Champions for Change: An IB PYP unit for Year 5 and 6 at Landmark International School Cambridge

Eagle class have completed their unit of inquiry called, 'Champions for Change' within the transdisciplinary theme of 'How we Organise Ourselves'. Our central idea was, "Governments' decisions play a role in how citizens experience life". It was fantastic to see how well the students engaged across a variety of learning activities and experiences. Here are their views on the work they completed.

Students had the opportunity to ask Baroness Ruth Hunt about the House of Lords

Visitors

We were incredibly fortunate to have two visitors come to talk to the class about their roles in government. We had Baroness Ruth Hunt from the House of Lords, and South-East Cambridgeshire's MP, Lucy Frazer visit the classroom.

"On Wednesday the 28th of February, Ruth Hunt from the House of Lords came to visit our class, to talk to us about her job and the House of Lords. I enjoyed it because it was interesting to hear from someone who actually has experience with the place and the voting experience at the House of Lords. My class all asked a question and she answered all of our questions about the House of Lords" - Clara
"Ruth Hunt was so interesting I loved hearing her talk about the house of lords. She talked about what they do and how she is different from the House of Commons. It was really funny when she said that her favourite thing about the House of Lords was the tea and crumpets! She has to give talks and did you know that Ruth Hunt is a cross bench (does not belong to a party)? She was so impressed by our questions. I couldn't help myself. I asked so many questions and her answers were really easy to understand and I got all the answers I needed. We thought up some questions and she drew a picture of the House of Lords and that really summed everything up. I learnt that it takes about 8 hours for everyone to vote, there's still a person who taps the hats with a stick to see if anyone is trying to sneak in an extra vote or two" - Ellen
"Ruth Hunt came to our class on Wednesday 28th February after lunch. She said what her day was like in the House of Lords. Then she said that she believed in human rights and we asked some questions about if she did any protests. She was a Baroness in the House of Lords and that she was nominated by Theresa May. We enjoyed it because we got to know what it was like to be a Baroness/Lord" - Timo
"Ruth Hunt came in to talk about the House of Lords. She was very chill about everything. She told us about having afternoon tea in the House of Lords at 3pm. Throughout the whole thing I didn't get bored once. Now I know that Ruth Hunt has lots of godchildren and that she is young for a Lord" - Raphaella
"On Friday the 8th of March we had a very nice visitor, Lucy Frazer. When she came, she told everyone what life was like in the house of commons. After we asked her questions about her job, life, and history resulting notes. There were some interesting questions like who was her inspiration and how long has she been a barrister. But on the other hand there were some interesting answers as well. But before all that we were thinking of questions for her to answer. But to sum it all up we had a lot of fun. P.S. we also learned a lot" - Jensito
"On Friday 8th of March MP Lucy Frazer came to our school and answered some questions about the House of Commons and was very impressed with our questions. Originally she was a barrister (somebody who fights your case in the court) and she was influenced by her grandmother who she thought was the best barrister in the world. She said that she became a MP because she felt like that was a job where she could do more change" - Eddie

Students researched and asked Lucy Frazer questions about life in the House of Commons.

Art Day

In the primary department, we have art workshop days every half-term. The workshops that coincided with this line of inquiry were focused around print-making. Here's a little more information about the masterclasses and masterpieces the students created.

"On Wednesday 14 February 2024 Eagle class did printing as their topic for art day. We study one line of inquiry every half-term, this time we did our line of inquiry on suffragettes and suffragists. The teachers try to make our art about what we were learning about in PYP (Primary Years Programme) inquiry and then they will do their masterpieces about what we were learning about. This is how we made it. First we got some tracing paper and used some pictures to trace. Then we put some ink on an A3 piece of plastic and got a card sheet of paper as A3, then we put in the tracing paper on top of the card and then traced it with a pen and then we got a wonderful picture" - Yada
"I made Suffragette art day printing. The Suffragette Art Day prints were made by first drawing a picture on paper and overlapped it with transparent paper, then painting ink to it. It was fun because I like drawing. I think painted ink is the most difficult" - Kanako
"Last Thursday of the half-term we had art day. We did printing this time because every art day we do a different type of art but last time we had art day we did digital art. We do the same to our topic this time we did the champions for change and our main focus was the suffragettes who were a big group of women who thought for women's rights for equality. To do the printing we traced pictures of suffragettes with special tracing paper then got a small bit of ink and spread it out on a white board and put a piece of paper on then stuck the tracing paper the opposite way round onto the paper. Then over lined the tracing paper with a pen. Then we took the paper off then you will see the ink on the paper which will look like your drawing on the tracing paper. Then we do the same thing but on a bigger piece of paper and then do loads of pictures of suffragettes and we made sure they were layered" - Wilf

Interactive displays demonstrated their inquiry throughout the unit.

Writing opportunities

This unit of work led to some fantastic pieces of writing across different text-types. Here are Eagle class' comments about some of the different activities they engaged in.

"One day in late January me and my peers were instructed to write a newspaper report on the incident when Emily Davison sood in front of the horse, Anmer. I found it interesting to think from different perspectives to find neutral, factual information. The style (newspaper report) was unlike the other styles of writing we had done this year so our teacher Mrs Bordoli-Marsh helped us find the properties of newspaper reports by analysing other newspaper reports. Before asking us to research using multiple sites recommended by her. Researching Emily Davison’s action made me realise the efforts and risks that suffragists and suffragettes took to encourage equality" - Dorothy
"In class we have done a lot of writing activities, one of which was a balanced essay on who made the better choice suffragette or suffragist. This was all about what everyone thought about whether the suffragettes made the right decision being more violent or if the suffragists were right to be more calm. I really enjoyed searching for different reasons why they could have done what they did. Personally I found it really interesting because there were so many different reasons that I'm still not sure which side I agree with. This activity opened my mind to the different reasons of why the suffragettes were violent and the suffragists were calm and that they all had their own reasons. This was one of my favourite activities we did and I really enjoyed it" - Juliane
"On the 23rd of January, we were asked to write a text to do with the Epsom Derby race completely by our choice. I chose to write a diary entry on a document as I quite enjoy them, and decided to write it from a wife’s perspective. I really enjoyed this piece as I was in a completely different perspective and I found the Epsom Derby race very interesting. Whilst doing this, I really had to think about how to put some of the facts into this diary and also make all of it from a wife’s point of view so I found it really fun as I enjoy challenges. I learnt many interesting facts about suffragettes, most specifically Emily Davidson. In this topic I had learnt many facts that I had not known before. It was also really fun as I could give people in my diary names that I made up and I also just loved doing the whole diary in general" - Marta
"In our unit of inquiry, Champions for Change, we created many written activities. Some of which include speeches, newspaper reports, diary entries and posters.We learnt a lot whilst researching and writing about topics that suit our unit of inquiry. We have written multiple newspaper reports, one of which featured Emily Wilding Davison at the Derby. Did you know that Emily died from running out in front of the king's horse, causing a fractured skull? Well we didn't know that until our amazing teacher taught us! A rather interesting example of one of our speeches was writing a persuasive text about the right for women to vote also known as women's suffrage. We also wrote some enthralling debates about suffragists (peaceful speeches and persuasion) and suffragettes (violence, smashing windows etc.).I enjoyed it all so much and I can't wait to see what we do in our next unit!" - Nieve
"On the 23rd of January 2024 we were asked to create newspaper reports about a famous suffragette called Emilly Wilding Davison and her death at the derby. First we researched about her on multiple websites and made notes about her and the day of the derby. After that we started to create the newspaper pretending to be in 1915 and writing about the day she got hit by the king's horse and the Derby. I really enjoyed creating newspaper reports because we rarely do them and it was in general very fun!" - Razi

Well done Eagle class for your insightful reflections!