Personal Learning At Halcyon London International School

Personal Learning

Personal Learning

Personal learning – the ability to define and shape one’s own inquiry and one’s own learning – is central to an IB education. It is a time to fire every student’s imagination and to feel the joy and excitement of personal discovery. It is a place to explore new ideas and challenges, and to extend one’s boundaries.

By inviting students to explore and research their own learning passions, we engage with the development of investigative, organisational and presentational skills that form the foundation for success in the IB MYP Personal Project and the IB DP Extended Essay.

Every student has dedicated time, each week, to explore their learning. In Grade 6, this begins with a guide through the IB approaches to learning, providing students with the essential tools – communication and information literacy skills, self-management and organisational routines – to be successful and confident researchers.

Students have guidance from the teacher, but can choose their own topics and develop their own learning goals. It is their time to explore their full potential.

Personal Project Exhibition: Coffee-table book

Juju created a coffee-table book for her personal project, focused on exploring the impact of notable women throughout history. Her book, which highlights the importance of women ranging from Joan of Arc to Greta Thunberg, was inspired by a range of research studies that underline the under-representation of women in worldwide history curricula.

Personal Project Exhibition:
Game machine

Willem created a functional arcade machine as the outcome of his Personal Project using his computing and coding skills. He was able to successfully install a range of classics onto his eye-catching machine, including Pac Man, Super Mario Brothers, Mario Kart, Street Fighter II Turbo, and Tetris. Willem enjoyed presenting and answering questions about his work at the Personal Project exhibition!

Grade 6 Passion Projects

Designing dog products

As a pet-owner herself, Fiona was interested in how pet-product designers could make playtime and feeding time more enjoyable for dogs. Fiona analysed the range of products available on a popular retail website, and compared their offerings to products available at other stores, rating them on originality, quality, and usefulness. She then took her findings from this process to come up with her own ideal line of dog toys.

Producing a recipe

For his Passion Project, Hector decided to create his own recipe for a popular condiment and produce a cooking video to share with the community. Passionate about food, diet and nutrition, Hector’s film included suggestions on how to use pesto in a range of meals, and details on the qualities of its different ingredients.

IB Personal Project

Grade 10 Personal Project on music composition

Lucas’ Personal Project involved composing an album of songs entitled ‘A Day In The Life Of Me’. The theme of the album’s six songs reflected his own personal experiences and emotions that are often felt by young people as they grow older. The album a range of genres, including country and jazz, and indicates Lucas’ strong composing skills, thoughtfulness, and artistry.

Past Personal Projects

– Designing environmentally friendly social housing
– Creating a functional arcade machine
– Analysing the effects of adrenaline on the body
– Illustrating an animatic on the threats to dolphins
– Investigating the historical changes in music marketing
– Composing music to evoke emotions

IB Extended Essay

Grade 12 Extended Essay on sustainable transport

Saveily’s Extended Essay scaled up Dijkstra’s algorithm to plan global transport organisation efficiently and sustainably. Our students are ambitious with the scale of their projects, and we hope their Extended Essays achievements encourage them to find their own way to have a unique impact in the world.

Personal Learning: Extended Essay Examples

Past Extended Essays

– Exploring the impact of pollution on urban populations
– Measuring the effect of pH levels in bones and teeth
– Critiquing the success of sustainable urban design
– Using mathematical techniques to predict winners of competitions
– Studying post traumatic stress disorder in ex-combat patients