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HomeMy WebLinkAboutResponse to Consultancy VisitWestlake Academy response to Consultancy Visit Recommendations: Recommendations • That the school insures that all documents requested by IBNA have been received (re. letter from IBNA dated 10 august 2004). N/A: Westlake Academy answered IBNA 10 August 2004 letter on 27 August 2004. Consultancy Report Recommendation is inaccurate. • That the school continues to inform the school community about the finalities of the programme through publications, its web site and throughout the school building itself. o The school website continues to be upgraded and will in the near future contain a PYP page. o An informative meeting, including an overview of all IBO programmes, testimonials and a question and answer session, will be held on February I e. After that meeting, workshops on particular aspects of PYP will be planned for parents. o Increased emphasis on readily visible Central Ideas, posted PYP Planners and other aspects are included in the attached digital photos. • That the school continues to develop its library collection with the resources necessary for teachers and students in order to support inquiry. o The proceeds from the semi-annual Book Fair held in December 2004 amounted to over $4,200 in books that will be used to support inquiry o As a result of the successful Apprenticeship Program fundraising in November 2004, the academy is now in the process of purchasing $20, 000 in books and other library resources recommended by teachers and Coordinator to support Units of Inquiry. o The academy became members of a video streaming agency and has thus increased media resources exponentially. • That the school continues to revise its Program of Inquiry with attention to vertical coherence, central ideas age appropriate to children's development, and inquiry into written as statements instead of objectives. o Since November 2004 the Program of Inquiry has been revisited and revised several times. There continue to be units that will be revised in the future. This has been a team effort with all PYP teachers involved in the revision. o Central Ideas have been revised as well to be more developmentally appropriate. However, those Central Ideas continue to be expressed in adult language as the team feels that the Central Idea must be universal and that it, as well as the planner, is a teacher tool. The Titles of the Units are age appropriate. • That the school goes beyond the TEKS Texas Essential knowledge and skills and teach for conceptual understanding. o The Academy feels strongly that it does, and will continue to, go beyond the TEKS (which in theory are developed along conceptual lines) for conceptual understanding. What we have focused on since November is revising our Inquiry to reflect conceptual knowledge and not objectives. • That the PYP coordinator visits authorized PYP schools upon IBNA recommendations and that teachers attend PYP regional workshops. o We will continue to visit authorized PYP schools in order to have different perspectives and new insights into the program. The present Coordinator (Head of School) has visited PYP schools in over 8 countries; the future Coordinator has taught in two different PYP schools in different countries. o Two bilingual PYP teachers visited PYP authorized schools in Latin America in July 2004 o Two teachers will be visiting PYP schools before the end of the 2004-5 academic year. o The future Coordinator will attend a Coordinator's workshop in Vancouver in late February. o One additional teacher will be sent on a workshop before the end of this academic year. o We will increase significantly, as a result of successful fundraising, the number of teachers able to attend IB workshops. That the school makes sure that all teachers have a copy of the PYP programme and other relevant documents and use them as reference for their planning, also encourage them to use the OCC and to engage in discussion forums. o All teachers have copies of all relevant PYP documents at their disposal and are aware of how and where to download new documents. o We have had a staff development session on hands-on use of the OCC in an effort to increase staff use of this invaluable tool. That the school continues to address the role of inquiry throughout the school community, not only through unit planners, but also through stand-alone subject areas o We have begun a weekly sharing session of good inquiry practice. Teachers have been sharing narrative transcripts, photos and videos of inquiry that has occurred in the classrooms. This has been a real aid for all. • That the school makes provisions for active participation of specialists in elaboration and teaching of the transdisciplinary units of inquiry. o The specialists have become more involved as a result of the revision of the Programme of Inquiry. o This involvement with the Programme has made the specialists much more involved in the Units of Inquiry. o As all planners are now on-line, the specialists are able to access plans without being involved in 7 separate meetings.