REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER Principal’s Message
12th August 2022
By Mrs Simone Cooke
Dear Parents, As Reggio inspired educators we aim to promote in each of our children an interest and curiosity based on inquiry based learning. Fundamental to our programme is learning through play along with Provocations and Investigations. This allows our children to explore and build on an area of interest, which extends their thinking and creativity. This Term a vast array of projects are already underway in our classrooms, from nature investigations, colour discoveries and space exploration to dinosaur research, author reviews and journeys around the world. Each provocation has been selected based on the individual interests of each class and our teachers have constructed a mind map of possibilities , constantly posing questions for our children to extend their thinking. What is a planet? What does a plant need to grow? What features did a dinosaur have? Working alongside the children our teachers act as facilitators. They are not seeking a scientific answer to these questions, but rather are guiding the children’s own inquiry by asking “What do you think?” It is not the answer which is important but rather the process that the child uses to find this answer. As adults it is easy for us to think that answers are important. Yet as teachers we know that having a correct answer is only half of the equation. To be effective learners, children must know HOW to approach a question. By guiding children to develop a range of different strategies to decode information we are placing in our children’s hands an invaluable tool. This will allow them to tackle problems and solve questions in a wide range of situations, both at school and in the real world, giving them true ownership over their learning
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
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