by Austina Lacarte, head of Primary and PYP Coordinator
Last Thursday 9th June our Year 5 students completed their Exhibition journey. Over the last six weeks, students became agents of their own learning. Together with their groupmates, guided by their mentors and teachers, they completed their research, which this year was focused around the theme “How we express ourselves.” As Miss Lacarte said, “the Exhibition has taught you to become more independent learners, which will help you in your next step to Middle Years, where I’m sure you will be very successful.”
The PYP Exhibition is always a challenge, not only for students but also for teachers, mentors and families. Students become independent learners while they inquire, collaborate, manage their time and communicate their learning. Throughout this period, students created their own lines of inquiry which they connected to their central idea “People’s beliefs, passions, and life experiences influence self-expression.” They chose their key concepts, the skills that they excelled at and the ones they wanted to improve, and they also chose the learner profile they wanted to develop further.
During their inquiry into diverse ways of expressing oneself, students were risktakers and took action. A group decided to learn sign language as a form of self-expression and taught it during their Exhibition. Another group created a game to raise awareness between cultural association and cultural appropriation, and others invited families to dress up and express themselves.
As a surprise, the Year 5 students prepared a Flashmob, which they performed in the middle of their presentations, and left everyone astonished! As Agustina Lacarte, Head of Primary, said, “I could see the faces of very proud parents and very enthusiastic children showing very proudly their work.”
The Exhibition and graduation ceremony had a very festive atmosphere and was also very emotive. It was a beautiful opportunity to share with the school community what the students had learnt over the past weeks. As Miss Lacarte said, “the Exhibition has taught you to become more independent learners, which will help you in your next step to Middle Years, where I’m sure you will be very successful.”
This wonderful day was the result of very hard work, so a very special thank you to all those who made this possible!
