JS News: 8 September 2021
The benefits of evaluation: Looking ahead to IB PYP Evaluation in 2023
By Nick Martin, Assistant Head of Junior School Teaching and Learning
I’m sure we have all experienced evaluation in one form or another throughout our lives. I had the pleasure of accompanying a group of Junior School students to Royal Canberra Golf Club for an after-school golf co-curricular. This experience re-ignited my love of golf and I thought it would help to have an expert look at my swing and give me some feedback. I spoke with the coach about my background in golf and described my current game. He watched my swing, using a few different clubs, and took some video of my swing. His analysis provided me with some feedback about what I was doing well and what I could improve. It was a positive experience as it re-focussed me on improving my golf game, providing short- and longer-term goals with simple strategies to help me achieve those goals. I’m sure not all evaluative experiences are quite so positive. I can also remember my early years of teaching, nervously giving instructions as my principal sat at the back of the classroom with a clipboard and a scowl!
We received news last week from the International Baccalaureate (IB) informing the College that Primary Years Programme (PYP) evaluation will take place in 2023. Fortunately, IB evaluation is a very positive and supportive experience that we are very much looking forward to as a school. In the past 12 months, the IB has re-designed its evaluation process and we will be one of the first schools in the region to experience this.
The main phases of the process include:
A preliminary review where we submit documentation that outlines our policies and practices aligned with IB Standards and Practices.
A self-study which takes place in two parts:
- A self-assessment of our own practice against the overarching areas of Learning, Culture, Purpose and Environment
- A Programme Development Plan is shared that outlines the improvement process we followed for a particular project.
A school visit that will take place in 2023. The visit will be facilitated by two IB educators who will spend three days in the Junior School observing every teacher in their classroom, and speaking with members of the College Board, the leadership team, teachers, students and parents.
At the conclusion of the visit, the evaluation team, along with the Radford Leadership Team, will share the findings with the school community. These findings will focus on the achievements that have been made since our last evaluation visit, as well as areas for future development.
In a similar way to my golf coach, the IB evaluation team will analyse how we are performing as a school. They will involve us in reflective conversations to challenge our thinking and push us to improve. The result of the evaluation will be a set of recommendations that will support our ongoing action planning.
There are several opportunities for parents to become involved in the IB Evaluation. Through the self-study reflection we will value a parent perspective and during the school visit there will be parent panels asked to speak about different elements of our practice. I will continue to update you all as the time draws closer. I look forward to having you as part of this important process.