In September this year our campus will host delegates from the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO), Asia-Pacific region, who will evaluate the PYP at our school. Every school that uses this framework for learning and teaching undergoes this process each 4-5 years. It is an opportunity for our school community to reflect and assess ourselves against the Standards and Practices for the Programme which are set by the IBO. This evaluation process aims to ensure that established standards are being maintained.

The Program Standards and Practices are guidelines for best practice. Teachers spent their professional development day on Thursday 24 March engaging with the self-study, and important process guided by a questionnaire based on the standards and practices which are illustrations of how we can fulfill the standards. We worked collaboratively to determine descriptors for our successes for this questionnaire which will be rated on a continuum. This process, and the results of our data collection, will determine our direction for future growth.

The staff have established professional learning groups to assess and evaluate the following elements of our school –

Philosophy

Organisation – leadership and structure; resources and support

Curriculum – collaborative planning; the written curriculum; teaching and learning; and assessment.

These groups are comprised of teaching staff and will, over the next term, gather evidence to support the perceived level of achievement for their specific standard. The methods used to collect this evidence may be through interviews, surveys and documentation held at the school.

As it is an evaluation and assessment of our school, everyone who is part of our school community will be given the opportunity to participate in this process. It is important that every voice is heard and therefore parents and students as well as our staff could be called upon to reflect on the standards with us.

There will be one survey to parents next term, the purpose of which is to assist teachers in acquiring a comprehensive portrayal of their standard and help them to evaluate honestly against the practices.

Even though all PYP schools undertake Evaluation, we will not be compared to other schools. We are only compared to the criteria set in the Standards and Practices. As a result of this process we will be able to determine an action plan which will outline our next steps/goals in improving our school from a 360° perspective.

Professional Learning Group B2 (Resources and Support)

Standard B2 of the IBO Standards and Practices (2014) states:

“The school’s resources and support structures ensure the implementation of the PYP.” Currently, our focus is practice B2-11 “The school utilises the resources and expertise of the community to enhance learning within the programme.”

We spoke to several classes at the Parent Information Evening in February about setting up a database for our students and teachers regarding anyone who would like to get involved in sharing their knowledge, skills and expertise with our students.

Our goal is to create a database for teachers to access this information. Please be aware that you may not be sharing your knowledge, skills and expertise with your son’s class but that you are making yourself available to any learning environment that the teachers feel will benefit and enhance learning. The time that you will be required will be negotiated between you and the teacher/s.

Soon you will be asked to complete the short survey if you (or anyone you know) would like to be part of this sharing opportunity.

Sue Gough – Learning and Teaching Coordinator – PYP