BYS strongly upholds its mission to be an innovative bilingual school that empowers 21st century learning. In line with this, BYS proudly presents the Project-Based Learning approach in this academic year to our primary classrooms, which plays a big role in building the 21st century learning.
Project Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching approach that enables students to learn by actively engaging in real-world and meaningful projects. It unleashes a creative energy among students and teachers, upholds their learning that is deep and long-lasting, and inspires their personal connections to their learning experiences. PBL can be transformative for students, especially those furthest from educational opportunity. Now more than ever, BYS constantly strives to prepare our students for the world that exists around them.
BYS adopts the seven essential elements of Project-Based Learning from the Buck Institute Education in Napa, California. These elements are based from a comprehensive research to help our teachers calibrate their implementation.
CHALLENGING PROBLEM
Students engage in projects by responding to challenging problems or questions.
SUSTAINED INQUIRY
Students engage in a rigorous, extended process of finding and analysing resources and information available.
AUTHENTICITY
Students engage in projects that involve real-world tasks and tools, which relate to personal experiences and interests as well as current issues of the world.
STUDENT VOICE & CHOICE
Students make decisions in projects, including how they work and what they create.
REFLECTION
Students and teachers reflect on their learning through inquiry and project activities. They discuss the obstacles that arise and strategies for overcoming them.
CRITIQUE & REVISION
Students provide and receive feedback to and from their peers and teachers to improve their public products.
PUBLIC PRODUCT PRESENTATION
Students present their public products to audiences both internally (peers, teachers and parents and externally (government officials, businesses and etc).
At BYS, we aim to enhance soft skills in our secondary school students that can boost their physical health, behaviour as well as their career aspirations. Soft skills are the other nonacademic skills students acquire to help them succeed in life. They can include such skills as adaptability, communication, creative thinking, work ethic, teamwork, networking, decision making, positivity, time management, motivation, flexibility, problem-solving and critical thinking. For many people today, a career for life is no longer an option as employers are often looking for skills that go beyond qualifications. While one’s education and experience may make one eligible to apply for a job, to be successful in the role, one will need to exhibit a mix of soft skills. In the next academic year (2020/2021), BYS has partnered with BASE Play-House to design an ‘entrepreneurship and business boot camp’ project for our M.1 to M.6 students. This project is designed to enhance students’ business ideas and to cultivate their design thinking process through game-based workshops and activities. As part of this project, students will have opportunities to work in teams, build trust, and learn what it means to be a leader. They will also be able to pitch their business ideas and receive feedback from reputable business firms. In this project, BYS aims to promote students’ networks with other business firms, which will influence their career aspirations for the future.
