Primary Years Programme (PYP)
The Primary Years Programme completes the IB continuum between Burbank High School IB DP, Harris Middle School IB MYP, and Briscoe Elementary IB PYP. Our students benefit from our combined commitment to the International Baccalaureate World School framework. Together we are committed to a rigorous curriculum that emphasizes critical thinking in a global context. Briscoe Elementary educates each student to become life-long learners. Through the International Baccalaureate Programme, we inspire students ages 3-12 years to be multilingual, respectful, global citizens who lead in creating a positive change in the world.
The PYP consists of elements of an instructional framework that are consistent within all PYP schools around the world. Briscoe holds informational sessions and encourages all parents to attend and become familiar with our authentic approach and best practices.
The main components of the PYP are:
The Learner Profile: These are a set of attributes that describes a board range of human capacities and responsibilities that go beyond academic success. They imply a commitment to help all members of the school community to embrace differences and learn to respect themselves, others, and the world around them. Information
Concepts: With purposeful planning, we group standards together so that students see conceptual connections that tie the big ideas of content together. Within the PYP there are seven key concepts explored through our transdisciplinary units. Concepts
Approaches to Learning: Approaches to learning focuses on how students learn. It refers to the skills and behaviors used to engage in the learning process and guides teaching practices that support the development of these skills. With intentional planning, Briscoe teachers support students' ability to acquire knowledge, learn new skills, and set and achieve goals. Students learn to successfully navigate learning experiences that are challenging, frustrating, or take time to accomplish. An important part of becoming a successful learner is developing the ability to self reflect and regulate the ways we learn.
Knowledge: State standards are applied through six transdisciplinary themes: Who We Are; Where We Are in Place and Time; How We Express Ourselves; How the World Works; How We Organize Ourselves, and Sharing the Planet. Grades K-5 explore all six of these themes, while Pre-K explores four units for larger periods of time. Homeroom teachers and Essentials' teachers collaborate to design the units inquiring into each theme to ensure authentic, conceptual connections to these units across the campus.
Agency: The idea of agency is closely connected to self-efficacy, a belief in one’s own ability to succeed. When learners believe in themselves and have a strong sense of identity, they are more likely to exercise agency. At Briscoe, we recognize teachers cannot give students' agency, but rather we can create opportunities where students can exercise it. By being models of action, our teachers help students to understand agency can be taken by individuals or groups and is celebrated by our school community.
When students have agency they:
* Take initiative, responsibility & ownership
* Express interest
*Make choices
*Are aware of their own learning goals
*Monitor and adjust their learning
*Voice opinions
*Influence and direct their own learning
*Develop approaches to learning skills
Students also work collaboratively with teachers to:
*Make decisions together
*Create shared agreements
*Create shared routines
*Set up learning spaces
*Reflect together
Teachers create opportunities for student agency by:
*Actively listening
*Respecting and responding to student ideas
*Noticing students’ capabilities, needs, and interests
*Reflecting on when students need help, intervening & giving feedback
*Establishing an inclusive & welcoming culture
*Modeling desired behavior and language
At Briscoe, we are committed to ensuring our classrooms center learning and teaching around student voice, choice, and ownership. Walking our halls, you will see:
*Students and teachers collaboratively creating learning engagements and assessments.
*Students setting learning goals and monitoring progress.
*Students fostering their own belief in themselves and their own ability to succeed demonstrated by the ways they approach their learning.
*Students being active, engaged participants in thinking and learning.