LEADING PRIMARY LEARNING
Leadership in the PYP
Welcome!
This site has 3 main sections:
On this page, Communications with Community contains regularly updated relevant newsletters for parents and carers on learning in a PYP school.
Research: Theory into Practice contains articles and presentations rooted in leadership theory, with practical applications.
Curriculum Matters is specifically focused on the foundations of the PYP curriculum such as conceptual understanding; transdisciplinary learning and empowerment to take action.
If you would like to know more about the author, or contact me, please click on About.
In the spirit of collaborative learning, I am happy for my work to be used freely, as long as it is done so with appropriate academic integrity and referencing protocols.
COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE COMMUNITY
Sharing learning with the parent community
WE'RE STILL LEARNING!
December 11th, 2020
Wow - what a term it has been! Online, half in school, all in school, back online again, new timetables, perspex, sanitisation - the list goes on. But it is good to pause for a moment and celebrate what has NOT changed: the children are still learning, they are still growing and although it is not as ‘real’ as we would like, we have still stayed connected as a community. This letter to parents is a celebration of the learning that did go on during our very disrupted term. With Covid-19 playing havoc on our lives, taking time to pause and reflect on the many positives can be rather therapeutic!
WHAT MATTERS MOST RIGHT NOW?
September 4th, 2020
This is a combination of 2 newsletters to parents and a conversation with our community on ‘what matters most, right now’ in light of the pandemic situation and our school year starting off with distance learning. The first newsletter shared research and results of dialogue with our teachers, inviting parents to take part in our ongoing conversations via a survey. The second newsletter compared parent comments on ‘what matters most’ with concrete examples of learning.
CHANGES IN END OF YEAR REPORT DUE TO HOME LEARNING
May 29th 2020
After 5 months of home learning due to Covid-19, we changed the format of our end of year reports. In order for the report to create a full picture of the child's learning profile, we invited parents to add their comments. This was very successful; most parents chose to participate. Their comments were thoughtful, reflective and we learned a lot about our students from it. This letter outlines the rationale and process of inviting them to collaborate with us on their child's report.
MINDFULNESS, GRATITUDE ATTITUDE AND CREATIVITY
May 8th 2020
During home learning due to Covid-19, we provided weekly 'Friday Fun Challenges'. This article explains to parents how these activities had been purposely designed to support student wellbeing during this challenging time by encouraging mindfulness, gratitude and creativity.
MATHEMATICS IN THE CLASSROOM
Nov 2018
This article is based on requests from parents who worry about the PYP way of teaching mathematics versus a more traditional approach.
Will your child learn to add, subtract, divide, multiply, solve equations, tackle algebra, measure accurately, know how to tell the time and all those important mathematical skills they need for everyday life and for higher education?
Absolutely yes!
But, in addition, we also expect the students to:
Understand what they are doing
Apply their mathematical skills to authentic situations
Develop a love of mathematics