Preshil - the Margaret Lyttle Memorial School

Within the PYP, Preshil children from Kindergarten through to Year 6 inquire into big ideas and pose questions about who we are, how we share the planet, how the world works, where we are in place and in time, how we organize ourselves, and how we express ourselves.

Conceptual lenses are used to focus the ways in which students tackle these questions, and the Approaches to Learning describe the continuum of skills required to pose, unpack, research and communicate their findings.

The philosophical underpinnings of Preshil are established in our Kindergarten. The dignity of each child, the physical environment’s invitation to play, and the strong relationships between all members of

our Preshil community. The PYP alongside the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework (VEYLDF) are used to support children’s growth and guide teaching and learning.

The focus of our Kindergarten program is inquiry-based teaching and learning through play, encompassing wondering, exploring, investigating, making connections and testing theories. Through these activities the kindergarten teaching team support the development of the skills and attitudes that each child needs to be successful as a learner: social skills, self-management, communication, thinking and research skills.

From Prep, each class group undertakes the rigorous transdisciplinary programme of inquiry as described by the PYP, which incorporates mathematics, literacy, science, history and geography and the purposeful

use of technology. Regular diagnostic assessments are used to guide teaching and learning and support the growth of academic skills. Children are grouped for teaching and learning with groups being fluid so as to

avoid comparison between children.

Our primary school aligns the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) with many longstanding Preshil traditions. Traditions which continue to celebrate the

capacity for children to work collaboratively guided by their vision, their voice and their ownership. Playmaking, the bi-annual painting of a set of stage curtains, and cubby building are examples of this.

The IB is flexible, affording each student the opportunity to tailor and adapt their learning experience. The IB anticipates learner agency is a key to inquiry, and students at Preshil develop the skills to co-create their inquiries, their assessments and the tools for reflecting on their learning.

At Preshil we value each child’s perspective as a member of our community; we listen to their voice, value their ideas and recognize them as being empowered and full of potential.

The MYP builds on the strong foundations laid by the Primary Years Programme, ensuring a smooth transition into the secondary years. Units of Inquiry are based on an expanded set of concepts and develop the qualities identified in the IB Learner Profile, where students are engaged to develop their own learning and have considerable input into how their learning is to be assessed. The MYP encourages inter-disciplinary

learning, imagination and a differentiated approach to each student.

Our community of learners is challenged to set goals that support them to reach their own academic potential. The IB Learner Profile emphasises the development of the whole person, actively cultivating the attributes of our students as inquirers; knowledgeable thinkers and communicators who are principled, open-minded, caring, courageous, balanced and reflective; global citizens with an awareness of their common humanity.

The MYP provides a framework of academic challenge for the Australian National Curriculum Years 7-10 and draws upon a world-leading curriculum that encourages students to become active, compassionate and life-long learners, as well as critical and reflective thinkers who identify and make connections between traditional subjects and the real world. Students develop a depth of knowledge and balance through the study of eight subjects: Arts, Individuals and Societies, Language and Literature, Language Acquisition, Mathematics, Physical and Health Education, Sciences and Design.

At Preshil, the MYP curriculum is extended in a rich elective programme in which students are provided with opportunities to pursue their own academic interests. The electives provide an opportunity for students to pursue areas of personal interest and inquiry. Preshil students also extend the curriculum through outdoor education activities and camp programmes. A highlight of the Year 9 MYP programme is a 3-week cultural immersion into a remote Indigenous community.

The Middle Years Programme focuses on building strengths in inquiry-based research and higher-order thinking. Students are required to develop their individual abilities, to question, to be open-minded, thoughtful and compassionate. We want them to experience the fun and joy of achievement as well as the confidence of finding their own voice and self-acceptance. By the end of the MYP they are prepared for something much richer, and more aligned with tertiary education.

The Preshil IB is not a narrowly academic alternative to the VCE. Many people have formed this idea of the IB, but it is a limited (and in some ways, a distorted) view; it has led to the common misconception that the IB Diploma is exclusive and can only be undertaken by the most able and academic of students. This view completely underestimates the IB Diploma’s flexibility and emphasis on both collaboration and individuality. Independent research from a wide selection of tertiary institutions (both in Australia and internationally) indicates that the IB Diploma is the best possible preparation for tertiary study and gives students the skills they will need to succeed in their post-school education.

The IB Diploma accommodates for a range of different pathways, encouraging a broad, contemporary education. It is a globally recognised qualification which emphasises personal interest, research and genuine criteria-based assessment, in place of a limited system of ranking students against each other. The programme affords Preshil the opportunity to offer a significantly more holistic and collaborative learning culture, rewarding individual research, community participation, creativity and global citizenship. These qualities have always been at the heart of Preshil’s approach; the IB simply allows us to integrate this approach into all elements of students’ learning.

The IB Diploma Programme (DP) allows Preshil to create greater coherence between our values and our practice. Like Preshil, the IB Diploma Programme understands that for any education to be truly valuable it must address the needs of the whole person and not simply the academic entity. By cultivating self-reflection, foregrounding interconnectedness through collaborative learning and community engagement, and encouraging students to pursue their passions and interests, the Diploma Programme provides students with a meaningful educational experience, one that is responsive to their needs and will equip them with the tools to become active, contributing members of a global community.