As part of our Unit of inquiry, Living Things, the children have been curious learners and have been inquiring and finding out about what mini-beasts live in our outdoor area. They have recorded their findings by drawing detailed pictures and some have labelled their drawings. Next week, we will be enhancing our outdoor area by creating a mini garden. The children will develop their agency with the garden and will learn how to care for the plants and what they need to thrive. They will work in a team and will take responsibility to water the plants and will also make signs and labels to inform others how to care for them.

As well as looking after living things in the environment, we continue to learn the importance of our own wellbeing. We encourage children to be independent and take responsibility for looking after themselves and are reminded to take action. We have discovered that all living things need air, water, food and shelter to survive. We continue to remind children to rehydrate their bodies by drinking plenty of water throughout the day and fuelling their bodies with food at snack and lunchtime. We look forward to sharing our Nursery garden with you next week!

We have had a lovely few weeks inquiring into ‘water’ - its sources, uses and properties. Last week, all the Kindergarten learners participated in a range of activities across the year group, to help deepen their understanding. This week, we are exploring the importance of drinking water and the impact it has on our health. We challenged the learners and their families to record how many cups of water they drank over the weekend. Some learners came into school on Monday, ready to share how they got on. Through this activity, the learners have been demonstrating responsible choices and taken action throughout the day, as they monitor how much they are drinking. During Maths this week, we have been exploring capacity and how much water our bottles hold. This ties in nicely to our unit, giving our learners the opportunity to record how much water they are drinking during the school day. As well as the above, the learners are developing agency across other areas of learning, from making their own books to creating their own stories as they role play with one another. We always welcome news from home, so please do share with us any examples of your child taking action at home!

As part of our inquiries into ‘Celebrations’ from the unit How we express ourselves, the learners are using their research skills. The unit leads itself well to our learners having authentic learning experiences whereby they choose their inquiries based on a genuine interest. Over the past two weeks they have been gathering data and recording information all about their chosen celebration. This agency allows them the choice to take ownership of their own inquiries. By encouraging agency, our learners are able to problem solve and think critically for themselves. These opportunities are key in developing independence. As we continue with the unit the learners have collectively researched; fact finding, fun and useful information using a variety of media from fiction and nonfiction books as well as websites such as PebbleGo and Kiddle.co, to begin creating information reports, booklets and posters all about their focus celebration. The buzz around the class spaces is amazing as our independent thinkers engage in fun learning experiences that they are fully immersed in, making connections through home and school and with the wider community.

The Year 2 learners enjoyed an ‘enlightening’ experience during our visit to Future World at the ArtScience Museum last week to support our inquiry into “Exploring light helps us experience the world.” The children were in awe when they found themselves immersed in some of the light exhibits. They saw their own artwork take on a life of its own and learned how light can create a calming influence in The Sanctuary.

Back in the classroom, the learners were inspired to learn more about reflection, refraction and how shadows can change. To end the unit, the learners considered the applications of light and what the world would be like without light. We took an in-school excursion to the Black Box to explore the difficulty of attempting different activities in the dark. This led the learners to think about accommodations in the world around them to help people who can't see. It was a fantastic way to end our unit!

What an exciting week we have had in Year 3 with our first visit by parents EVER into our Aljunied learning space. There was so much excitement from learners, parents and teachers and it was wonderful to be able to celebrate all of the amazing work Year 3 has been doing.

Our Mini- Exhibition this week was a perfect example of how we develop opportunities for action and agency into the curriculum. The ATL (Approaches to Learning) Skills are the backbone of the PYP curriculum as these skills help learners to develop agency, or ownership, over their learning. In the Mini-Exhibition this week, Year 3 had the opportunity to demonstrate their skills in research, communication and self-management as they proudly demonstrated all of their knowledge while presenting about their landform or natural process. The learners chose their topic and used the inquiry cycle framework to complete research, create a presentation and model to demonstrate their understanding. All this required the learners to take ownership over their learning and become self-directed, agentic learners. It was wonderful to see them put their presentation skills in action and watch them speak so knowledgeably and confidently about their learning. Well done Year 3!

Year 4 learners are continuing to explore the forces at work in the world around them and investigate how simple machines such as levers, pulleys, wheels and axles and inclined planes can help to make tasks simpler. Learners have been looking at ways to apply their understanding of forces in their everyday lives. From studying how to kick a football into that exact spot in the top left corner of the goal to working out how to create the perfect balance in gymnastics; from taking a scientific look at our swimming strokes to increase our speed to considering friction when looking at the grips on shoes or tyres. It is encouraging to see learners asking questions and exploring their own lines of inquiry such as 'What is the difference between energy and force?' and 'Why is my lunch box so difficult to open when I have hot food in it?' Over the next couple of weeks, learners will continue to look for opportunities to use their understanding of forces to assist in everyday life.

In connection with next week's celebration of Diversity and Inclusion and in conjunction with our participation in Global Summit run by Nexus, Malaysia learners, are looking at the issue of stereotyping. Learners have shared thoughtful observations of stereotyping they have noticed and discussed the negative impact that baseless judgement can have. Now their challenge is to find small ways to encourage open-mindedness and reduce baseless judgements.

Our Year 5 team and learners are particularly excited about the return of our annual production. Through the performing arts learners will take their audience on a journey of how exploration of space expands human understanding. Learners have been curious and made many discoveries as they have inquired into early exploration, the moon, mars and life on an international space station. Script writing and practicing their scene performances have provided an authentic context for voice, choice and ownership. Learners are empowered to further develop agency, while collectively contributing to a shared action. We look forward to presenting 'A Night at the Museum' to our families. This will take place with a matinee and evening performance on Tuesday 7th June.

Recently Year 5 reflected on our play times and how we could further develop our social and self management skills. Together we co-constructed a shared essential agreement that reflects our RECIPE values in an outdoor environment.

R-Show kindness to others with our words and actions

-Respect all belongings, equipment and the environment

E-Agree on the rules, follow and accept them

C-Speak to others how you’d like them to speak to you

I-Have good sportsmanship and tell the truth

P-Invite, accept and include others in our games

E-Keep each other safe

Learners continue to build their agency as they take responsibility for following our essential agreement and encouraging each other to be caring and principled. Our goal is for everyone to have fun, while feeling safe.

The excitement and challenges around the Year 6 Exhibition continue to build. All of our learners are now well on the way to developing their understanding of their inquiry focus and building upon resources which will assist them on their journey. One major element of Exhibition is the focus on relevant, ongoing ACTION. This can take many forms and may be as small as writing an email to organise a face to face interview, to as large as presenting their new ideas in a school assembly. We encourage you to speak to your child about what action they have, or might take in the next few weeks to support their growth and developement.

COME AND JOIN US!

There is so much happening as we come towards the end of year six. It would be wonderful if you could join us to finish our journey.

Below is a brief overview of the upcoming events. We hope we will see you at school.