St Andrew’s International School students shared strategies with guests at their recent Grade 5 Primary Years Programme (PYP) Exhibition for ways that they can make a change to affect the outcome of their chosen issue.
The PYP Exhibition is the culminating project which Grade 5 students in IB (International Baccalaureate) schools complete as a part of the requirements to advance from primary school into middle school.
The exhibition gives the students the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned throughout their years as PYP students. The students employ the foundational approaches to learning skills – communication, research, social, time management, and thinking skills – as they delve deeply into a relevant local or global issue of their choice.
This year, the topics chosen included diabetes, mental health in young people, bees, inventions and innovations, potable water, global warming, hunger, poverty, and many more. The students spent many weeks researching their issue of choice using the questioning guidelines of the IB’s eight key concepts – form (What is it like?), function (How does it work?), causation (Why is it like it is?), perspective (What are the points of view?), change (How is it changing?), connection (What is the link to other things?), responsibility (What is our responsibility?) and reflection (How and what do we know now?). Students were involved in many activities and had to be balanced to pull together the components of their exhibition.
They conducted interviews to see and understand many perspectives. They made videos, took surveys, and created posters. Students created timelines and planned and built dynamic displays of their hard work. As the students probed and worked, they embodied many of the IB Learner Profile Traits. They became more knowledgeable about their issues and were risk-takers and communicators when they shared their knowledge with other students around the school. However, the central aim of the PYP Exhibition is to inspire students to take authentic action to address the issue that they feel so passionately about. Some students implemented clubs, such as the Helping Minds Clubs and the Fun Fitness Club. One group raised funds to donate to a local beekeeper while another collected food, clothing and toys to be donated to the less fortunate. Another group created a website filled with information, trivia and even issued challenges to its explorers.
The evening began with performances and recitations by the students for their invited guests, which encompassed the disciplines of Spanish, music, visual arts, and physical education.
