PYP Open House 2018/19
Yesterday, ARIS hosted its first 2018/19 Open House at the Primary Campus. Open House is an informal meet between Parents and Homeroom Facilitators to be up to date with all the happenings in the classrooms and the curriculum – from Units of Inquiry to Literacy, Numeracy and ICT Integration, to Timetables and more!
Parents arrived at the campus at after school, and went to the respective classes of their wards. Each Homeroom Facilitator, right from Playgroup to Year 6 would then start their presentation.
All the presentations started with Homeroom Facilitators introducing themselves – their qualifications, teacher trainings, IB trainings and any other essential professional details. The timetable of each classroom was presented to the Parents to show the balanced and well-distributed schedules for each class, with homeroom hours, ICT lessons, Lego learning and also Physical Activity.
The Primary campus follows the IB Primary Years Programme, which is underpinned by the 6 Transdisciplinary themes that each Year from Nursery to Year 6 follows. The learning and the learning goals/objectives go by the Units of Inquiry under each Transdisciplinary Themes. These are – “Who We Are”; “Where We Are in Place and Time”; “How We Express Ourselves”; “How the World Works”; “How We Organize Ourselves” and “Sharing the Planet”. Depending on the Year group, the Homeroom facilitators subsequently explained which Themes and Units of Inquiry they follow according to their class. This was intended to give parents context on the timeline and the topics of their wards’ learning.
Every Year group also follows a specific Inquiry Cycle. Year 1 and onwards follow the Kath Murdoch Inquiry Cycle (Tuning In – Finding Out – Sorting Out – Going Further – Making Conclusions – Taking Action). The Early Years/Foundation follow the John Dewey Inquiry Cycle (Ask – Investigate – Create – Discuss – Reflect) and onwards; our youngest in the Playgroup (2 year olds – 3 year olds) follow the Super Three Inquiry Cycle (Do – Review – Plan). These Inquiry Cycles are imperative in planning Learning Objectives for students in a Class, and clearly shows parents the vitality of in-depth learning and the subsequent reflection and action of it.
Furthermore, ICT Integration at ARIS is vital to shape the Creative Thinkers of tomorrow. ARIS this Academic Year makes ICT an integral partner in the Teaching and Learning Practices at ARIS (hyperlink “A big Digital Leap for ARIS is due in the Next Academic Year” article). Right from Playgroup to Year 6 in the Early Years, there are the different softwares that are used to facilitate ICT Integration in learning, for example, Lego Education, SeeSaw, Managebac, MathSeeds and more!
The PYP Homeroom Facilitators also explained to parents about Literacy and Numeracy Integration in the PYP Curriculum. They explained the Targeted Skills, the Targeted Attitudes and also the Integration Activities. In the Early Years, for example, there are Jolly Phonics, Number Hopscotch, Citizen Numbers, Montessori Reading List and much more!
This was concluded by the Unit Overview, upon which the topic of transition of different subject areas and different grades also came in. At ARIS Primary, we have something known as the Unit Adinkra that is a workshop between all PYP Facilitators, every Wednesday. The Unit Adinkra is essential for the understanding of connection and transition of different subject areas, the relevant topics to cover, teachers are up to date with what is happening in the upper grades as well, to integrate the units accordingly for a swift transition for their students learning processes.
All of these covered gave parents a concise idea of their wards’ learning cycle, unit overview and all other necessary details. After all, the three main pillars to a child’s efficient development and education is the School (Teachers), the Parents and of course, the child itself.