A day in the life...

After a very busy start with ERO and the usual start of year activities I have been lucky enough to spend a bit of time in classrooms over the last few weeks. 

It has been great to see teachers provide programmes which not only focus on the core skills of literacy and numeracy but also encourage our students to be collaborative, creative thinkers and problem solvers. 

Room 7 and 9 were using their new ipads to create some interesting pictures while Room 10 were thoroughly enjoying themselves and singing and dancing to some of their favourite songs. 

I was fixing a whiteboard in Room 8 while they were learning to hand write and once the board was fixed the children were very eager to write their names on "the magic board".  As I left room 8 to head over to the middles, the other new entrant room, R12, were outside playing a chasing game and developing their fitness and spatial awareness all the while having a great time.

 I could see Room 6 had been following the Olympics and two boys were very eager to show me their mechanical halfpipe they had made, while the others had made all sorts of interesting and complex creations based upon the Olympics.  Next door in Room 4 they had been working with Pip Dick from our "Cluster Project" on making objects using the 3D printer.

I went upstairs and heard Miss Gilbert from Room 3 talking about their "Must Do's" and "Can do's" during mathematics which enables the children to take greater ownership of their learning.  Across the corridor in Room 5 children were so engrossed in their reading books that they hardly noticed me slip in and out.

I had to jump over a group of girls in the hallway outside Room 2A as they were making a circuit which recorded their voices and did all sorts of things while cardboard was literally spewing out of Room 1 as they had to collaborate in small groups to problem solve how to make a marble racer.

I had the pleasure of watching one of our more little known teachers Alison Baker who only comes in for a day a week, work with a small group of children who need help on their basic facts.  The pride I could see in Alison and the child who she was working with when they "graduated" from the programme was immense.

Yesterday I worked with Room 2 on the Lego robotics and it was great to see such creativity and problem solving take place as they had to programme a bee to stop and collect pollen from a flower.  The highlight was watching the groups eyes light up and their collective sigh when they discovered a solution.  That is why we love teaching.

I have a pretty good job some days!

We wish all of the children going to Year 6 camp a wonderful time and we thank all of our parent helpers both at camp and at the Year 5 activity week. Without your support we can not do all of the things that we do.

Kind regards

Simon Clarke