St. Andrew's School Year 6 students hosted an exhibition entitled "Aid Organizations Work to Protect the Rights and Resources of People, Places, and Animals" recently. Part of the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program curriculum, the annual Year 6 showcase is an important milestone for the children which provides them with an opportunity to engage in detailed, collaborative inquiry and to share and celebrate all they've learnt during their primary school years before moving on to middle school.
The idea for the exhibition emerged after the students were tasked with analyzing the following theme: "Sharing the Planet: An inquiry into rights and responsibilities in the struggle to share finite resources with other people and with other living things; communities and the relationships within and between them; access to equal opportunities; peace and conflict resolution."
They spent nine weeks researching, writing, creating posters and online presentations, cooperating and rehearsing. The showcase began with a stage production in which the children addressed numerous challenges being faced by humans, animals and the environment through drama, poetry and song. They described the work being done by a wide range of non-profit organizations that seek to meet those challenges, and then encouraged their audience -- other students, parents, guardians, family members, faculty and friends of the school -- to go out and make a difference.
After refreshments, the 40 children introduced their individual displays on their chosen subjects. The displays included extensive written reports and presentations on their Chromebook laptops, which were provided to them by the school earlier this year as part of a pilot digital literacy program.
This groundbreaking initiative brings the "Google for Education" suite of apps, books and videos to the classroom. The software, which is free to schools, allows users to create, share and edit files in real time, thus greatly increasing productivity as well as interaction and collaboration between students and teachers. Each user receives a Gmail account, and projects are automatically saved on the Cloud for safety and easy access at any time from any computer, tablet or phone.
The program was funded by the St. Andrew's School Parent Teacher Association (PTA). Custom Computers Ltd., which supplied the Chromebooks also made a $5,000 donation to assist with its introduction.
The mood at the exhibition was one of pride and enthusiasm, with both parents and students expressing their excitement at all of the possibilities being presented by the digital literacy platform.
"It helped me a lot because I got most of my information off the Internet," said Year 6 student Raven Deveaux. "So it helped me to find my information and I hope it's going to get me a good grade."
Indira Francis said that her daughter, Gabriella Francis, loves learning all about the software and finds it very easy to work with.
"She was very excited to study because she had that laptop there," said Francis. "It was given to the students in the classroom, which means they used it daily to do their research, and it made it easier for them to get information at their fingertips by just pressing a button. It's new for people my age to see your daughter on the computer all the time, so I had to try and understand the benefits of it for her in Year 6. And clearly by way of this exhibition, it is something that is a useful tool for kids her age in order to learn more about the world and the things that are happening in the world."
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