Parent PYP information. Meet the teacher Sept 09

Useful Information

Staff Training

The school will be closed for two days to enable the whole of the KJS teaching staff to have training together. The training is provided by two experienced trainers from the IBO organization. The themes for the training is Teaching & Learning in PYP.

The staff will be given opportunities to become more familiar the conceptual curriculum methods of working with PYP inquiry learning. They will have time to plan, or further develop aspects of their Units of Inquiry for their own year groups. These ‘Units of Inquiry’ will form the basis or our curriculum as we continue to develop and improve it.

IBO PYP Information

Please try the link to the IBO (International Baccalaureate Organization) website to gain more information about the PYP and the programmes offered by the PYP.

http://www.ibo.org

Parental Inventory

Parents are asked to submit a completed inventory to establish their skills & interests. Hopefully this will lead to greater parental involvement in the inquiry program at school.

How to Help Your Child with Inquiry Learning

• Discuss the Learner Profile & how your child can show they understand it
• Ask questions about the unit of inquiry your child is working on
• Encourage your child to think more widely (i.e. watch the local or international news)
• Allow your child to ask challenging questions
• Use different resources to answer questions (i.e. take your children to local galleries or exhibitions)
• Discuss local and international issues with your child
• Don’t always supply the answer expect your child to find out (i.e. show them how to research by using the library)

Some parents have requested information about the process of inquiry learning. One of the best resources we have found which clearly outlines the process of inquiry can be found on:

www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/inquiry

We look forward to sharing more of our journey into inquiry learning with you as parents. We are keen to offer workshops for parents and welcome your input into our school community.

One of the main areas of our focus which over arches all aspect of school is the developmental the Learner Profile.

The Learner Profile is the IBO mission statement translated into a set of learning outcomes.

IBO Mission Statement

The International Baccalaureate Organization aims to develop inquiring, knowledge and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.

To this end the IBO works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment.

These programmes encourage student across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.
We aim to use the Learners Profile to develop international minded student for the future.

Learner Profile

Reporting to Parents

As KJS we have a variety of methods of assessment and reporting on children’s learning.

• Meet the teacher
• Daily diary communication
• Email, CLC, homepage and newsletter
• Learning Journeys
• Parent teacher Conferences, 3 way and student led
• Introduction of the student portfolios
• End of Year Report

IBO Curriculum

PYP Subject Area

• Mathematics.
• Language: English (reading writing, spelling, speaking listening), Mandarin
• Social Studies: History, Geography, Social Studies
• Arts: music, drama, visual arts,
• Science and Technology: Living things, Earth and Space, Materials and Matter, Forces and Energy
• Personal, social, physical education

Any further questions or queries please do not hesitate to contact the PYP