21 August 2020

Post date: Aug 20, 2020 10:53:50 PM

It has been a joy to witness our children moving, experimenting and collaborating in new ways this week as they get ready for the filming of the Arts Celebration.

On Monday, I sat in the sun to write this (it's a bit dark with 'the tent' all day in situ!), I witnessed movement, negotiation, listening, organisational skills, moments of glee alongside some moments of not.... everything felt very alive with a great energy.

We talk about increasing 'agency', yet another of education's well used words. We talk about requiring the children to be insiders to their learning, to be active, not passive and so forth. Sometimes that can be quite hard to manage when teachers are under so much pressure to increase achievement in the 3 Rs (Reading, Writing and Maths). There can be a tendency to talk too much, for too long, to have children sit for too long, to have them listen too hard..... because there is so much we want to do for them, there can be too much too!

So, this week it feels like there is licence to just be that much more free, to shake the timetable up, to give greater space for the children to fill. It's a challenge but the question we need to keep asking - how can we have/manage both more often? How can we keep the scales centred more of the time whilst continuing to have high expectations for the 'basics' and all the richness that supports growth - of the whole child.

OK, the sunshine in the beginning of the week is helping the cause but what could it look like if our children could even be 10% more active on a daily basis...... I don't think the world would stop on its axis. I won't mention it to the staff this week though...... it's been rather full on and they may not want to discuss it.... until next week when the show is over, so to speak!

Watch this space - the Arts Celebration links will be coming your way soon. In the meantime, let's keep working together to provide opportunities for our Worser Bay School children to grow and flourish.