PYP around our school

The IB learner profile 

At the heart of all the International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes is the IB learner profile. In living the IB learner profile you are living the IB Mission statement. This promotes the development of skills, understanding, and dispositions that are utilised to make the world a better, more peaceful and sustainable place. The IB learner profile is also connected to who we want to be as life-long learners. The profile itself is made up of the following 10 attributes:

Knowledgeable

Risk-taker

Thinker

Principled

Communicator

Inquirer

Caring

Reflective

Balanced

Open-minded

As an IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) candidate school, we are beginning to explore and work with our students to understand the attributes of the learner profile. In the junior years, the students are looking at the attributes that relate to their units of inquiry, while in 3/4 and 5/6 the students have developed an understanding of the whole profile.

Prep

In Prep, the students have talked about being caring.  The students have brainstormed ways they can care for their friends in the classroom and how they can demonstrate caring outside the classroom. They have also read some books about being caring.

Year 1/2

The Year 1/2 students have begun their year by thinking about what it means to be both caring and principled. They have thought about the ways they care for themselves, others and the world around them. They have also read ‘The Good Samaritan’ and considered how being caring connects to this Bible story. Whilst investigating what it means to be principled, the students have developed an understanding of being principled as ‘doing the right thing even when no one is watching’. They have played games such as tiggy and considered how principled they were whilst they were playing the game. Did they go out when they were tagged? Did they make sure they were acting sensibly? 

Year 3/4

n the Year 3/4 area, the students have developed their essential agreement (class rules) based on the IB learner profile attributes. In small groups, students came up with how each attribute might link to an action that will promote learning and cohesion in the area in 2020. For example, we are:

Always open-minded and appreciate the ideas and cultures of others

Are thinkers who see the benefits and learn from ‘failures’ 

Year 5/6

The 5/6 community has been delving into how the IB Learner profile can be used for goal setting and reflection. In one experience, students were set a challenge to draw the colour red with a blue pen. At the end of the activity, the students reflected on which learner profile attribute they really tapped into and developed throughout the activity. They did the same thing after working in teams to build the tallest tower they would using popsicle sticks and unifix blocks.