On Friday November 11, the usual lively chatter and laughter in the hallways, playgrounds and learning spaces was nowhere to be heard. What was going on? WAB’s Professional Development (PD) Day, that’s what!

Students had a day off so that staff could fully concentrate on strengthening their practice and skills through collaborative workshops. WAB strongly supports the professional development of our high-quality faculty and staff. Each year there are a range of opportunities for staff to host, lead and attend workshops and conferences both within the school and beyond.

Below, WAB’s Director of Innovation in Learning and Teaching Stephen Taylor answers a couple of questions to shine light on what exactly a PD Day entails, what it sets out to do and what was achieved during this recent session.

1. What is the usual rundown of PD Day? What happens?

PD Days usually include elements of faculty and staff connection/community-building and a focus on developing teaching and learning at WAB. They include curriculum development, professional learning and collaborative meetings that might not be able to happen in a normal busy school week when faculty have different schedules.

2. What were the goals of this PD session?

The overarching goals for the November 11 PD Day were sectional development. In the Elementary School, we were fortunate to have four official IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) workshops led by some of our expert Faculty. These workshops ran over Friday-Saturday and included Making the PYP Happen: Implementing Agency, Concept Driven Learners, Evidencing Learning (Assessment) and The PYP Exhibition. There were also workshops for our support staff on inclusion. In the Middle School and High School, there was a focus on Day 9 development, Middle Years Programme (MYP) curriculum updates and some "WAB Labs" sessions run by our lead teachers for I-DEAS and Sustainability, helping to connect our strategic goals to the curriculum.

3. What was achieved?

We are thankful that we have been able to build PD Days back into the calendar after the last two years of COVID-19 limitations, and this one was a successful return to 'normal'. Across the school, faculty and staff were able to learn, reflect, and develop curriculum and new skills. We were also able to connect as a whole-school Faculty. For our next PD Day in March, our focus will be on accreditation, Strategy 2022+ and reflecting on the impacts of our work.

We'd like to share a huge thank-you to all of our colleagues who developed and led excellent professional learning opportunities for our faculty and staff during our PD Days. It was inspiring and practical.