Since you are reading this guide, it means you are alredy on your way! We have already taken you through a series of talks about the Persoanl Project and you are already working towards completing it.
You are entirely responsible for your Personal Project. It is an investigation that you do independently in order to show your skills as a learner. This page serves as a guide to your Personal Project. Each section is designed to support you throughout your journey.
Being an independent learner does not mean that you have to work in isolation. The best independent learners recognise how important it is to collaborate with other people when undertaking a project, because a wider range of ideas can lead to a better outcome.
You will be assigned an adult supervisor - a personal project supervisor - who will be available to offer you advice and guidance as and when you might need it.
The role of the supervisor includes:
Apart from your supervisor, you will have many opportunities to talk with and seek advice from your parents, friends and other adults. However, the work you do in the project must be your own.
It is important that you choose a topic that is of interest to you. Your heart and mind must be in it! Make sure that your topic will be challenging enough to keep you interested over several months.
There are SIX Global Contexts. You need to choose ONE!
Click here to find out more on each Global Context.
It is very important that your topic closely relates to your chosen Global Context.
Once have chosen your Topic and Global Context, you need to create an inquiry question to guide your investigation and the creation of your product or outcome.
Creating a good inquiry question is not easy. Adults have difficulty with the task, so don’t expect the first question you think of to be the best! Brainstorm possible questions first and speak to your supervisor if you need help.
To see examples of inquiry question for each Global Context, please click here.
Your product or outcome is a GOAL - one that helps you to explore your chosen topic and Global Context, and to answer your inquiry question.
Your goal MUST be achievable as well as challenging.
You can choose from an almost endless list of possibilities for your product or outcome – the choice is yours!
Click here to see a list of examples of Products and Outcomes made by ACS Egham Students in the past.
The product criteria are how you will know that you’ve achieved your goal. How you determine how well you have done in achieving your goal. These are an important part of your process - and will play a key role in your report and self evaluation.
Your supervisor will provide you with guidance on the product criteria and we will also do a session on it for Study Skills.
Using your inquiry question, you will:
You have access to a variety of information sources – online, in the Magnolia Library, in local libraries and in the community around you. Here are a few examples of the types of resources you could look for:
You MUST keep a record of each resource you find in your process journal AND on Noodletools.
See Recording Research Sources and Evaluating Sources for more details.
Your process journal is a complete record of EVERYTHING you do for your Personal Project, from start to finish.
You are free to choose how you keep your Process Journal - but you MUST save it onto your Personal Project Folder on Google Drive.
You are expected to produce a MINIMUM of 15 process journal entries. This is approximately one per week.
For guidance on what to include in your process journal please click here.
The Personal Project is a step-by-step process. Students often get very excited and want to create their product straightaway, without properly planning what they will do and how they will do it.
It is ESSENTIAL that you plan and carefully manage your time. For this, you must create a timeline of what you plan to do so that you fit it all in! It is a one piece of evidence to include in your final report.
Click here to see a sample Timeline and to access a Timeline document to help you plan.
There are 5 Approaches to Learning - which are the KEY SKILLS you will develop during the course of the project.
See Approaches to Learning to see how they link to your project.
THESE ARE AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF YOUR REPORT.
The Personal Project interview usually takes place in December, as you approach completion of your product or outcome. It is intended to help you organise your thoughts as you start the self evaluation aspects of your report. It is also an excellent opportunity for you to practise interview skills (which you learn in Study Skills).
For more information please click here.
The project report is the formal record of the entire process you undertake so as to complete your Personal Project investigation. It is the place where you explain the thinking, process and creation of your product/outcome.
Much of the evidence used to grade you on the Personal Project will be found in this document.
It can be a spoken or written report. For more details please click here.
The Personal Project Display Evening is held at the end of the Personal Project process.
The entire ACS Egham community is invited to the Personal Project Display Evening. Parents, family members, other students, teachers, supervisors, administrators and staff attend. As you will have a wide audience for your display, it is important to carefully consider how you will present the evidence of your project.
Please also remember that this evening will be the last opportunity for your supervisor to view the evidence of your project before they grade you using the assessment criteria.
For more information, please click here.
Your supervisor will be your main source of support during the PP process, supporting you along the way.
One supervisors are allocated to each student.
Click here to find out how to best work with your supervisor.
While your supervisor will be your main source of support during the PP process, there are several other people who are available to assist you if you need it.
Click here for details of whom they are and where to find them.
ACS Egham considers academic honesty to be of the utmost importance in our school.
Click here for details of the Academic Honesty expectations for the Personal Project.