IB MATTERSOctober 2011

Al Zahra College aims to develop faithful, knowledgeable and wise citizens who take responsibility for creating a better and more peaceful world.

We will challenge our students to become active learners and critical thinkers who promote intercultural understanding and respect.

IB MATTERS

A monthly publication about trialling the

Primary Years Program (PYP) and

the Middle Years Program (MYP)

at Al Zahra College.

The International Baccalaureate

The International Baccalaureate (IB) is an exciting set of educational programs offered in more than two thousand school schools in over 120 countries around the world. The programs focus on student-centred inquiry-based learning and global concerns. They challenge students to think in sophisticated ways about the connections between ideas in different areas of study. They put learning into an international context.

Trialling IB at Al Zahra College

In 2011, Al Zahra College is a Candidate School for the PYP and a Candidate School for the MYP. The goal is for Al Zahra College to eventually offer all three programs to our students.

NOTE: AZC is undertaking a trial implementation of PYP and MYP. Authorisation can take several years and cannot be guaranteed.

The initial planning for PYP and other possible IB programmes at AZC began back in 2003.

Following first-hand experience with all three programmes (PYP, MYP and DP) in Qatar, Dr Darvall recommended trialling its implementation at AZC.

In 2008, AZC registered with IB as an Interested PYP School. Following a preliminary visit in

2009, AZC was invited to become a Candidate PYP School.

During 2010, AZC completed a Pre-Authorisation visit that considered our preparedness for authorisation as a PYP School.

At this stage, and with a lot more hard work, we plan to seek authorisation in late 2011.

In 2009, AZC registered as an Interested MYP School in preparation for the commencement of Year 7 in 2010. In 2010, AZC was accepted as a Candidate MYP School.

Information sessions are conducted to facilitate parent understanding of what PYP and MYP are all about - bringing learning alive.

PYP & MYP @ AZC

Parent/Student/Teacher

Interviews

Semester 2, 2011

Al Zahra College has always held parent-teacher interviews at the end of each semester. This year, we decided to include students as well.

Parent-teacher-student interviews were held for the first time on Wednesday, 29 June 2011. These meetings provided an opportunity for students to reflect on their learning with their teachers and parents.

Parents were given a copy of their child’s report card and were able to discuss their child’s strengths and goals with their child’s teacher. Students had the opportunity to go through their portfolios with their

parents and explain why particular items were included in the folder.

It was an opportunity for everyone involved to be reminded that we are all on a learning journey together. It was also an opportunity for children to discuss their achievements and goals with mum and dad in their mother tongue.

Parent-teacher-student interviews for semester two will be held on Monday, December 12, 2011. I hope that everyone involved in the meetings finds them to be a positive way to share in your child’s learning journey this year.

PYP: The Five Essential Elements

1. Knowledge

Students in any PYP school study the same transdisciplinary themes. They 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

Students inquire into, and learn about, these globally significant issues in the context of units of inquiry, each of which addresses a central idea relevant to a particular transdisciplinary theme. Lines of inquiry are identified in order to explore the scope of the central idea for each unit

Traditional subjects that are studied include:

Language (English and Arabic at AZC) Mathematics

Science Social Studies (HSIE)

Personal, Social and Physical Education (PDHPE) Arts

2. Concepts

Students try to gain an understanding of the central idea of a unit through concept driven inquiry. The PYP concepts are:

Form – What is it like? Function – How does it work?

Causation – Why is it like it is? Perspective – What are the points of view?

Connection – How is it it connected to other things?

Responsibility – What is our responsibility?

Reflection – How do we know? Change – How is it changing?

3. Skills

Transdisciplinary skills involved in the PYP include:

Thinking skills Social skills

Communication skills Self-management skills

Research skills

4. Attitudes

We would like our students to feel, value and demonstrate:

Appreciation Commitment Confidence

Cooperation Creativity Curiosity

Empathy Enthusiasm Independence

Integrity Respect Tolerance

5. Action

After engaging with a unit of inquiry, we hope that students will do something with the knowledge that they have gained.

The focus for this year’s Interschool Harmony Project is a

photography exhibition which will be held on 26 October at Kingsgrove

Community Centre. The Year 5 Moran Photography Day was an important

foundation for our efforts.

THE LEARNER PROFILE AT AZC

The Learner Profile lies at the heart of all three IB programmes. The Learner Profile is the IBO mission statement translated into a set of learning outcomes for the 21st century. The aim of all IB programmes is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world.

IB Learner Profile Booklet March 2006.

AZC learners strive to be:

Inquirers

Knowledgeable

Thinkers

Communicators

Principled

Open-minded

Caring

Risk-takers

Balanced

Reflective

At AZC, students have the opportunity to reflect on the attributes of the Learner Profile by:

• Role playing the attributes • Nominating their peers for Learner Profile awards • Nominating themselves for Learner Profile awards • Writing peer assessments for portfolios • Writing self-reflections for portfolios • Discussing the attributes in class.

At AZC, teachers have the opportunity to reflect on their students displaying the attributes of the Learner Profile by:

• Nominating students for weekly Learner Profile awards • Discussing the attributes with students • Discussing the attributes with parents • Commenting on Learner Profile attributes in Student Reports • Reading stories/articles that display the Learner Profile attributes to students • Planning learning experiences that encourage students to discuss and/or

display the attributes of the Learner Profile. By making the IB Learner Profile the centre of teaching and learning at AZC, we hope to inspire and motivate our students to become internationally minded life-long learners.

Al Zahra College

The IB Learner Profile is the

attributes and descriptors that

define the type of student that IB

hopes to develop through its

programs (for example, MYP).

THE LEARNER PROFILE

Risk-TakersCaring

Communicators

ThinkersReflective

Open

Minded

KnowledgeablePrincipled

Balanced

Inquirers

AL ZAHRA COLLEGE

3 - 5 Wollongong Road, ARNCLIFFE. NSW 2205

P: (+61) 2 9599 0161

F: (+61) 2 9599 0162

E: info@azc.nsw.edu.au

W: www.azc.nsw.edu.au