Key Stage 1 & 2 (Year 1 to 6)

Primary Curriculum

At BXCL, students are at the heart of everything we do.

We cater for students from FS1 to Year 6, across the Primary School, ensuring that learning opportunities are suitably challenging, cross curricular and meaningful. We strive to foster a ‘love of learning’ in our students and equip them with skills and knowledge to realise their true potential. Teachers at BXCL focus on the learning needs of the individual child, with mastery of essential basic skills being one of the school’s fundamental goals. We follow an enhanced form of the National Curriculum for England (NCE) which has been tailored for our international context.

Grades And Ages

The primary curriculum is organized into different blocks called key stages

Year 1 (age 5-6)	Year 4 (age 8-9)
Year 2 (age 6-7)	Year 5 (age 9-10)
Year 3 (age 7-8)	Year 6 (age 10-11)

Subjects:

Mathematics
Science
English
Bahasa Malaysia
Mandarin
History

Geography
Art
Computing
Design and Technology
Physical Education
Music

Why Our Curriculum

Personalised Learning At Its Best

Exceptional Academic Outcomes

Proven Pathways To Global Higher Education

Diverse, Tight-Knit Community

Inspiring International Educators

Flagship School of XCL Education

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BXCL Testimonials

Miller Family
Testimonial

Mathias Family
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Alison Family
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Admission

Admission Process

Experience

Co-Curricular Activities

Ian Hopkins

Head of Primary

[email protected]

MBA, Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh & NPQH B.Ed. (Hons) Mathematics

Ian has been in education for over 25 years, beginning his career in teaching in the UK Primary sector where he taught for 16 years, 8 years as a Headteacher in three Primary schools prior to moving internationally. Ian completed the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) in 2007 and is currently undertaking his MBA through Heriot-Watt University. His first degree was a four-year Bachelor of Education with Mathematics from Liverpool Hope University College.

Ian joins XCL International School, Penang (BXCL) having spent the last four years working in China as a school leader in two of the Nord Anglia bilingual schools. Ian was the International Head of Primary in the largest of the Nord Anglia bilingual schools, NACIS, in Shanghai where alongside his co-Headteacher he led 1300 students aged 6-11 before moving to Nord Anglia Nantong as the Acting International Principal.

Prior to moving to China, Ian was at one of the Middle East’s leading international schools in Jordan, the International Community School (ICS), where alongside his role as Primary Headteacher he was also the line manager for their world class inclusion and counselling teams. Ian was also the whole school designated safeguarding lead and worked with the department for education in Jordan in developing policies and procedures which were designed to ensure the safety of all students accessing education in and across Jordan.

ICS was three nominated three times for International School of the Year during the time Ian was a member of the school leadership team, winning in 2018 in the area of Inclusion, nominated twice for its work on safeguarding.

Ian’s first international headship was in Kenya where he led a growing Pre-Prep and Prep school in Nairobi.

Ian has led schools through inspections under the Ofsted framework in the UK in addition to British School Overseas (BSO) inspections during his time internationally. During his leadership in Jordan, Ian was the chair of the steering committee which guided ICS through CIS (Council of International Schools) accreditation. He has also completed the training to be part of the COBIS (Council of British International Schools) Patrons Peer Accreditation teams.

As an educator and school leader, Ian believes very much in a child-centred approach to learning. He puts his students first considering their academic needs are met but ensuring that as a school the teachers also understand that to attain and make progress they need to cater effectively for the child’s emotional and physical needs.