Along our exciting journey to becoming an IB world school, EtonHouse continues to excel at providing specialised PYP training to those within the community in order to ensure that exemplary learning and teaching practices are successfully implemented. 17 of our staff were privileged to attend an intensive two day in-school workshop “Making the PYP Happen-Implementing Agency” facilitated by Ms. Alice Cheung, an experienced International Baccaleaureate (IB) workshop leader and knowledgeable practitioner. 

It was a dynamic and comprehensive workshop that easily allowed participants to come to a holistic understanding of the PYP curricular framework. Engaging activities whereby teachers were able to analyse and discuss the importance of the learner, learning and teaching and the learning community, allowed attendees to gain expertise knowledge on the way in which these core areas are interwoven and should be creatively utilized to ensure student success.

Through a myriad of engaging questioning strategies, visible thinking routines and structured role-play activities, teachers were inspired to connect to and reflect upon their own practice. Participants were motivated to challenge their prior knowledge and extend upon their thinking about IB pedagogy. Common areas of misconception such as the use of student agency; voice, choice and ownership and student action were clarified through collaborative group work and individual presentations. Additionally, the value of the design of the learning environment to support the programme was a key takeaway from the sessions.

The attendees of the workshop appreciated the engaging way in which the PYP framework was presented and expressed their increased understanding of the true value that each member of the community brings to an IB world school.