Re-entering the school room as an adult can be a fascinating experience for our parents. At the Elsternwick Campus this year, we invited them to attend workshops in our Junior and Middle Schools to gain a better understanding of how their children learn at Wesley.
Workshops in the Primary Years Program explored what makes a PYP learner through the lens of the IB learner profile and ‘hands on’ and ‘minds on’ learning engagements, giving participants an experience of what learning looks like, feels like and sounds like within the PYP at our campus.
The first MYP workshop of the year focused on concept-based learning and inquiry. Parents worked through a thinking routine similar to those their children would use, developing a better understanding of not just what we learn, but how we learn at Wesley College. For many, this was the first time experiencing learning the way their children do every day.
‘This is more like the way of learning I experienced at university and is similar to the style of strategising used in real-world workplaces,’ said Gretchen, mother of Stella in Year 8. ‘There’s a real benefit to my children learning a method that is similar to adult learning. Content is widely and easily available now; it doesn't need to be memorised in the same way as before.’
The collaborative nature of these workshops underscores the importance of the home-school partnership, emphasising the shared goal of supporting children's development. These events help to strengthen these connections, ensuring that both parents and educators work together to benefit our students. The greater the understanding and experience that parents have of how their children learn, the greater the role they can play in supporting learning at home.
