mastery
Developing the humility to celebrate successes with dignity
and the resilience to cope with failures, in order to move
forward from different situations.

3 – Spiritual & Moral Mastery

Developing a strong sense of personal and community values
including compassion and integrity, while respecting a diverse
range of traditions, beliefs and ideologies.

4 – Leadership Mastery
Developing the ability to lead and engage in global issues, by
example and with moral purpose, asserting a positive and
magnetic influence over self and others.
5 – Physical Mastery
Developing a healthy, active lifestyle that includes a balanced
diet, regular exercise and a passion for sport.

6 – Social Mastery
Developing skills for effective communication, collaboration
and positive relationships whilst embracing diversity.

7 – Creative Mastery
Developing the ability to think, share, adapt and express
innovatively, through an enquiring mind.

8 – Career Mastery
Developing the resilience for meaningful talents, interests and
life goals.

9 – Technological Mastery
Developing skills and knowledge to thrive in a world of
accelerating advancements in science and technology.

10 – International Mindedness Mastery

Developing an understanding and appreciation for the diversity
of cultures in the world.

Our mission is to develop our students into curious, self-

directed, and resilient learners with a strong moral compass.
Our Purpose

During the period of September to December 2019, the School

Board and Leadership undertook an in-depth consultation
process with the students, parents and staff in our learning
community. Each group of stakeholders were encouraged to
indicate what they believed to be the school’s strengths, as
well as identify areas in which further improvement and
innovation. The starting point for these discussions was to
reflect upon Simon Sinek’s ‘Golden Circle’.

As Sinek notes, ‘very few organisations know WHY they do

what they do’. The WHY of a school is not simply about
achieving top grades. That is a result. Within the context of
HELP International School, the WHY is our purpose that
motivates and underpins everything that our school does. It is
the very reason why our school exists. After several months of
discussion and reflection, our learning community identified
the key elements as to the purpose of our education pathway:

To ignite a passion for lifelong learning, so that we can nurture

resilient, compassionate, critical thinkers in a constantly
changing world.

With this clearly articulated purpose statement, our

community of learners have agreed that our school’s
educational programme is to have a particular focus on:

1) Developing Lifelong Learners:

Within the context of our rapidly changing world, HELP
International School firmly believes that it is critically
important that each student possess the mindset, and
develops a capacity for Lifelong Learning. We are very mindful
that part of our task, as parents and educators, is to prepare
our young people for jobs that likely do not yet exist, using
technologies that haven’t yet been invented, to solve problems
and pursue opportunities that we still don’t yet know about.

Whether pursuing personal interests and passions or chasing

professional ambitions, a lifelong learning mindset equips
students to achieve personal fulfilment and satisfaction.

2) Developing Resilience:
In our increasingly connected world, resilience helps young
people gain life skills that help them deal with, and manage
challenging situations and circumstances that are
unfortunately unavoidable in life. These can include managing
unexpected change, going through transitions, dealing with a
range of stressors, and overcoming adversity.

The learning experiences at HELP International School are

specifically designed to encourage a sense of optimism,
emotional awareness and control, impulse control and self-
regulation, empathy and connection, self-efficacy, flexible and
accurate thinking in our young people so that they have the
self-confidence and ability to recover and overcome hardships.

3) Developing Compassion:
Compassion means we care about others, treat them with
kindness, and feel a strong desire to help people in need.
Compassion is empathy in action. The education at HELP
International School is designed to prepare our young people
to become leaders in society.
Compassion in leadership creates stronger connections
between people. It improves collaboration, raises levels of
trust, and enhances loyalty. In addition, studies find that
compassionate leaders are perceived as stronger and more
competent. As such, it is our hope that our future leaders will
not only work for their own personal success but also make
valuable contributions to society.
 4) Developing Critical Thinkers:
Within the context of our increasingly complex world, there
has never been a time where a capacity for critical thinking is
required like now. Critical thinking skills allow each of us to
understand and address situations based on all available facts
and information. Typically, using critical thinking at work
involves processing and organizing facts, data and other
information to define a problem and develop effective
solutions.

The learning approach at HELP International School is

designed to build student capacity to rigorously question ideas
and assumptions rather than to accept them at face value. We
encourage students to always seek to determine whether the
ideas, arguments and findings represent the entire picture and
are open to finding that they do not. We want them to be
active learners rather than a passive recipient of information.

Three Years Strategic Plan

HIS Strategic Plan
Leadership
Our Strategic Plan drives our continuous school improvement

Culture
Teacher Inquiry is embedded into our teaching practice, e.g
Apple Teacher Portfolios
Capacity
We equip our students to be leaders of the 4th Industrial
Revolution

Community
We engage with our community through digital parent
workshops and student showcases

In details
Strategic Aim: 1
Culture and Identity: Emotional IQ: Understanding our place
and responsibilities in the world
Guide learners to develop a balanced sense of self-identity,
understanding the opportunities and responsibilities that they
have as global citizens.
Our Key Outcomes

The attitudes and attributes of the 10 Masteries and the

School Values are reflected in how our young people conduct
themselves, both at school and in society
Students have a strong sense of personal identity, knowing
their history, cultural traditions and languages
Students demonstrate a clear capacity to understand issues
from different points of view and frames of reference, and are
able to express themselves with reasoning that is clear,
specific, relevant and open-minded

Strategic Aim: 2
Holistic STEAM Curriculum: Develop an authentic, relevant and
challenging curriculum
Challenge educational norms and boundaries to provide a
rigorous, innovative and trans-disciplinary learning journey
that has true relevance to our future
Our Key Outcomes

HIS recognised in Malaysia as a leading innovator in Science,

Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) and
in promoting Financial Literacy
Student creativity is cultivated through the school’s active
promotion of the arts, languages, sports and enterprise
Students exhibit effective deep learning skills of critical
thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, citizenship,
and character

Strategic Aim: 3
Growth Mindset: Develop self-regulating learners
Equip learners with the cognitive and non-cognitive
competencies and dispositions so that know they can and will
succeed
Our Key Outcomes

Students who are curious, resilient and optimistic in their

outlook, with the courage to step outside their comfort zone
Students who are metacognitively proactive in their learning,
with clearly evident ability to think critically and creatively
when approaching problems and opportunities
Students who are equipped with the social skills to
comfortably and effectively communicate with people from a
wide range of socio-economic, national and cultural
backgrounds

Strategic Aim: 4
Building Staff Capacity: Develop professional efficacy and
leadership
Cultivate a highly skilled, effective & reflective professional
learning community around the school’s Mission, Vision and
Values
Our Key Outcomes

The school’s guiding statements are highly visible and evident

in and around the school; community members can fully
explain the School Mission, Vision and Values, providing
evidence as to how these are enacted
Administrative operations are transparent, understood and
actively supported by all stakeholders
Efficient lines of communication across the school with all
stakeholders given a voice and kept fully informed as
evidenced by regular SWOT analysis and surveys

Our Story

The core purpose of the learning journey at HELP International

School is to ignite a passion for lifelong learning, so that we
can nurture resilient, compassionate, and critical thinkers in a
constantly changing world. Innovation is at the heart of this
learning journey as we strive to instil a broad range of
interdisciplinary skills and competencies. We believe that the
authentic integration and utilisation of technology, with a
special emphasis on facilitating opportunities to develop
creativity, collaboration and communication skills is key to the
success of our vision for learning. We want our students to be
active learners, able to demonstrate and express their
evolving understanding of the world, and the contributions that
they can make.

HIS recognized for the third time as Apple distinguished

School (2022-2025)
We are committed to developing an authentic, relevant and
challenging curriculum that challenges educational norms and
boundaries to provide a rigorous, innovative and trans-
disciplinary learning journey that has true relevance to our
future. This is a long term commitment which has been made
by our School Board and is reflected in our school strategic
plan.
Apple technology helps us to continuously innovate to prepare
students for the

Learning
Learning has never stopped in HIS despite the pandemic. All
teachers and students experienced a smooth transition
moving from face-to-face to an online learning environment.
With the iPads & MacBooks, it helps connects our school
community in synchronous and asynchronous learning
environment. Students use iPads to complete the assigned
tasks, develop personalised workflow, engage in real world
projects with authentic outcomes. We empower our students
to design their own learning path by facilitating in creative and
engaging ways. Across Key Stages, students develop
personalised workflow, combining a range of different learning
styles and Apps.
Success
We strive to reach our vision of being a leader in the 4th
industrial revolution by nurturing adaptivity in a changing
world by supporting infrastructure implementation and
evolution, extending possibilities in teaching innovation and
growth. In March 2020, our school went into lockdown and
immediately began online learning seamlessly across all levels
of the school. Our investment in training and a strong
technology foundation ensured this smooth transition. Albeit
the challenges, teachers were able to facilitate 295 days of
deep and personalised online learning, which resulted in
transformational learning as students used technology for
synthesis in virtual classrooms. Outside the virtual classroom,
Professional Learning sessions continued to promote student
and staff wellbeing while student services including learning
support

2014
HELP International School opens for the first time!
2017
HIS Awarded ADS status for the first time!
2019
HIS Awarded ADS status for the second time!
2020
School-wide STRATEGIC PLAN implemented
2021
Creation of the on-campus Digital Learning Hub
2022 & Beyond
Construction of a new STEAM wing in the school
Our school community strives to achieve ‘life in all its fullness’
by being open minded towards other cultures and learning
from each others’ uniqueness.

1. What Is the British Curriculum?

The British Curriculum is also known as the National
Curriculum for England, and this system of education stresses
creativity, critical thinking, and flexibility. Simultaneously, the
British Curriculum includes a series of measurable and
achievable goals, each designed to build on what went before
while preparing the student for their future work.

One of the first steps in selecting a great school for your

family is understanding the curriculum they follow. There are
several great options to choose from, and each has impressive
benefits for the students who study under that system.

2. What Are the Benefits of the British Curriculum?

A Globally Recognized System
A Focus on Both Breadth and Depth
Well-defined Key Stages Provide Clear Understanding of
Progress
Schools Encourage Growth Beyond the Classroom
There are many benefits to the British Curriculum
A Globally Recognized System
The British Curriculum, established in 1988, is one of the most
widely taught educational systems in the world. The education
is student-centered and well balanced, providing both breadth
and depth of subject matter. Students are assessed through
regular benchmarking, which ensures they have mastered the
content and are prepared for the International General
Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) and A level
qualifications.

A Focus on Both Breadth and Depth

The British Curriclum structures learning in a way that guides
students through a variety of subjects including not only ‘core’
subjects such as maths, science, and literature, but also the
arts, humanities, and more. Starting in the early years,
students focus on the fundamentals of their subjects, and as
students progress, the curriculum dives deeper into these
subjects, exploring not only the more nuanced and complex
aspects of the subjects, but also how they relate to other
areas of study.

Well-defined Key Stages Provide Clear Understanding of

Progress
Unlike the American Curriculum, which does not explicitly
define the stages of education, the British system is organised
in well-defined blocks known as ‘Key Stages’. The first stage is
the Early Years for students from 2 years old through 5 years
old. Once the student enters primary level, they start with Key
Stage 1 (KS1), from ages 5 to 7, before moving on to KS2,
which lasts from age 7 to 11. After completing the primary Key
Stages, students begin the secondary stages with KS3 and
KS4, which are for ages 11-14 and ages 14-16, respectively.
Students who plan to continue to university may then begin
the pre-university KS5, where they will study from age 16 to
18. Since the stages are explicitly defined and students are
assessed at the end of each Key Stage, the stages provide a
simple, clear overview of the progress a student has made.

Schools Encourage Growth Beyond the Classroom

As a curriculum which aims to develop well-rounded
individuals who not only understand the core principles of their
subjects, but also how to use this knowledge in real-world
situations, the British Curriculum places a high priority on
extracurricular activities such as team sports and performing
arts, which help students develop skills in leadership and
teamwork and to understand the intricasies of competition and
camaraderie. Schools that follow the British Curriculum also
encourage students to participate in activities that deepen
their understanding of academic subjects such as Model
United Nations, Debate, or STEM activities like robotics or
maths competitions.

3. International recognition of the British Curriculum

The British Curriculum is one of the most popular curricula in
English-speaking international schools. As one of the leading
international curricula, the British Curriculum is recognized by
schools, academies, universities, and employers worldwide.

Whether you plan to stay in one place for the remainder of your
children’s education or foresee your family moving several
times before graduation, knowing that your child’s education
will be applicable and transferable to other schools and
universities is crucial to ensuring educational outcomes.

Let’s take a look at the transferability of the British

Curriculum:
5. What to Look for In A Great British School?
Parents can inquire about school alumni’s successes, view
rankings in examinations and extracurricular activities, and
examine the campus and facilities. Families may also want to
learn about what schools offer outside of the classroom, for
example, the types of sports or educational activities.
The popularity of many internationally-recognised curriculums
means that there are often several schools in a given region to
choose from for each system. Whether you have decided on
the specific curriculum that is right for your child, or you are
still in the process of selecting, it may be helpful to know
whether the schools you are considering provide the best
possible outcomes based on the curriculum they follow.

This is what you should look for in an outstanding school

following the British Curriculum:

It can be a challenge to find the perfect school when so many

amazing British Schools to choose from
As a parent, you want to ensure that the school you choose for
your child will provide an excellent education and prepare your
child for success beyond the classroom. Each family will have
their own set of standards when considering a set of schools,
but some common characteristics make for an outstanding
British school.

Parents can inquire about school alumni’s successes, view

rankings in examinations and extracurricular activities, and
examine the campus and facilities. Families may also want to
learn about what schools offer outside of the classroom, for
example, the types of sports or educational activities.
The British Curriculum is a fantastic, internationally-
recognised system that provides a first-class educational
framework for students. It is uniquely suited for students who
plan to attend a British university or families that often move.

As one of the longest-running international curricula, the

British Curriculum has been tried and tested and has shown to
be a successful education system. This outstanding record of
success, along with a well-defined system of quality oversight
for schools and students, should provide parents with a sense
of confidence that their child will be receiving one of the best
educations available.

The Singapore math method is focused on mastery, which is

achieved through intentional sequencing of concepts. Some of
the key features of the approach include the CPA (Concrete,
Pictorial, Abstract) progression, number bonds, bar modeling,
and mental math.

One of the main reasons Singapore maths maintains its top

position globally is due to the strong framework that the
syllabus is developed upon. Singapore's MOE constructed this
mathematical framework that focused on 5 crucial aspects:
Concepts, Skills, Processes, Metacognition and Attitudes.

What grade is Singapore Math?

It's now available for Grades 1-6. This is a complete video
program covering all lessons for an entire school year. For
video instruction for Dimensions Math Grades 7-8, as well as
Primary Mathematics lessons, visit Singapore Math Live, which
provides tools and information for teaching those levels at
home.