As part of our Primary Years Program (PYP), all Kindergarten and Primary students participate in different units of inquiry across a year. In Nursery and Reception classes, the students participate in units of inquiry from four PYP themes each year. In Years 1-6 there are six units of inquiry each year, one from each theme.
Each Unit of Inquiry:
- Is a significant, relevant and challenging learning experience
- Builds on the prior knowledge of the students
- Involves students in a range of learning activities
- 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 skills and build new knowledge.
These units of inquiry become our school's Program of Inquiry (POI). They are outlined in our school-wide Program of Inquiry (POI) and are carefully designed to build from one year to the next as a student progresses through the school.
Inquiry is at the centre of the PYP curriculum and is used as the vehicle for learning. At each year level, students explore knowledge which is of genuine importance and has significance for all students of all cultures.
Teachers work in planning teams to develop units of inquiry that come from the six IBPYP organising themes of global significance. The units are transdisciplinary as they cross over and integrate more than one subject area.
In the PYP, teachers guide and lead Units of Inquiry. In these inquiries, teachers use questions to scaffold student learning, enabling students to gain knowledge and skills and think about and engage in responsible action.
PYP Transdisciplinary themes:
• 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
The transdisciplinary themes and school curriculum subject areas form the knowledge element of the PYP programme
Current units of inquiry
For more information about the PYP or the IBO, visit their website at www.ibo.org
