As Term Three draws to a close, Year Six is building up to the pinnacle of its time at Newington Lindfield, presenting the 2018 PYP Exhibition.

Next Tuesday 25 September from 6:00pm-8:00pm, the culmination of this term’s work will be realised as the students show the results of their inquiry on the Transdisciplinary Theme of “How the World Works”.

The evening will begin with a musical item reflecting the theme and areas of investigation done this year as well as in past years before.  From there, the boys will move to their stalls or presentation spaces to receive inquiries and generate discussion through their thought creating displays.  Throughout the night, each boy will also have the opportunity to present a two minute speech on his journey of investigation in this unit.

As educators, it has been an interesting and rewarding exercise to see our boys take control of their learning.  It can be very difficult to ‘let go’ and trust the learning will take place, however, through the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP) attitudes, concepts and skills informing the education of the boys over the years at Newington, they are well placed to venture out on their own and take control of their learning.

The process is well defined, beginning with the formulation of lines of inquiry and questions.  From there, they move into planning, collecting, recording, organising and interpreting data. This includes connecting with and interviewing primary resources (people who may specialise in the field of the inquiry).

As I write, the boys are in their final stages of planning the presentation of their research.  For them, the journey is almost at an end and the celebration of that will be the Exhibition night itself. You are warmly invited whether you have a child in Year 6 or not to experience an integral part of the PYP programme in an IB school.

David Musgrove – Year Six Teacher