The exhibition is part of the final year of the PYP, and it can sound like a big event. This guide explains what it is, what the words used to describe it mean, and how you can support your child at home while leaving the work in their hands.
What the exhibition is
The Primary Years Programme (PYP) is the IB’s curriculum framework for children aged 3 to 12, and learning in it is inquiry-led. The final year includes the PYP exhibition: a collaborative, extended inquiry into a real issue, shared with the school community. Each part of that description tells you something useful:
- An inquiry means asking questions and finding things out: the way of learning that leads the whole PYP.
- Collaborative means it is done together with others.
- Extended means it is a longer piece of work than usual.
- A real issue is a genuine problem or question that matters to people, rather than an exercise made up for practice.
- Shared with the school community means what the children find out goes beyond their own classroom.
It is not a test
There are no IB tests in the PYP, so the exhibition is not an IB test: it is an inquiry. There is nothing to revise, and no need to treat it like an exam.