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DID YOU KNOW?

Sara Baker —

Facts about the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IB PYP)

1. Years 2-6 cover six units of inquiry each year, Years 0-1 cover five. These units are broad, conceptual, and global.

2. The six units are written around the six transdisciplinary themes: Who We Are, Where We Are in Place and Time, How We Express Ourselves, How the World Works, How We Organise Ourselves, and Sharing the Planet.

3. There are five Approaches to Learning which closely align with the New Zealand Key Competencies in the New Zealand curriculum: Social Skills, Research Skills, Thinking Skills, Communication Skills, and Self Management Skills.

4. There are seven key concepts: lenses the students use to look at concepts in the world around us:

  • Form (what is it like?)
  • Function (how does it work?)
  • Causation (why is it as it is?)
  • Change (how is it transforming?)
  • Connection (how is it linked to other things?)
  • Perspective (what are the points of view?)
  • Responsibility (what are our obligations?)

5. There are ten Learner Profile attributes - the dispositions we want our learners to develop.

  • Inquirers
  • Knowledgeable
  • Thinkers
  • Communicators
  • Principled
  • Open-minded
  • Caring
  • Risk-takers
  • Balanced
  • Reflective

6. The units of inquiry all push our learners to think of ways they can empower themselves to take action in their world for the purpose of making the world a better place. There are different types of action that can be taken: participation, advocacy, social justice, social entrepreneurship, and lifestyle choices. In their own context and appropriate to their age, learners look to make a difference!

7. The Programme of Inquiry (POI) is published on the school's website and outlines the units of inquiry for each year group. 

8. At the end of Year 6, our learners present their Exhibition - a unit of inquiry that encompasses all of the key concepts, approaches to learning, and learner profile attributes. Parents are invited to come along to the Exhibition to see the learning and to help the students to take action.