Beyondia International School Meguro became an authorized school of the International Baccalaureate (IB) last year, and we have since been implementing daily learning in alignment with the IB PYP (Primary Years Programme) curriculum.
At the end of each school year, we have held various events to provide opportunities for students to share the results of their inquiries with their families.
In 2023, as part of the inquiry into “Sharing the Planet”, the children asked the question: “How can we make use of things at home that we no longer use?”
From this inquiry, they planned and held a flea market. Through reusing familiar household items, the children learned about sustainability and the importance of sharing resources. The proceeds were donated to support children affected by war, giving students a meaningful experience of seeing how their actions connect to and impact wider society.
In 2024, during the “Who We Are” unit, we focused on relationships and community. Thanks to the cooperation of our parent community, we hosted a marche-style event. With a variety of booths and activities, students experienced a deepened understanding of their roles and identities as members of their community while feeling the strong connections between home and school.
At Beyondia International School Meguro, each child deepens their learning through the six IB PYP Units of Inquiry, taking ownership of the process.
For this year’s event, we focused on the unit “How We Express Ourselves”, and held an exhibition titled Beyondia EXPO, centered on the theme of learning about emotions.
At the EXPO, we created five themed pavilions:
Happy Pavilion, Mad Pavilion, Sad Pavilion, Surprise Pavilion, and Love Pavilion.
While each class explored emotions in different ways through their daily inquiries, all children engaged with the central question:
“What are emotions?”
When do we feel happy?
What does anger feel like?
When do we feel sad?
What moments make us surprised?
By connecting each emotion to their own experiences, the children thought deeply, put their feelings into words, and expressed them through various forms. Using painting, crafts, construction, and diverse materials, they created free and richly imaginative works.
Here is a glimpse of the creations from each pavilion:
Happy Pavilion
In Orca3 (5-year-olds), children imagined their own “Happy Island.”
Through the question, “What kind of place makes us feel happy?”, their ideas took shape.
Using recycled materials, they built islands with castles and castle guards, crabs relaxing on rocks, diamonds, birds flying in the sky, and many more ideas that continued to grow. Working together to build one shared world was a true example of inquiry in action. Their unique 5-year-old perspectives brought a vibrant Happy Island to life.
Angry Pavilion
In Orca2 (4-year-olds), children focused on feelings like anger and frustration, creating three-dimensional works using clay.
As they recalled moments when they felt angry, they expressed emotion through squeezing, hitting, twisting—each in their own way. Though some were unsure at first, they soon grew more confident, and it was striking to see how their expressions became bold and energetic.
After drying, the sculptures were painted in colors that represented “anger” to the children. Each powerful piece radiates their honest emotions.
Sad Pavilion
In Orca1 (3-year-olds), children explored nature in autumn and created artworks using fallen leaves collected during outdoor activities.
Through questions such as “What do your eyes look like when you feel sad? What about your mouth?”, they noticed how facial expressions change and expressed “sad feelings” in their own ways. The soft textures and tones of natural materials gave the works a gentle, expressive quality.
Surprise Pavilion
In Orca3 (5-year-olds), children studied the expression of “surprise” using the self-portrait Surprise by Joseph Ducreux as inspiration.
After observing the artwork and asking, “What kind of expression would I make?”, they created their own self-portraits using photographs of themselves as references. They were thoughtful about color choices too—some even used neon colors—resulting in highly individual and creative pieces. It was an activity full of imagination and self-expression.
Love Pavilion
On the day of the event, families participated in a parent–child cookie-decorating workshop based on the emotion Love.
It was heartwarming to see parents and children talking, sharing ideas, and decorating together. The time spent cooperating on a shared creation reflected the very inquiry process emphasized in the IB PYP.
The pavilion was filled with warmth—a moment overflowing with love.
“Our Feeling Tree”
Throughout the day, our feelings and emotions shift constantly, influenced by the world around us.
Just as a tree extends its branches in many different directions, our emotions also move and grow in various ways.
“The Tree of Feelings” is a collaborative artwork created by all classes, expressing the many emotions we experience in a single day by imagining them as parts of a tree. Each child’s individual feelings came together to form one big, beautiful tree.
Through this event, we hoped not only to share children’s learning with families, but also to encourage conversations at home about:
- naming emotions,
- enjoying the process of expression,
- thinking about one’s own feelings and others’ feelings.
Each child’s ability to feel and express will continue to grow through daily inquiry.
Beyondia International School Meguro will continue to support and celebrate children’s rich, authentic expressions as we deepen our learning together.
