Seychelles Primary School Syllabus - Social Studies

Social Studies Attainment Targets for Primary 3-6

The study of social studies provides learners with opportunities to learn about their own communities, their people, their values, cultures, contexts and achievements now and in the past. The learners become aware of the inter-relationships between people, their interactions with one another and with their environment. Source:

Primary 3

• Physical Geography: State some of the distinctive features of the locality (house, school, shops, roads, neighborhood, rivers, sea...).
• Human Geography: Identify and talk about the roles of people who serve the local community (myself and my family, my friends, relatives, members of the school community).
• Historical Aspects: Conduct simple investigations using the immediate environment on family history (grandparents, parents...), types of families (single parent family, nuclear family, extended family, foster family...), and historical places (houses, monuments and natural heritage sites...).
• Environmental Issues: Demonstrate respect to their immediate environment using practical and daily activities. Identify a variety of weather conditions using simple vocabulary (rainy day, sunny day, windy day, cloudy day, and the effects of these conditions).
• Map Skills: Describe the location of places using simple direction words such as near, right hand, left hand, opposite, beside, far away, next door, on my road, upstairs, and downstairs.
• Investigative Skills: Ask questions about places, people and activities in their immediate environment. Observe, compare and talk about natural and human features and activities in the immediate environment. Classify features in the immediate environment according to observable characteristics. Record information collected in simple ways.
• Organization and Communication: Present information collected in simple ways (orally, short paragraph, pictorially...). Answer simple questions orally and in writing.

Primary 4

• Physical Geography: Identify and locate the main features in their district, including natural features (rivers, mountains, hills, plains) and manmade features (school, clinic/hospital, market, shop, district administration offices, social centers, churches, police station, farms, offices, parks).
• Human Geography: Explain the roles of people who serve the local district community (postal worker, police officer, shopkeeper, doctor, MNA, DA, priest, teacher/head teacher, nurse, farmer, fishermen, mason, bus driver). Carry out simple research on all the districts' logos and administrative figures of districts (DA, MNA). Identify different types of homes in the district (flats, bungalow, terrace houses...).
• Historical Aspects: Investigate stories of historical importance to their district based on natural historical sites, monuments, artifacts and anecdotal findings.
• Environmental Issues: Use simple terms to identify and describe misuse of some aspects of the environments in the home and district. Illustrate through practical activities ways to use resources and places sustainably and minimize environment damages.
• Map Skills: Make simple sketch maps of home, immediate surroundings, neighborhood and journeys to and from home. Use basic map symbols to interpret, represent and locate places/features on maps.
• Investigative Skills: Ask questions about places, people and activities in the district. Select information from different sources to find answers to their questions. Record information collected and express opinions about issues that affect them and their environment.
• Organization and Communication: Communicate experiences and observations in various ways.

Primary 5

• Physical Geography: Identify and describe the basic physical features in Victoria and land use in Victoria.
• Human Geography: Identify and describe the basic human features in Victoria. Describe the population of Victoria. Explain the structure and roles of government. State some of the social activities held in Victoria. Explain the main economic activities in Victoria.
• Historical Aspects: Illustrate the history of the birth of Victoria. Conduct research on the historical sites, buildings and monuments found in Victoria and explain how the people from the past have interacted with the environment.
• Environmental Issues: Show the importance of living harmoniously with the environment. Identify the elements of weather and name the instruments to measure and record weather elements. Describe ways climate change impacts on the environment of Victoria yearly. Analyze how people can use facilities in Victoria sustainably and suggest ways to minimize environment damage.
• Map Skills: Use basic map skills to locate main roads and streets in Victoria, express relative locations, and draw simple sketch maps.
• Investigative Skills: Use different sources to investigate the historical sites, buildings and monuments found in Victoria. Observe, compare and describe human activities in Victoria through time. Using pictorial sources, state similarities and differences between some streets of Victoria today and in the past. Conduct simple surveys to determine the influence of Victoria. Record findings and make relevant conclusions.
• Organization and Communication: Record and communicate experiences, observation and information using simple structured texts, maps and visuals.

Primary 6

• Physical Geography: Describe the formation of Seychelles islands. Identify and locate on a map the main islands' physical features and different land uses. Describe the importance of the different land uses in the development of the country. Identify and locate Seychelles' neighboring island states on a map of the region. Locate and state some main features of Mauritius, Madagascar, and Reunion.
• Human Geography: Identify the various social activities in Seychelles. Describe ways both social and economic activities affect the lives and choices of individuals in the country. Describe the similarities and differences in the lives of people in various communities in the Indian Ocean region. Explain the importance of good partnership between Seychelles and countries of the Indian Ocean. Identify important organizations of the Indian Ocean countries. List some of the main imports and exports of Seychelles. Identify the different communications links with the outside world. Explain how good relationships between the different industries contribute to the effective functioning of the country.
• Historical Aspects: Differentiate the inter-cultural relationship between Seychelles and its neighboring countries.
• Environmental Issues: Explain the climate of Seychelles and list factors which affect it. Explain the impact of weather and climate on the activities of the people of Seychelles. Explain the science of climate change in simple terms. Explain the impact of climate change on the Seychelles environment, giving examples. Express views on the vulnerability of small island states.
• Map Skills: Use map symbols to interpret or represent features on maps. Identify and locate continents and oceans on world maps. Identify countries from different continents and locate their capitals. Identify countries with which Seychelles has good trade and communication links.
• Investigative Skills: Carry out research work for a given school project. Measure and record data using simple instruments. Identify sources and collect information. Present and interpret data from graphical sources.
• Organization and Communication: Produce structured work with descriptions and explanations.