Primary Years Programme

It has been another hugely exciting and energetic year as we have embraced and celebrated more and more events in the Primary School that demonstrate our commitment to, and growth of, the PYP. Underpinning the International Baccalaureate (IB) is a commitment to developing lifelong learners who thrive and make a difference. As 2022 has unfurled, it has been evident that Primary School is rich with opportunities for students to grow in knowledge, skills and abilities that equip them to take action and make the world a better place. This year has seen significant progress with our PYP Action Plan, PYP events, and a deeper understanding of Transdisciplinary learning.

Since our 2020 PYP IB Evaluation, we have addressed many of the recommendations set by the IB. Working in small collaborative focus groups, we have reflected on and identified ways to improve each. One such area has been establishing an agreed definition and understanding of what transdisciplinary learning means at CGS.

Transdisciplinary learning explores a relevant concept, issue or problem that integrates the perspectives of multiple disciplines to connect new knowledge and deeper understanding to real-life experiences.

What this has meant on a more practical level is that in our planning meetings, we are more confident to talk about learning from a holistic perspective. We have initiated ‘anchor’ meetings where all teachers and the academic team discuss the UOI from a literacy, mathematics, science, HaSS, health, and arts perspective. We have seen how we can embed some of these subject areas more authentically and teach through the lens of the PYP concepts (form, function, change, causation, connection, perspective, responsibility). These anchor meetings have helped us establish clear understandings and directions for each unit.

Our significant PYP events this year were the PYP walk, Showcases and Year 6 Exhibition. The PYP walk focus of 2022 was to highlight the six PYP Transdisciplinary Themes. These themes are globally and socially driven and provide a starting point for how we structure our units of inquiry:

• Who We Are

• Sharing The Planet

• How We Express Ourselves

• How The World Works

• How We Organise Ourselves

• Where We Are In Place And Time

Our PYP walk displays demonstrated how students think critically, creatively and problem-solve. Across both our Campbell and Red Hill campuses, each display resulted from learning from one of our examples of transdisciplinary learning. Whether art and mathematics, engineering and technology, literacy and geography, the interrelated dynamics of disciplines were evident. A diverse range of student work on display showed student voice, choice, and agency. An interactive Science and Technology exhibit in the Library and Music Performances at both campuses was highlighted throughout the afternoon.

The Year 6 Exhibition was another highlight of our PYP journey this year. Make an Impact was our slogan for Exhibition 2022. How can we impact and change the world for the better? Weeks of planning, discussions, workshops, research, dance, music, art, mathematics and more resulted in a great and memorable Exhibition for our Year 6 students. ENERGY was our overarching concept for the Exhibition; solar, kinetic, nuclear, physical, nutritional, sound, hydro, and spiritual are just some of the different forms of energy that students chose to explore. The range and quality of student work were exemplary but more importantly, the deep knowledge and understanding of students as they talked about their Exhibition inquiry.

Our year finished with a whole-day staff workshop led by the experienced teacher, author, university lecturer and popular consultant Kath Murdoch who worked with us to look deeper into the key characteristics of an inquiry approach to learning and teaching. Centered around questions such as:

• How can we nurture agency in our day-to-day teaching?

• How might we plan to impact students voice?

• Who owns the learning?

• How to engage more learner voice?

The day allowed for clarification, ideas, and strategies to be shared. As educators, we need to constantly review our Units of Inquiry to ensure they are relevant, current and suit the needs of our students. We plan to engage with Kath Murdoch more in the future to improve our practice and develop student agency and action.

As we head into 2023 with our new and reviewed Programme of Inquiry that includes the new v.9 Australian Curriculum content and a focus on Agency and Action, we look forward to even better creative, adventurous, and authentic learning experiences.

Primary School House System and Student Leadership

This year has been a big year for the House system and student leadership in the Primary School. Not only have we introduced and established six completely new Houses, but we introduced those Houses to encompass all students from Kindergarten to Year 6. This meant that 2022 was the first year for both Campbell and Red Hill Campus to be part of the House system! And if that weren’t enough, we also expanded the Student Representative Council to include both campuses. Both significant changes have been an enormous success. A big thank you is to be extended to the Associate Directors of Students for their work with the SRC and the heads of Student Houses for their leadership and creativity in driving the new House system forward

The Year 6 Leadership Day is one of the most anticipated events for the Year 6 students. It’s their chance to understand themselves as future leaders and reflect on the values and characteristics of leaders they respect and want to channel into their own leadership journey. The students participated in workshops led by the Heads of Student Houses and Dr Webster to develop an understanding of how to be a successful leader in Primary School and the roles and responsibilities of being a leader.

We officially welcomed and congratulated all student leaders in the Primary School at our Annual Leadership Assembly. This was a chance to present badges and acknowledge the impact and roles that the House Captains, Year 6 Leaders and Student Representative Council members have on our School.

One of the things that the Primary School House system is most proud of this year is how we’ve embedded Indigenous culture, stories and language into our new Houses. We’ve been so lucky to have the stories and origins of our house names taught to us by Mr Aaron Chatfield, and then they were brought to life by the artwork of Ms Kalara Gilbert. We also worked with the Indigenous scholars from the Senior School about how we can connect to Country and the importance of the land around us. We walked Red Hill, read stories, and chatted about the importance of our House totem to our School and local environment. We also wrote House Acknowledgements of Countries as a collective, which we say at the beginning of each House meeting.

The House Captains, in particular, have been very busy this year. From supporting all Sports Carnivals across the Primary School to coordinating House meetings, organising House debating, inter-House sports and e-sport tournaments. They gave up their lunchtime each Tuesday for Captain meetings and have been selfless in establishing our new Houses as ‘places’ of inclusivity, fun and support. One of the House Captains’ most valuable experiences this year has been our Captain’s Retreat. This was a chance for us to work together to implement the House Green Team project and implement the Container Deposit Scheme. We also had the opportunity to reflect on our leadership strengths and goals with Dr Garrick and Mrs Rock. We would also like to thank the Senior School Captains for supporting the Primary School Captains throughout the year for various events.

Next year is super exciting! Each student from Pre-School to Year 6 will have a House and the opportunity to meet and connect each fortnight, strengthening our community and building House spirit and action. We can’t wait to see what adventures we can have next year!