8 September 2009

Our first Unit of Inquiry – a note for parents

This year our first Unit of Inquiry is on Building Our Classroom Community.  The Central Idea is ‘There are certain actions we can take and attitudes we can develop that will help us make our classroom community run smoothly’.  In order to further our understanding, we will be following three main lines of inquiry:

  • The Learner Profile and student attitudes and how they apply to us
  • How our actions and our attitudes towards each other and our learning  can affect the whole classroom community
  • Setting up a code of behaviour and putting it into practice

For those of you new to the school or unfamiliar with the IB Primary Years Programme, our students are encouraged to be

  • inquirers
  • knowledgeable
  • thinkers
  • communicators
  • principled
  • open-minded
  • caring
  • risk-takers
  • well-balanced
  • reflective

In order to make our classroom community run smoothly, we need to learn to get along with one another.  Some of the qualities needed for this are clearly more important than others.  At the start of the school year, we are risk-takers when we approach unfamiliar situations and uncertainty with courage.  We should be caring; showing empathy, compassion and respect towards the needs and feelings of others.  We must learn to communicate effectively with one another.  We should try to be open-minded, understanding that there might be more than one point of view and we must learn about being principled and taking responsibility for our own actions.

We have begun looking at these five qualities in some detail, through anecdotes and stories, discussion and drama.  You should begin to see your child displaying these qualities and to hear the words being used appropriately.  Using the words yourself in your praise would also help support learning.

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