Language as a Transdisciplinary Thread in the PYP at Chatsworth

Language at Chatsworth International School goes far beyond reading and writing; it is central to how our students make sense of the world, express their ideas, and build connections with others. Within the inquiry-driven framework of the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP), language is thoughtfully integrated across all areas of learning. It fosters rich conversations, deep thinking, and meaningful understanding within our diverse international school community. Examples from across year levels, shared in this article, demonstrate how language is not taught in isolation but is used as a powerful transdisciplinary thread that supports the development of critical skills throughout the academic programme.

Supporting Language Across the Curriculum

All teachers are language teachers. At Chatsworth, language development is intentionally supported across subject areas through a collaborative approach. Teachers plan together to ensure that students have the tools they need to comprehend content, organise their thinking, and communicate effectively. Classrooms make use of a variety of scaffolding techniques tailored to student needs, while both formative and summative assessments provide timely feedback that informs next steps. This ensures that every student engages meaningfully with the curriculum, regardless of their language background or starting point.

Language Beyond the Language Classroom

Across the PYP, students explore significant big ideas through up to six transdisciplinary themes that help them understand their world and their place in it. At Chatsworth, language acts as a bridge that supports students in accessing, developing, and communicating their thinking across every unit of inquiry.

For example, during a Year 1 unit under the theme Who We Are, students explore the central idea: Our actions impact our lives and the lives of others. Through a range of fiction and nonfiction texts, they consider ideas around identity, community, and responsibility. They listen to stories from various perspectives, participate in role play to reflect on their own experiences, and practise sentence starters to describe themselves and their feelings. Vocabulary related to kindness, cooperation, and community is introduced through shared reading and reinforced in class discussions.

As students reflect on their roles in a community, they connect their learning to real-life situations and classroom routines. In every part of this learning, whether reading, speaking, listening, or writing, language supports their understanding of themselves and others. This unit, like many others at Chatsworth, shows how language is not just taught but lived.

Kindergarten: Building Language Through Inquiry

In Kindergarten, our youngest learners develop their understanding of language through meaningful, hands-on experiences that are closely connected to their units of inquiry. During How the World Works, children explore the central idea: Water plays an important role in our lives. Stories, songs, weather charts, and simple experiments are used to help them learn new vocabulary related to water, weather, and the water cycle. Class discussions link their observations to everyday experiences, while flashcards and picture prompts support word recognition and language development.

Students express their ideas through role play, drawing, and early writing, using phonics knowledge and inventive spelling to communicate their thinking. Whether identifying signs and labels, sounding out CVC words, or sequencing a story, language learning in Kindergarten at Chatsworth enables students to make sense of the world, build confidence, and use language in purposeful and playful ways.

Language as Thinking and Communication

Language supports students in thinking critically and communicating with purpose. In Year 5, for example, students explore the central idea Children worldwide encounter a range of challenges and opportunities as part of their unit under Sharing the Planet. They examine child protection through the lens of rights, responsibilities, and the challenges children face across different contexts. By analysing news articles, they learn how writers use structure, voice, and persuasive techniques to engage readers. Using these examples, they craft their own articles, embedding key messages from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). This helps them develop informed, empathetic perspectives on global issues.

Later, in their next unit How We Express Ourselves, students investigate how media and marketing influence opinions and behaviour. They write persuasive letters encouraging people to visit their market stalls, explain the importance of supporting their chosen non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and design marketing materials such as slogans, jingles, posters, and other creative visuals,

These real-world applications show how language empowers students to advocate for causes they care about while building communication skills that are purposeful, authentic, and audience-aware.

Multimodal and Multicultural Language Learning

Language at Chatsworth reflects the diverse ways people express and share meaning across cultures and contexts. Students engage with multimodal texts by combining visual, oral, digital, and symbolic communication to deepen their understanding and share their ideas.

In Year 3’s unit Where We Are in Place and Time, for instance, students explore celebrations and festivals from around the world. They express their own cultural experiences through personal narratives, crafting engaging recounts about holidays and special events. This learning flows naturally into their next unit How We Organise Ourselves, where they investigate systems and the roles individuals play within them. Drawing on previous learning, they collaborate to plan and run their own celebration. As part of this, they write letters requesting approval from school leaders, clearly explaining their purpose and ideas. Throughout the unit, students blend writing with speaking, visuals, and teamwork to create authentic, meaningful language experiences. 

The Role of Student Voice and Agency

Fostering student voice and agency is a priority throughout the learning journey. Across year levels, students are encouraged to take ownership of their learning by selecting authentic ways to express their ideas, such as persuasive writing, graphic narratives, or visual storytelling. Language provides them with the means to communicate clearly and engage in meaningful advocacy. One notable example comes from a Year 6 Exhibition project focused on gender equality in sports. Aspiring to be an athlete herself, a student noticed the absence of female representation on fooball tables and felt motivated to act. Her inquiry involved conducting research, analysing survey data, crafting persuasive texts, and composing a sincere letter to the manufacturer. Language, in this context, became a tool for raising awareness and advocating for change on an issue close to her heart.

When students are given real choices in how they communicate, they begin to appreciate the power of language, not only to demonstrate what they know, but to influence the world around them.

Language as a Lifelong Skill

At Chatsworth, language is viewed as a lifelong skill that helps students make sense of the world, connect with others, and express who they are. Within the PYP, students learn language, learn about language, and learn through language. They develop essential skills in reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, and presenting. They also begin to understand how language works, how words are chosen, how sentences are structured, and how messages change depending on the audience. Most importantly, they use language every day to explore ideas, ask questions, work with others, and share what they have learned.

As a transdisciplinary thread, language weaves through all areas of learning and enables students to build understanding across subjects in meaningful and connected ways. Through these experiences, students grow as confident communicators who understand the power of words, not just to show what they know but to make a difference in their communities and beyond.

______________________

References

• Eden, C., Onyebuchi, N., & Idowu, A. (2024). Parent and Community Involvement in Education: Strengthening Partnerships for Social Improvement. International Journal of Applied Research in Social Sciences, 6, 372–382. https://doi.org/10.51594/ijarss.v6i3.894
• Hopfenbeck, T. N., Denton-Calabrese, T., Johnston, S. K., Scott-Barrett, J., & McGrane, J. A. (2022). Facilitating Curiosity and Creativity in the Classroom: An International Multisite Video Study. Oxford University Centre for Educational Assessment, Department of Education, University of Oxford.
• Jia, K., Kang, R., Wang, Y., Ma, L., & Liu, X. (2024). Constructing an empathy education system: Values, principles, and approaches. Journal of Moral Education, 1–29.
• Sanders, M. G. (2003). Community involvement in schools: From concept to practice. Education and Urban Society, 35(2), 161–180.