Curious / The power of golden moments

THE POWER OF golden moments

The Junior Campus has embarked on a journey to become a fully authorised International Baccalaureate World School. The International Baccalaureate (IB) is a trusted organisation which works with schools, governments and international organisations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment.

The IB Programme we are embedding into the School is called the Primary Years Programme (PYP) – a programme that was developed over 20 years ago with the goal to design a learning framework which would develop internationally-minded citizens. The PYP encourages students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners. The PYP is an exemplary approach to education in the primary years.

The transformative nature of the PYP lies in its commitment to collaborative planning and transdisciplinary learning. Transdisciplinary learning in the PYP refers to learning that is not confined within the boundaries of traditional subjects but is supported and enriched by them. In our school we address the Australian Curriculum, but we also transcend it and help our students to achieve rich conceptual learning about issues that connect humanity across the world.

Excellence in Literacy and Numeracy is the responsibility of every staff member in every area of the school and together we endeavour to weave opportunities to enhance skills in these key learning areas throughout the learning opportunities we offer.

Grade 6 teacher Timothy Brown has already seen the benefits of teaching conceptually.

“I’ve taught the topic of democracy to Grade 6 in different ways over the past eight years,” says Timothy. “Relating student learning to a broad conceptual understanding and a global context means that the learning of our students has gained significant depth and rigour.”

The delivery of the Primary Years Programme is continuously assessed by the IB, who provide support, feedback and professional learning opportunities to ensure we are always improving and delivering positive outcomes for each student.

Teachers in IB schools gain international teaching qualifications. This in itself ensures a consistency of language, understanding and practices. Being a teacher in an IB school requires an extraordinary level of collaboration. As a school we prioritise collaborative planning practices and, as a staff group, we are constantly drawing on our collective knowledge and strengths to ensure that each opportunity we afford our students is the best it can possibly be. Units of inquiry on our campus benefit from the careful innovative thinking of many professionals as opposed to only one or two.

We are part of a highly active global community of PYP schools and teachers. At the click of a button we have the ability to connect with knowledgeable educators and eager PYP learners from over 150 countries around the world – we know what is happening in education outside of Tasmania and Australia and draw on the best of what we see.

Students are adapting positively to the influence of the PYP gradually permeating our campus. Grade 5 student Tom Cole offered his thoughts at the conclusion of a recent learning experience.

“I see the world so differently already. I can’t stop thinking about how everything works, how everything is connected and about politics,” says Tom.

Connected and active engagement combined with enhanced real-world learning opportunities and a wider range of ways through which students can express their understandings are early observations about what PYP learning looks like at the Junior Campus.

For the teachers, golden teaching moments continue to arise across the school and subject areas seamlessly flow into and support one another. Recently a student from Grade 3 was completely engaged and asked, “What subject am I even learning?”

Claire Calvert, Primary Years Programme Coordinator

Grades 1-2 excursion to Royal Flying Doctor Service.