The Primary Years Programme at Advanced Learning Schools Open House November 10, 2009 Christelle Thompson PYP Coordinator

Education for Life The IB mission statement The International Baccalaureate Organization aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable 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 students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.

PYP MYP DP Transdisciplinary Integration Concurrency of learning Programme of Inquiry Areas of Interaction TOK Action Community Service CAS ASSESSMENT LANGUAGES Exhibition Personal Project Extended Essay

The Primary Years Programme The PYP is a curriculum framework ALS decides what is taught in a sequential manner, which resources are used and how those are used. The PYP promotes using inquiry, planning assessment ahead of time, and building on what students know, from their personal experience to a shared global commonality.

the construction of knowledge The PYP promotes the construction of knowledge Linking new knowledge with existing knowledge Making connections Helping students in their inherent need to make sense of their world

The PYP promotes inquiry as a pedagogical approach Inquiry is the process initiated by the learners which moves them from their current level of understanding to a new and deeper level of understanding.

Concepts over content Emphasis on meaning and understanding What do we want students to understand? 8 key concepts drive the inquiry powerful, significant, universal central ideas

The PYP requires valid and varied assessment Feedback as information for students, teachers, parents, … Process and outcome matter Accommodates multiple intelligences and “ways of knowing” Internal assessment by school only Culminating exhibition in the Grade 6 © IBO September 2000

The PYP promotes international mindedness An understanding of the meaning and importance of culture (starting with one's own, but leading to that of others) A study of issues of global concern (such as health, the environment, human rights and conflict resolution) Exploration of the different dimensions of the human condition © IBO September 2000

Additional Benefits of an international education: Develops broad critical thinking skills Encourages students to solve problems through action Incorporates proven strategies and best practices from national and international educational research Comprehensive, inquiry-based framework Prepares students for the future!

thinkers communicators risk-takers knowledgeable caring open-minded Advanced Learning Schools, as a PYP school, strives towards developing an international person. From the PYP perspective, an international person is a person with the attributes described in the IB Learner Profile. inquirers thinkers communicators risk-takers knowledgeable principled caring open-minded balanced reflective