Rose Park Primary School

International Baccalaureate

In 2011 Rose Park Primary School was authorised as an IB World School offering the Primary Years Program.

Any school wishing to offer the Primary Years Programme and attain IB World School status must first go through the authorization process. The requirements for authorization are the same for all schools, even though the process is administered slightly differently in each IB region. The process is designed to ensure schools are well prepared to implement the programme successfully.

 This is a challenging programme that demands the best from both motivated students and teachers. Schools can access an extensive package of IB professional development for teachers and administrators and commit to ongoing professional development.

 Teams from the IB regularly visit World Schools in order to support an ongoing process of review and development, using standards and practices that apply to all IB World Schools.

The IB Primary Years Programme

Students in the 21st century are faced with the challenge of learning about an interconnected world where knowledge is constantly developing. The International Baccalaureate® (IB) Primary Years Programme prepares students to be active participants in a lifelong journey of learning.

What is the Primary Years Programme?

The IB Primary Years Programme, for students aged 3 to 12, focuses on the development of the whole child as an inquirer, both in the classroom and in the world outside.

The written curriculum

The most significant and distinctive feature of the IB Primary Years Programme is the six transdisciplinary themes.

These themes are about issues that have meaning for, and are important to, all of us. The programme offers a balance between learning about or through the subject areas, and learning beyond them. The six themes of global significance create a transdisciplinary framework that allows students to "step up" beyond the confines of learning within subject areas.

Who we are

Where we are in place and time

How we express ourselves

How the world works

How we organize ourselves

Sharing the planet

The taught curriculum

The six transdisciplinary themes help teachers to develop a programme of inquiries–in-depth investigations into important ideas, identified by the teachers, and requiring a high level of involvement on the part of the students. These inquiries are substantial, in-depth and usually last for several weeks.

 Curriculum taught at each level is outlined in a Program of Inquiry which builds on prior learning and provides continuity of learning in the primary years. The current program of inquiry at RPPS can be viewed at   RPPS POI 2015

The assessed curriculum

Assessment is an important part of each unit of inquiry as it both enhances learning and provides opportunities for students to reflect on what they know, understand and can do. The teacher's feedback to the students provides the guidance, the tools and the incentive for them to become more competent, more skillful and better at understanding how to learn.

Read more on the Primary Years Programme curriculum http://www.ibo.org/pyp/curriculum/index.cfm

Core Curriculum

At Rose Park Primary School the core curriculum currently includes English, Mathematics, History and Science from the Australian Curriculum.
Other curriculum areas of Geography, Languages , PE and the Arts are due for publication shortly.

The Australian Curriculum sets out the core knowledge, understanding, skills and general capabilities important for all Australian students. The Australian Curriculum describes the learning entitlement of students as a foundation for their future learning, growth and active participation in the Australian community. It makes clear what all young Australians should learn as they progress through schooling. It is the foundation for high quality teaching to meet the needs of all Australian students.

The Australian Curriculum includes seven general capabilities:
• Literacy
• Numeracy
• Information and communication technology (ICT) capability
• Critical and creative thinking
• Personal and social capability
• Ethical behaviour

The general capabilities encompass the knowledge, skills, behaviours and dispositions that, together with curriculum content in each learning area and the cross-curriculum priorities, will assist students to live and work successfully in the twenty-first century.

The Australian Curriculum gives special attention to these three priorities:
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures
• Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia
• Sustainability.
Cross-curriculum priorities are embedded in all learning areas.
For further information refer to http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/

RPPS Japanese Program

All students at Rose Park Primary School attend Japanese lessons.

The Japanese program is based on the rationale that language learning should be fun and meaningful. Therefore, all Japanese lessons include a balance of interactive games, songs and/or activities and teacher led instruction time. There are opportunities for younger students to learn through play. Students learn hiragana and some katakana and kanji as well as oral and aural communication and a cultural perspective which examines the differences and similarities between Australia and Japan.

The importance of learning a Language Other Than English (LOTE)
LOTE learning enriches learners intellectually, educationally and culturally, enables communication across cultures and enhances future employment and career prospects for our students. LOTE has often been found to enhance a child’s understanding of, and insights into, their own language. The rationale for LOTE programs includes the development of communication skills, and knowledge that will assist students in a broad sense to understand language, culture and humanity, thus contributing to the development of interculturally aware citizens.

The Japanese Program includes :

Communication: Speaking, listening, reading and writing

Understanding language as a system: Reflecting, comparing, understanding

Understanding culture: Recognising the interrelationship of language and culture and engaging with diversity

International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program
The Japanese program supports the IB PYP through integrating and supporting units of inquiry that are taking place in the general classroom or by working on “stand alone” units of inquiry.

Japanese and the broader community
The Japanese program at Rose Park Primary School endeavours to include the broader community.
Events such as Matsuri Day, visits from Ritsumeikan Junior High School and integrating elements of Japanese culture across the curriculum enrich student learning. Each year we have a Japanese performance at the Winter Concert and Japanese language is used frequently at our school assemblies.