Holy Trinity Primary School & Early Learning Centre educates students within the framework of the International Baccalaureate, Primary Years Program. We aim to equip children with the skills to confidently ask questions, apply knowledge and develop real-world problem solving skills.
Our contemporary classrooms and break-out areas are designed to promote collaboration and inquiry learning.
International Baccalaureate: Primary Years Program
The International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (PYP) places emphasis on inquiry-based learning that develops students’ academic, social and emotional wellbeing.
INQUIRY
Purposeful, structured inquiry is the leading pedagogical approach of the PYP. This student-centered learning approach challenges students to engage with significant ideas and is characterized by students taking an active role in:
- exploring, wondering, questioning
- building on prior knowledge and making connections between previous understanding and current learning
- deciding on appropriate sources of information, evaluating and using it to extend prior knowledge
- collecting information from primary and secondary sources to support inquiries
- clarifying existing ideas and deepening understanding
- solving problems in a variety of ways
The starting point is students’ current understanding and the goal is the active construction of meaning.
The PYP provides our school with a rigorous and challenging curriculum framework. It enables our students to develop the knowledge,concepts, skills, and action that are necessary to engage fully in their day to day life, and most importantly to become life long learners.
The program incorporates local and global issues into the curriculum, asking children to look at the bigger picture and take responsibility for their learning.
The PYP is complex, but can be broken down into four essential elements that create the learning context at Holy Trinity Primary School:
Knowledge – significant and relevant content that we want to explore
Concepts – ideas that lead to a deeper understanding of subject areas
Skills – capabilities that we need in order to succeed in a challenging world
Action – applying our learning through responsible behavior to real-world situations
All of these elements combined to create the learning environment at Holy Trinity and are equally important; without any one of them, our program is incomplete.
Our teaching and leadership teams work very hard to provide learning opportunities that make this written document come alive, and the challenge of doing this involves constant discussion, collaboration, research, innovation and training. We are all learners and relish the opportunity to talk about education with others, to
learn from their experiences and share ours. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Catering for Individual Needs within Classroom
All learning is differentiated to cater for a range of abilities and learning needs in our classes. Our teams of teachers work with students requiring additional assistance in literacy, numeracy and where English is an additional language.
Reporting
Holy Trinity staff report regularly to parents about their child’s progress in a range of formats. Reporting includes a first term interim report, two formal written semester reports, three-way conferences/ parent-teacher interviews, learning journeys, and special work exhibitions. Interviews may be arranged at any time by parents or staff.