Wales Street Primary Newsletter

THE IB PRIMARY YEARS PROGRAMME AT WSPS

Wales Street Primary School is an International Baccalaureate (IB) school implementing the Primary Years Programme (PYP). 

We are one of many worldwide schools who share the IB vision and mission ‘to

empower young people with the skills, values and knowledge to create a better and more peaceful world.’

The IB PYP aims to develop internationally minded students. 

Students become internationally minded by:

  • Recognising, accepting and appreciating similarities and differences between themselves and others. 
  • Understanding and appreciating the world and feeling a responsibility and motivation to care for it.
  • Recognising their interconnectedness and being open minded to others locally, nationally and internationally.
  • Inquiring into a range of local and global issues.
  • Reflecting on their own and other’s perspective, culture and identities.
  • Appreciating different beliefs, values and experiences.
  • Studying another language (Italian ) and developing intercultural understanding and respect.
  • Taking action in order to change the thinking, behaviour or attitudes of themselves or others.
  • Developing the10 Learner Profile attributes of being: inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, caring, open minded, principled, communicators, risk takers, balanced and reflective.

The IB Primary Years Program (PYP) programme supports the cognitive development, and social, emotional and physical wellbeing of students. Through units of inquiry, students explore six transdisciplinary themes of global significance: 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. All units are thoughtfully planned to address the Victorian Curriculum learning areas and capabilities. Most units of inquiry run for a set number of weeks, with the average time being 6 weeks, some unit all may run over the year. Units of inquiry are transdisciplinary, they require skills from and beyond subject areas. Subject specific skills required to become numerate and literate, are taught within units of inquiry and explicitly outside of units of units of inquiry. 

Throughout the units of inquiry, students develop interrelated skills or Approaches to Learning, which support inquiring life long learners:

  • thinking skills
  • research skills
  • communication skills
  • social skills
  • self-management skill

Unit of inquiry brochures are sent home as students begin a new unit of inquiry. The brochures outlines the central idea, lines of inquiries, plus any incursions or excursions that may occur and how you can support the student inquiry at home. 

Learner Profile: Caring 

Our Learner Profile for this fortnight is caring.  Students are CARING by wanting people around them to be happy and are sensitive to their needs. They think about the world and work to take care of their community and the environment. They remember to treat others how they themselves would like to be treated.

 

How can parents help to develop students who are Caring at home?

Role model the caring behavior you would like to see in your child all the time. Your child has big eyes and ears and notices everything you do. Using kind words, helping people without being asked, being an active listener all show your child that you care about people. Even a simple thing, like holding a door for someone, shows your child that you are aware of others around you and want to help them.

  • Think about how your family can get involved with community organizations.
  • Reduce, Reuse & Recycle. Sometimes this can be challenging for busy families, but make the effort to establish these habits in your home. By developing children who care about the environment, you are helping the future of the globe.
  • Smile.
  • After reading a book, spend some time considering how the people in the book acted. Was someone in the book caring? All of the time or just some of the time? Were all of the characters in the book caring or just some of them? Some books to consider:
  • Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse, Kevin Henkes
  • The Giving Tree, Shel Silverstein
  • Yertle the Turtle, Dr. Seuss
  • The Grouchy Ladybug, Eric Carle

Establishing a Learning Community 

As part of Establishing Learning Communities all classes have been creating their own essential agreement.  An essential agreement sets the tone for collaboration and teamwork. It is a collaborative action by all those involved in that classroom to outline what environment will help everyone learn and achieve at their best.