BALLARAT Grammar is the first school outside Melbourne or Geelong to be authorised as an International Baccalaureate World School.
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Grammar achieved the recognition in May, after almost three years as a candidate school. It means it is authorised to deliver the IB’s Primary Years Program (PYP) for pupils in years prep to 6.
The school is now part of a global community of schools who share the aim of developing knowledgeable, caring young people who will be ready to negotiate their futures and make contributions to a more harmonious and peaceful world.
Teachers will have opportunities to collaborate with a worldwide network of professionals.
Head of Ballarat Grammar junior school Roger Bade said achieving the recognition was an exciting period for the school community.
He said he was proud of the school’s transition into a PYP school.
“The IB report is a resounding endorsement of the outstanding work done by junior school staff in preparation for this. This is a very significant development in the life of the school”, Mr Bade said.
IB representatives visited the junior school in May to assess its progress in implementing the PYP and recorded its achievements in an authorisation report.
Mr Bade said the report highlighted efforts to promote sustainability through the development of the Mount Rowan farm campus, and to celebrate social awareness and action throughout the school.
It acknowledged the school’s commitment to inquiry-based learning and the establishment of its Inquiry Centre as a learning hub.
Ballarat Grammar’s year 6 pupils recently celebrated their learning through an eight-week unit of inquiry, known as ‘The Exhibition’.
The Exhibition is intended as a culmination of pupils’ primary school learning, which happens in the final year of all PYP schools around the world.
Mr Bade said pupils worked throughout the term to explore significant global issues, and the different ways people expressed their feelings and opinions about those issues.
The topics included refugees to puppy farms.
On Monday and Tuesday, the school community enjoyed the opportunity to view pupils’ work and speak to them about their learning.
Mr Bade said the PYP program was not well know in Ballarat but it was one of the fastest growing education sectors in Geelong and Melbourne.
In 2009, there were 611 PYP schools internationally compared to more than 1200 in 2015.