Primary Years Program at GGLPS

GGLPS teaches the Australian curriculum using the Primary Years Program (PYP) of the International Baccalaureate as a framework to impart this. There are many different aspects to the Teaching and Learning program of the school and these are some of the rich learning experiences in which the students are involved.

Programme of Inquiry

The diagram in this article is a representation of the transdisciplinary elements of the Primary Years Program (PYP).

‘Transdisciplinary’ is a word that you don’t often hear outside a PYP school. Breaking it apart helps to understand its meaning.

A ‘discipline’ is a subject. The prefix ‘trans’ means across and beyond. Therefore, transdisciplinary means beyond and across the subjects.

The framework of the PYP is based on 6 transdisciplinary themes. These themes are:

Who we are
Where we are in place and time
How we express ourselves
How the world works
How we organise ourselves
Sharing the Planet

Foundations conduct inquiries into 4 or 5 of these themes over a year while the Year 1-6s complete an inquiry in each of the 6 themes. The teachers begin by planning learning from across the Australian Curriculum, bringing the different subjects together for an inquiry to learn about the subjects, learn the subjects and use the subjects to learn through. Students can then engage in the learning and move across beyond the subjects. The bringing together of these inquiries across the school is called the Programme of Inquiry.

The Programme of Inquiry is the plan for the starting point for inquiries. On one level, units of inquiries are planned. On another level, they are dynamic as they each leave room for emerging and unexpected ideas, directions, and connections that students might encounter.

The Programme of Inquiry fosters the development of subject knowledge, skills, understanding of concepts along with the characteristics and traits of being a learner. Through it, all learners, students, teachers, and members of the community, are researchers. The learners move from what they know through personal experience and prior knowledge, into ways of seeing and knowing that may be new or unfamiliar to them.

Please keep an eye out in the office area as the 2022 Programme of Inquiry display is constructed. It shows the areas of learning within each of the transdisciplinary themes for this year. The 2022 POI is a result of teacher collaboration and reflection on how to best teach and learn at each year level. We hope that your children will engage with you to discuss their thinking and understanding as they grow as learners.

Jayne Zadow

Director of PYP, Teaching and Learning

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