MYP & DP Information Evening
Going ahead online...
Over the past few months we have had a chance to meet many of you, but we thought it might be timely to reach out to new Preshil parents and those that we haven’t yet met, introduce ourselves and invite you to join us at the upcoming MYP and DP information evening on Tuesday 26 May from 6pm - 7pm (MYP) and 7pm - 8pm (DP). These sessions will be delivered digitally and will provide opportunities for you to learn more about the IB curriculum, ask questions and engage firsthand with us both.
About us
Natalie Kunst is the Middle Years Programme (MYP) Coordinator at Preshil, overseeing the Years 7-10 curriculum, and Kavita Mathai is the Diploma (DP) Coordinator and leads the implementation of the IB Diploma Programme in Years 11 and 12.
Both of us are relatively new to the wonderful Preshil community but have many years experience implementing the IB programmes in leading schools in the Asia-Pacific region. We are very passionate about the IB curriculum, with its emphasis on personal inquiry, critical and creative thinking and global perspectives. We are actively involved with the IB community beyond Preshil through our roles as IB Examiners and members of IBEN (the IB Educators Network). Our work with IBEN provides opportunities to travel to and support other IB schools in the Asia-Pacific region with teacher development and school accreditation processes.
The IB at Preshil
Preshil exemplifies, at its very core, the philosophy and pedagogy of the IB at its best and we are very proud to be part of this community. This has always been an IB school - long before the IB, in fact! Since its inception Preshil has provided young people “a progressive and compelling alternative to the outdated conformity of mainstream schooling” (Preshil website). Preshil and the IB in their idealistic mission offer an alternative to the kind of education that Dr Ken Robinson critiques when he says, “We have sold ourselves into a fast food model of education, and it's impoverishing our spirit and our energies as much as fast food is depleting our physical bodies”.
About the Information Evening
We know the IB curriculum is full of jargon and acronyms. If you can’t tell the PP from the EE, and you want to know about what CAS has to do with ATLs and TOK, we are hoping that through the information evening we can provide some clarity. As we head into the Semester 1 reporting phase, we know that the most important information for parents is how their child is progressing and what steps they need to take to move forward to realise their potentials. This evening will provide an opportunity to better understand criterion-referenced assessment and how we assess student progress in a programme which is inquiry-based and doesn’t support the use of standardised measures for assessment.
We hope you can join us at the information evening. As always, please reach out to either of us if you have any questions you would like to see addressed at the sessions.
Natalie Kunst
natalie.kunst@preshil.vic.edu.au
AND
Kavita Mathai
kavita.mathai@preshil.vic.edu.au