'Adventures in learning' at Windley School

Vanessa Hendry, Assistant principal

Well we started off working with an RTLB on looking at discovery time, when the idea of discovery time first started, and it happened once a week where we had teacher aides and teachers working with individual classes; and we have always focused on a key competency in each session. That’s developed with more of an understanding around the new curriculum and with work that Jacqui was doing with the IEPs; and also the school’s development around inquiry, where we have now developed our own programme called ‘adventures in learning’. That happens three afternoons a week and children move around the classrooms. All the junior classes are doing that.

Basically one of the other kick-starts for us was creating a new school vision. And through the discussion of that and trying to think how we can inform the children about the vision, so they actually understand it, we made the links through the key competencies as they fit well. That becomes our framework for the sessions, and we get the children to talk about it. So we model using language, we’ve modelled it, and now we hear children using the language themselves. They become reflective in what they are doing; they talk about what other children are doing; and they are identifying some of the competencies that each other is doing, which is great!

With ‘adventures in learning’ it is giving the children the opportunity to direct their own learning, control their own learning, and go with the child’s interest. We are trying to develop that curiosity; have that sense of awe and wonder about things around the world, and also model for them – show them, guide them, facilitate the process of finding out about things and using a whole range of resources to do that.