pyp updates

Learning Doesn't Take a Holiday: PYP at Home This Summer

Dear parents and caregivers, 

As we close out another wonderful year in the Primary Years Programme, it is the right moment to reflect on how far our learners have come, and to think about the journey ahead. This is the final PYP Corner in the Kontak, and we want to leave you with something useful for the months to come.

The end of the school year does not mean the end of learning. In fact, summer is one of the most naturally rich learning environments a child can experience. The PYP is built around the belief that learning happens everywhere, in classrooms, yes, but also in kitchens, markets, gardens, and conversations. The skills and dispositions we nurture in school are the same ones that come alive during the holidays.

What does the PYP actually develop? At its heart, the PYP aims to grow curious, caring, principled learners who ask good questions and are not afraid to try new things. Through the Learner Profile, students build the habits of mind that serve them far beyond any curriculum.

The good news is that you, as parents, are in a perfect position to keep these habits alive. You do not need worksheets or lesson plans. You just need intention.

Six ways to support your PYP learner this summer

Follow their curiosity

When your child asks "Why does the sea look different colours?" or "How do ants know where to go?", pause and explore it together. Look it up, talk about it, wonder out loud. Inquiry is at the core of the PYP, and a question taken seriously at home reinforces the message that curiosity is always worth following.

Read, read, and read some more

One of the most powerful things a family can do over summer is read together. Let your child choose the books,  even comics, magazines, or graphic novels count. Reading for pleasure strengthens language, imagination, and empathy. If you travel, look for stories set in the places you visit.

Involve them in real-life tasks

Cooking, shopping, planning a day trip, budgeting for an outing, these are genuine learning experiences. They practise maths, communication, decision-making, and responsibility. Ask your child to help plan a meal using local ingredients, or to compare prices at the market. Real-world tasks make abstract skills concrete.

Travel as inquiry

If you travel this summer, treat it as a unit of inquiry. Before you go, ask your child: What do you already know about this place? What do you want to find out? Afterwards, reflect: What surprised you? What did you learn about yourself? Open-minded exploration of new cultures is one of the most PYP-aligned experiences imaginable.

Give them time to be bored

This one might feel counterintuitive, but unstructured time is a gift. Children who are not constantly scheduled learn to generate their own ideas, solve their own problems, and discover their own interests. Boredom is often the starting point of creativity. Resist the urge to fill every hour.

Have conversations that matter

Ask your child for their opinion, about a film they watched, a news story you heard, a situation they noticed. The PYP encourages students to think for themselves and express their ideas with confidence. A dinner table where everyone's perspective is welcomed is one of the best classrooms there is.

Learning is not something that happens only in school hours. It is a way of engaging with the world, and your family culture shapes that engagement more than any school programme can.

Thank you for trusting us with your children's learning this year. Watching them grow as inquirers, as communicators, as kind and principled young people has been a genuine privilege.

This is the final edition of PYP Corner in the Kontak. Thank you for reading, for your partnership, and for everything you do at home to make our school community what it is. See you in the new school year.

We wish every family a joyful, restful, and curiosity-filled summer.

Best regards, 

PYP Coordinator

Lasin Ilbay