To achieve a balance in learning, the Primary Years Programme emphasizes five parts of the written curriculum which are called the Essential Elements of the curriculum.

These five elements are:

1. Concepts
2. Knowledge
3. Skills 
4. Attitudes
5. Action

The Programme of Inquiry:

Who We Are
An exploration of the nature ofthe self; of our beliefs and values; of personal, physical, mental, social and spiritual health; of our families, friends, communities and cultures; of our rights and responsibilities; of what it means to be human.

Where We Are In Time and Place
An exploration of our orientation in place and time; of our personal histories; of history and geography from local and global perspectives; of our homes and journeys; of the discoveries, explorations and migrations of humankind; of the contributions of individuals and civilizations.

How We Express Ourselves
An exploration of the ways in which we discover and express our nature, ideas, feelings, beliefs and values through language and the arts.

How the World Works
An exploration of the physical and material world; of natural and human-made phenomena; of the world of science and technology.

How We Organize Ourselves
An exploration of human systems and communities; of the world of work, its nature and its value; of employment and unemployment and their impact.

How We Share the Planet
An exploration of our rights and responsibilities as we try to share finite resources with other people, with other living things; of communities and of the relationships within and between them.