ACD held its first Exhibition in May 2016 as a candidate school. This gave the school the opportunity to begin establishing a routine and tradition at the school. Students, parents and teachers were made aware of the required practice and the 5th grade class completed their first Exhibition.

This was followed by the first official exhibition in June 2017, as ACD was authorized at the beginning of March 2017. The students conducted their inquiries, prepared their presentations and presented their inquiries. This year the students worked closely with the performing art teachers to create a video providing an opportunity for children to use their artistic skills and talents to express their learning.

At the beginning of the year is held an information session for 5th grade parents. This session has to inform parents about the expectations, the process, the support that is provided by the school and expectation of parents. During the following months the 5th grade teacher begins mapping out the units and decides when the Exhibition unit will take place. About 12 months before the unit starts with the teacher reviews and prepares the handbook for the students, and coordinates works with the teacher by planning and holding meetings with single subject teachers.

The teachers begins working with the students about 8 weeks before planned date of the exhibition in order to understand the transdisciplinary theme the unit is under, create a central idea, identify topics of interest, establish working groups and write lines of inquiry to guide students in their personal inquiry work for the topicin which the group is collaborating. The following weeks are spent on the inquiry process with questioning, conducting research using primary and secondary resources, assessing and giving feedback, working on the arts element of the presentation and finally, working on ways to present their learning. All these eight weeks have to do with the Exhibition as students are assessed along the way for their understanding of the elements of the programme, collaboration, their living of the IB learner profile and the work they are doing. Assessments are primarily self and peer assessments with teacher review and input. The teacher then also conducts an assessment on the final presentation.

In 2017 the students inquired into pollution, poverty, and racism under the central idea; There are global issues that can be solved through collaboration.

In the final year of the PYP, students participate in a culminating project, the PYP exhibition. This requires that each student demonstrates engagement with the five essential elements of the programme: knowledge, concepts, skills, attitudes and action. It is a transdisciplinary inquiry conducted in the spirit of personal and shared responsibility, as well as a summative assessment activity that is a celebration as students move from the PYP into the middle years of schooling.  

The exhibition represents a significant event in the life of a PYP school and student, synthesizing the essential elements of the PYP, and sharing them with the whole school community. It is an opportunity for students to exhibit the attributes of the learner profile that have been developing throughout their engagement with the PYP.  

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 independence and responsibility for their own learning
• To provide students with an opportunity to explore multiple perspectives •For students to synthesize and apply their learning of previous years, and to reflect on their journey through the PYP
• To provide an authentic process for assessing student understanding
• To demonstrate how students can take action as a result of their learning
• To unite the students, teachers, parents and other members of the school community in a collaborative experience that incorporates the essential elements of the PYP
• To celebrate the transition of learners from primary to middle/secondary education