The exhibition is a powerful demonstration of student agency, as well as the agency of the community that has nurtured them through their years in the PYP. The learning community participates in the exhibition, supporting and celebrating the development of internationally minded students who make a positive difference in their lives and the lives of others.

Learning in the Primary Years Programme (PYP) provides many formal and informal opportunities for students to demonstrate how they have developed and applied their knowledge, conceptual understandings, skills and learner profile attributes through the inquiry process. The PYP exhibition is a notable example of these opportunities.

In the PYP exhibition, students demonstrate their understanding of an issue or opportunity they have chosen to explore. They undertake their investigation both individually and with their peers, together with the guidance of a mentor/s. Through the exhibition, students demonstrate their ability to take responsibility for their learning—and their capacity to take action—as they are actively engaged in planning, presenting and assessing learning.

Student-initiated: Students have a role in choosing the issue or opportunity to be explored; the development of the central idea; the lines of inquiry; and identification of the key and related concepts that will drive their inquiries. They identify what knowledge they will need to acquire, and what skills they will need to develop.

Student-designed: Students design their learning goals and establish the criteria of what success will look like for them. They co-design strategies and tools with teachers, mentors and peers to document and self-assess their learning, and evaluate the success of the exhibition.

Collaborative: Students collaborate with their peers, teachers and mentors throughout the exhibition process. There is a genuine sense of participation and engagement through regular sharing of progress and feedback.

All students take an active role in all aspects of planning, inquiring, investigating, communicating and assessing their learning in the exhibition. All students will benefit from guidance and collaboration with teachers, peers and mentors to facilitate, direct and adjust their learning.

The PYP exhibition has a number of key purposes including the following:

• For students to engage in an in-depth, collaborative inquiry

• To provide students with an opportunity to demonstrate agency and responsibility for their own learning

• To demonstrate the attributes of the learner profile in authentic contexts

• To provide students with an opportunity to explore multiple perspectives

• To monitor, document and present their learning

• To synthesize and apply their learning

• To take action as a result of their learning

• To unite students, teachers and other members of the community in a collaborative process

• To reflect on their learning

• To provide an authentic process for assessing student understanding

• To engage with the broader learning community

• To support the well-being of students by celebrating their transition to the next stages of their education