A child’s best response to the “What did you do in school today?” is “I just played!”
I’m sure that sounds familiar and I am confident that you see past the simplicity of this recollection of their school day. Further questions might identify that our children enjoy their learning and are so engaged in activities that they are unaware of the depth of learning. It is a wonderful moment when we reflect on the skills, ideas, knowledge and connections they are making, often subliminally.
I have written about our school passion for play before and observed that ‘play’ is synonymous with ‘investigation’, ‘experimentation’, ‘research’, ‘exploration’ and ‘discovery’… the list goes on. It is how learning happens. By playing with ideas and experimenting with skills and knowledge, we make even greater progress and become more flexible in our thinking. This happens differently in each subject and whether problem solving in maths or experimenting in science or creating in art – here at BPS we are successful in creating opportunities for several subjects and multiple skills to be developed at the same time, through engaging and inspiring activities.
Here’s an example from Year 3, learning about Stonehenge. For such a 3-dimensional structure, the teaching needed to be equally multi dimensioned, so the learning took place in our STEM centre. As well as exploring the history and cultural significance, the children took on the challenge of creating their own model – out of biscuits! I am reliably informed that no shortbreads were harmed in the making of these structures, but the depth of learning was wonderful to see. A hands-on approach that took understanding way beyond, as the children explored the mathematical and engineering aspects of angles and structures. The activity involved problem solving, collaboration, resilience and fun – all essential skills that were nurtured as our children ‘played’ around with biscuits!
Year 2 have enjoyed a similarly diverse week with activities inspired by the book Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty and David Roberts (do look up the series). You can see more details of this project in our news and social media posts, and it is an amazing example of when enabling learning to be led by the imagination of children and staff, we create a powerful way to deepen understanding and develop skills and character. The children have been inspired in their English, maths, art and design, STEM, and all through a series of activities that were at their heart, playful and inspired by a great book!
I will share in my end of term letter details of the key school development ambitions for next year, but it will come as no surprise that exploring even more opportunities to develop learning experiences in this way will be a core theme.
My final note is to say another huge thank you to our BPSA for the wonderful school fair last Sunday, it was a lovely community event, and everyone enjoyed themselves! Today we celebrated the official opening of the fantastic new school library – an incredible learning space, funded by our BPSA that will benefit every child in our school for years to come. Thank you to everyone who supports the fundraising events throughout the year that enable these projects to come to life.
