Diploma Programme students joined the celebration of World Down Syndrome Day on March 21, 2018. By making presentations about the syndrome and its causes, telling stories about celebrities with this disease, challenges that parents of kids with Down Syndrom face in their daily lives, Moezzi Mohamadamin, Natia Melkadze, Mia Bajat and Giorgi Zirakadze, dressed in t-shirts with the Down Syndrome logo, raised the awareness about this syndrome in the school community.

PYP Grade 1 covered all the lines of inquiry for the Transportation Unit and summarized it by learning about service vehicles and fire safety: They now know the basic fire safety rules, they have a fire safety plan and know how to stop, drop and roll. Students learned about the crucial and heroic profession of firefighters and were so excited to visit the fire station museum on the 22nd of March, meet real fire fighters and explore the fire truck.

PYP 2nd graders (Beginner’s class) learned the Georgian alphabet with great joy. Students learned Georgian songs and stories. They created drawings on every letter to form a “Georgian Illustrated Dictionary”. They made letters using 3D pens and decorated it. We then used the school kitchen to bake tasty Georgian letter biscuits. The students then had the opportunity to perform as part of “Builders of a Country”, where they presented their work...

Within the scope of his personal project, Giorgi Darchidze, IB MYP grade 10 student, has created a sustainable school scale model. Giorgi is from Adjara; while selecting project goals and contemplating their relevance, he took two factors into consideration: beautiful landscapes and tourist attractions should always be well-maintained and community members with vision, with a clearly-defined dream, should focus on energy efficiency, environment, adequate use of landscapes and environmentally responsible buildings.

A Guest Reader visited our PYP 4th grade classroom to share a very interesting story with the students. The identity of the reader was kept a secret up to the point where she entered the classroom on the scheduled day. The students were very surprised to see one of their classmate’s parents walking through the door and the child of the Mystery Reader could not believe her eyes when she saw her mom!

PYP Grade 1A went on a field trip to the Experimentorium, the Scientific Museum for children. The museum is specifically tailored to encourage independent inquiry into scientific concepts; students had the chance to take a guided tour of the exhibits, as well as watch and take part in a scientific show/experiment. As they witnessed change of matter, the connection between force and speed, weight and acceleration, students were reminded of the concepts of connection and responsibility that have been at the core of their current unit of inquiry. Not only did they have the freedom to explore how various objects and elements are connected, but they also had the opportunity to learn how their actions affected the functioning of the exhibits. After the tour and the experiment, students were given time to explore the exhibits they were particularly curious about on their own and investigate together with their friends.

PYP Grade 1B visited the Tbilisi International Airport. Year 1 is currently covering the unit called ‘transportation’. The kids had an amazing opportunity to see the check-in process and enter the waiting area. Before the passengers got on board, the students boarded the plane and were greeted by the captain. Children then watched how the passengers boarded the plane and wished everyone a safe flight. Our first graders enjoyed snacks and relaxed in the VIP lounge at the end of the trip. Throughout the whole trip students were accompanied by the members of the Turkish Airlines staff and received a lot of useful information that has a direct connection to our current transdisciplinary theme, unit and lines of inquiry.

Within the framework of the unit about Migration PYP grade 5 s went on a field trip to the National Gallery to see Michelangelo’s original drawings. They prepared themselves for the field trip by learning Michelangelo’s biography. Students have imitated the process of painting of the Sistine chapel by lying on their backs and painting above their heads. They have also learned how migration affected artist’s life and the style of their artworks. On the trip we had a tour guide who talked about Michelangelo and his work. Apart from viewing Michelangelo’s 6 drawing’s students had an opportunity to play a puzzle, where they could arrange the scenes from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. After the trip students were asked to share their impressions and demonstrate the new knowledge they have acquired.

In line with our Unit of Inquiry “Signs & Symbols” PYP 4th grade teachers and students visited the Simon Janashia National Museum of Georgia after covering the topic ‘Stone age’. The Museum represents a scientific-educational institution that preserves and exhibits a unique collection of natural and human history of the country, starting from animal remains dated back 40 million years. The students were impressed learning about prehistoric human remains found in Dmanisi, as this discovery has changed the whole theory of human evolution. Our students found the large collection of treasures - gold and silver artifacts and jewelry from different historical periods to be very interesting. Our visit to the Museum played a very important role in deepening students’ knowledge related to their unit of inquiry.