To keep you informed about teaching and learning we are going to be including a section in the news bulletin that aims to unpack some of the jargon in and around education with the aim of helping the school community better understand what we do in school and why we do it.

On the 14th of May the teachers had an enjoyable and informative professional development session with Sam Schwab, a parent and local physiotherapist. Sam has a passion for child development and came in to talk to the staff about flexible seating. This felt like the perfect opportunity to look at one of the latest educational buzz words, ILEs.

ILE stands for Innovative Learning Environment they are sometimes called ILSs Innovative Learning Spaces or FLSs flexible learning spaces. Much of the information in the press suggests that an ILE is a large open plan space where 90 students share a teacher, surrounded by noise and distractions. The reality is actually quite different and although some ILEs are indeed shared spaces they do not have to be and both the OECD and the Ministry of Education define them as being flexible spaces that can ‘adapt to suit the learning purpose.’

Another myth associated with ILEs is that there is no evidence to support the development of them. Again the reality is quite different. Key research from both the US and NZ show improvements in student social development, mental wellbeing and their ability to problem solve. Research from the UK conducted in over 400 schools showed accelerated progress in students who were taught in ‘well designed’ classroom spaces.

You may have already seen the range of furniture in your child’s classroom. This furniture as well as looking fun plays an important role; offering students choice, giving teachers more flexibility in how the space is used and as Sam explained to the teachers, encouraging the students to move and change position more frequently, combatting the dangers associated with too much sitting.

Plans are already in place for the modernisation of the classrooms at Stanley Bay. This will not be the creation of open plan shared classes but alterations that will make better use of the available space, increase the amount of natural light and make learning spaces more suitable to modern teaching and learning. We will provide you with more detail about this in due course. 

This link is a useful introduction to the New Zealand curriculum and could be of interest parents both new to the school and those more experienced with life at Stanley Bay.

https://parents.education.govt.nz/primary-school/learning-at-school/new-zealand-curriculum/