Every year in Term 3 we celebrate the success of our Year 6 students with the annual PYP Exhibition. Arguably the most important assessment-based event of the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IB PYP), the Exhibition represents over nine weeks' work for the students who have each chosen their own subject area to investigate.
The Exhibition requires students to engage in a collaborative inquiry process that involves them identifying, investigating and offering solutions to real-life issues or problems in the context of their local and global communities. It provides the platform for students to display the skills, attitudes and behaviours developed throughout their schooling experience in the IB PYP.
Every year we see a vast collection of print, multimedia, concept and interactive work be produced by the students and displayed in the school's Library Information Centre for the weeklong exhibition. Recent subjects and issues have ranged from Child Poverty and the challenges of Beef Farming, to the Impact of Technology on the Development of Artificial Limbs, and Professional Sport. Over the course of the Exhibition, Year 6 students conduct tours and explain their work to younger students before presenting a staged component in the Auditorium to their classmates, friends and families.
In recent years the Exhibition has featured a significant growth in digital media and resources, a result of Kristin's school-wide Digital Learning Programme. Most notable are the QR codes that feature on many of the students' displays. In last year's exhibition, these simple icons linked viewers to more than 100 digital documents and student-made videos related to their investigations. During the week of the Exhibition these videos were viewed over 2,000 times, and in more than 30 countries worldwide.
The Junior School PYP Exhibition is the arguably the most important assessment-based event of the PYP. Year 6 students each choose their own subject area to investigate over the nine weeks of the Inquiry. During the Exhibition the students share their learning with the younger year levels as well as their friends and family.