“Each child has a spark in him/her. It is the responsibility of the people and institutions around each child to find out what would ignite that spark.” Howard Gardener. Our staff work hard to 'tune into' children's interests and needs and plan the learning environment around these. Although the heart of the areas and the pedogogy within those areas remain the same, resources and 'workshop areas' are changed on a regular basis to esnure the ignition of sparks remains constant.
The garden is a place where natural curiosities are there for the taking; a place of wonder, fascinations and a place to be free. The outdoors is unique in that it provides a diversity of natural resources and spaces that can not replicated indoors; resources and experiences which help develop the skills of enquiry, critical thinking and reflection necessary for our children to meet the social, economic and environmental challenges of society. Outdoor play allows children to connect with the natural world through experiencing the elements: water, air, fire and earth, seasonal and changes, growth and decay, and changes over periods of time.
The theatre is a place that inspires imagination, allows children to learn about themselves and the world around them, and to step into new make believe worlds. Dramatic play can be defined as a type of play where children accept and assign roles, and then act them out. It is a time when they break through the walls of reality, pretend to be someone or something different from themselves, and dramatize situations and actions to go along with the roles they have chosen to play. The theatre offers many realms of expression from storying, performing, singing, dancing, and role playing.
The garage is our transition space between the indoors and the outdoors– a place where you feel the security of being indoors yet get a glimpse of the outdoors as you play. An interactive seasonal display and small world area prompts children to put into practice what they have learnt about the seasons– allowing them to make connections with what is real and embed in depth learning. In the garage resources provided support children in physical development, scientific concepts , technology and mathematics as well encouraging children in becoming engineers and designers as they offer opportunity to build, arrange, take apart, connect and grapple with physics (forces, motion, balance, stability).
The studio is a place for child-led artistic exploration, a laboratory for trying out ideas and playing with materials. We do not view it as a ‘classroom’. It is simply a place where children and adults can freely get messy, design, play creatively and follow their own interests and curiosities. The rich range of resources provided
inspire creativity, expression, imagination, a sense of identity and enable children to develop their own cultural languages. Many learning opportunities are provided through resources such as clay, textiles, a woodwork bench, a light centre, painting, drawing and many more.