Curriculum

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.

Approaches to Learning

Approaches to Learning are an important part of an International Baccalaureate (IB) education and complement the learner profile and elements of the PYP such as knowledge and concepts. The approaches to learning are skills that students use to learn and their importance is ‘grounded in the belief that learning how to learn is fundamental to a student’s education’

                                        Learning and Teaching, Principles into Practice, P26 IBO 2018

There are 5 recognised skill areas within the approaches to learning as shown in the accompanying diagram.

Within the Primary Years Programme, students are supported to develop these skills as they inquire. Within a unit of inquiry, teachers acknowledge the skills that will be the focus for development. Each of the skills has a set of sub-skills that have been revised and refined in the recent review of the PYP. 

As a school, GGLPS have a team who are looking at age-appropriate development of the communication skills and aim that this process of development will then be applied to the other approaches to learning. The communication skills have sub-skills such as:

• Exchanging information skills (listening, interpreting, speaking)
• Literacy skills (reading, writing and using language to gather and communicate information)
• ICT skills (using technology to gather, investigate and communicate information)

We will be looking at what students do as they grow these skills and will then work with students to set goals and scaffold learning to help them meet these goals. While there is a lot of background work to be done, the benefits for students as learners is related to growing their understanding of how to learn. The skills are used within all student learning although some learning experiences may require a greater focus on specific skills. Through giving attention to the approaches to learning, we will grow the capabilities of our students as they learn.

Jayne Zadow                                                                                                                                                  PYP Coordinator