Students tackle big issues with entrepreneurial flair

The Primary Years Program (PYP) Exhibition is the culmination of our Year 6 students’ learning journey. Students work collaboratively to conduct an in-depth inquiry into real-life problems and issues that they are passionate about. This year’s exhibition theme at Elsternwick Campus was ‘How the world works’. An entrepreneurial lens was also added to the exhibition, with students working in partnership with The Plato Project, who coached students to present their project as a commercial solution.

The PYP Exhibition provides students with an opportunity to demonstrate their independence, enthusiasm, and responsibility for their own learning. The exhibition also unites students, teachers, parents and other members of the school community in a collaborative experience that incorporates the essential elements of the PYP: knowledge, skills, attitudes, concepts and action.

Program highlights

Removing the cruelty involved in live export

Maya chose this topic because she is passionate about addressing animal cruelty. ‘I knew a lot about it already, but I talked to politicians, went to protests and I educated people about it and I did lots of research on the computer. I learned that you need to look on both sides of the problem to solve it.’

The negative impact technology has on the brain

Federica uses technology a lot and wanted to take a closer look at the potential impacts of its frequent use. ‘I researched it on Google and I went around Westfield and interviewed people about it. I learnt that I must find a balance with my use of technology.’

Letting people with diabetes live a normal life

Henry is interested in medicine and wants to help people who need to use it. ‘I learnt how many people have diabetes in the world, what insulin is and new body parts and what they do.’

Medicaid

Sienna’s project was helicopters that were ambulances that took sick people living in remote areas to more developed countries. ‘We looked up the diseases that they suffer from in Africa. Then we researched the diseases more specifically and we looked at what people were doing already and they were donating a lot of supplies but after a few years the supplies don’t work and we wanted a long term solution. I’ve learnt that we have it easy and that we take a lot of medication we have access to for granted.’

KaPower

Winston’s business focuses on reducing pollution in the environment by making it easier and more accessible to get renewable energy in transport. ‘We interviewed the senior advisor on energy reform in the State Government and the founder of an organisation called Climart which was interesting because it taught us about what other people are doing to support the same cause as us.’

Collaboration

Collaboration and the development of social skills is at the heart of the PYP. Learners work in flexible groups to co-construct knowledge and understanding, learning from and with each other. ‘Many of the Exhibition groups included boys and girls and it was obvious how they complemented each other’ says Nicola, PYP Coordinator at Wesley College Elsternwick.

Parent response/community

Parents have been highly impressed with the commitment students show during the Exhibition process. Nicola says, ‘One parent commented that their student was so keen to come to school everyday during the Exhibition unit. They loved the fact that the students were taking ownership of their learning. On the presentation night they were impressed with the depth of understanding the students had about the problem they had researched. They commented on how confidently students communicated their new learning and how passionately they pitched their solution ideas.’