Year 6 PYP Exhibition

Over the last 4 ½ years the teachers have been working to implement the International Baccalaureate’s Primary Years Programme (PYP) at Lindfield. In essence, the PYP is a framework that encourages the development of all necessary basic skills and provides students with opportunities to see the natural connections that exist between key learning areas. The PYP also allows us to focus on developing young learners that reflect the attributes of the learner profile; inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced and reflective.

Over the last four years we have noticed a distinct difference in these quality of the boys. This has been seen in the quality of their questions, their lateral thinking, their ability to communicate their understanding and their desire to do something with their learning. As such, it was timely to conduct our first PYP Exhibition with this year’s Year 6 Class.

Over the course of approximately 7 weeks, the Year 6 Class conducted an inquiry into the Central Idea; “Finding solutions to human made issues can lead to new beginnings’. This central idea was developed by the boys after some initial brainstorming and discussion about the Sharing the Planet theme.

The Exhibition requires the boys to investigate a local issue using primary sources (real people, places and things) and to propose a possible solution.

In small groups, our boys chose the following local issues to investigate; shark finning, asylum seekers, bullying, racism, over-population, cyber bullying, homelessness, coral bleaching, sweat-shops, and rubbish.

On the evening, we were privileged to hear a group of passionate and committed young men confidently discuss these issues and share their learning. Those that attended were struck by the level of knowledge and the maturity of the boys, particularly given the complex nature of the issues that they had chosen. The boys proposed solutions were thought-provoking and challenging and many of the visitors left still wrestling with an appropriate response.

On the evening, I had a conversation with one of our parents who had previously asked about the preparation our boys receive for High School. I am certain that by the end of the evening, everyone in attendance had no doubts about how well prepared our boys are, not only for High School, but also for life.

Communication about learning – Spaces, Class Blogs and Prep Talk

In response to feedback received through the recent Parent Survey, we have conducted a review of our communication systems, particularly in relation to sharing the boys’ learning with parents.

As a result, we will be providing the following regular updates through Spaces, the Class Blogs and through a revamped Prep Talk.

Spaces – each week, teachers will provide a summary of the learning for the coming week. This will include specific details about learning goals for each key learning area so that parents can feel comfortable about what their son is learning and be able to discuss this with him in the coming week.

Class Blogs – some classes have already begun using the Class Blogs, and this will increase in the future. The Class Blogs will be used to highlight examples of the learning from each class each week. It is not intended to be exhaustive, but instead to provide a snapshot of the classroom.

Prep Talk – we are planning to publish Prep Talk less often and to make each edition more succinct. Some of the material that has previously been in Prep Talk will be put on Spaces, allowing Prep Talk to be more punchy and focused on major school events and the boys’ learning.

If you have any feedback about these changes please let me know.

Reporting Discussion Workshop

Some parents commented that there was too much reporting, others suggested there wasn’t enough. It is difficult to find a balance.

Over the last few years we have adjusted our reporting processes to provide regular and varied means of reporting. The purpose of this is to paint a complete picture as it impossible to produce one report that captures all of a boy’s learning in a meaningful way.

As a result we now provide the following forms of reporting to parents;

• Every 6 weeks we send home the boys’ Unit of Inquiry book along with a Unit Reflection completed by the teacher and another completed by the student.
• Every 12 weeks we send home a Learning Portfolio that contains a piece of work from each strand of each Key Learning Area. The purpose of this is to show the boys’ growth over time as previous samples within the portfolio can be compared.
• Every semester we provide a comprehensive report that contains a summary of the intended learning, areas of growth and development achieved and areas for future growth and development. The purpose of these bullet points is to provide specific, individualized feedback about what each boys has achieved in the previous semester and what the specific next steps are for him in his learning journey. There is also a comment about social development and overall growth.

Whilst we are pleased with the current reporting package and feel it provides a balanced and comprehensive picture of each boy and his learning, we are open to feedback. As a result, we will be conducting a special Parent Workshop focusing on Reporting to unpack the above package and to discuss it in further depth. This will be held on Thursday 14 November from 8:00am in The Lookout.