IB MATTERSSeptember 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

We have explored the concepts of change and causation by inquiring into our own personal histories.

We invited our parents to our classroom to share our work and achievements.

Kindergarten: In Place and Time

Year 3

Term 3 Presentation

How the World Works

On Tuesday, 6 September, Year 3 had their Term 3, PYP Unit 4 presentation. First, Hasan Al Gharib said, “Good morning” to the parents and introduced Mrs Akbar to everyone. Mrs Akbar taught the class a song to sing to the parents about solids, liquids and gases called, “What’s the Matter?” She also allowed us to play her mandolin and maracas and we listened to the keyboard.

Most of the children had a part to read. After that, some students started to do experiments and they all turned out to be successful. Some parents also enjoyed looking at our journal which showed some

of the work that the class had completed throughout the unit.

As part of our Action, Year 3 has been raising money for Lifestart, a preschool for children with special needs. Some parents also donated money to help us reach our goal.

We did a great deal of work preparing for our presentation, but it was worth it, as we received very positive feedback from everyone who attended.

A huge thank you to everyone who attended our presentation and to Mrs Akbar for teaching us the song.

Al Zahra’s first Y6 Exhibition : ALL PARENTS ARE INVITED !

You are invited to come and see one of the most challenging and rewarding components of a student’s learning journey, the exhibition, which occurs in the students’ final year of the primary program. This exhibition involves the students in completing their own, in depth inquiry into a central idea. This inquiry is led by the students, who have to independently strive to demonstrate and apply all the essential components of the primary program.

In doing this, they need to show the attitudes, skills and attributes of the learner profile, as they engage in experiences to build knowledge of various concepts and lines of inquiry related to a transdisciplinary theme. Finally, the Y6 Exhibition culminates in a showcasing of the students work and knowledge where members of the school and wider community are invited to come and share in the student’s successes and discoveries.

Throughout the second half of Term 3, our Year 6 students have been extremely busy and focused on completing their very first Exhibition.

The Central Idea of their exhibition for 2011 is Exploration leads to discovery and develops new understandings.

Students worked both individually and in groups to inquire into different forms of exploration that particularly interested them. One group looked specifically at space exploration, another at undersea exploration. A third group inquired into exploration in ancient times whilst the fourth group covered a collection of famous land and over sea explorers. Although each group had a different focus, all groups followed the same lines of inquiry, those being: reasons for exploration, discoveries made, feelings and attitudes associated with exploration and methods of navigation.

In the first two weeks of Term 4, Year 6 students will be busy transforming their classroom into an exhibition centre with creative and informative

displays of their work, as well as interactive activities where parents, students and visitors can ask the Year 6 students questions about their inquiries. The Year 6 students also have a few extra surprises planned to make the exhibition a surely memorable one!

All the Year 6 students have agreed that this has been the hardest, but “best work” they have EVER DONE and would greatly appreciate any parent from P-8 coming to see their work.

Students will be sharing their exhibition work in sessions on FRIDAY 28st OCTOBER 2011. The exhibition will commence with an Explorers Parade at 10.30am. This will be followed by the exhibition of the students’ work from 11.00am - 1.00pm in the Year 6 classroom.

We hope you will join us on this occasion.

Y6 Exhibition: 28/10/11

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