International Baccalaureate
What is the International Baccalaureate?
An International Baccalaureate (IB) school offers high quality programs of international education.
There are four IB programs: Diploma Programme (DP), The Career-related Certificate (IBCC), Middle Years Programme (MYP) and Primary Years Programme (PYP) running in schools for different student age groups.
Each program includes: a curriculum and pedagogy; student assessment appropriate to the age range; professional development for teachers; and a process of school authorisation and evaluation. IB World Schools cooperate in curriculum development, student assessment and the governance of the IB. This makes it a unique international collaboration.
What is the Primary Years Programme?
The International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IB PYP) is designed for students aged 3 to 12 years of age. It focuses on the total growth of the developing child, touching hearts as well as minds and encompassing social, physical, emotional and cultural needs in addition to academic development. This is undertaken through; the way we teach, what we teach and each student’s ability to understand themselves as a learner.
At Mount Eliza North Primary School we encompass the PYP and the Victorian curriculum within all our curriculum planning and documentation.
The Primary Years Programme in Action
This program works to develop the whole child and builds within students the passion for learning and a sense of citizenship.
In the Primary Years Program, teachers and students generate questions with which to conduct inquiry into significant content. Through this inquiry process, students gain essential knowledge and skills as well as a positive attitude to learning by making many of their own decisions.
Through the PYP at Mount Eliza North Primary School, children take action by:
- Writing their own goals and strategies
- Planning and conducting research that has local and global significance
- Acquiring and practising a range of essential skills such as communication, self-management, social, research and thinking skills
- Developing positive attitudes towards learning, the environment and other people
- Having the opportunity for involvement in responsible action whether it be on their learning or to make a difference in our world
Life-long Learning
The Primary Years Programme at Mount Eliza North Primary School allows students to participate in large, transdisciplinary units each year, called Units of Inquiry (UOI). Each of these units:
- Is a significant, relevant and challenging learning experience
- Builds on the prior knowledge of the students
- Requires students to engage in positive action
- Integrates diverse subject areas whenever meaningful and appropriate.
Through these Units of Inquiry, the classroom becomes a centre of structured inquiry through which students acquire and practice skills and build new knowledge. These units are outlined in our school-wide Program of Inquiry (POI) and linked to the Victorian Curriculum. The units carefully designed to build from one year to the next as a student progresses through the school. To meet the program goals, the PYP emphasises essential elements: Knowledge, Concepts, Approaches to Learning, and Action.
Mount Eliza North Primary School