Maria Mandilas:
Here are some examples of where we believe that inquiry play-based learning has worked really well. We started off by introducing a goal for the students and it was that I can make a new friend and we put that on the board. Louisa actually, you did that really well that time. You are in the classroom with me. We put the goal up on the board, had a little bit of a discussion with the children about it, and then we spoke about some of the spaces that we had created in the classroom for them to go and explore on their own. And we said to them that at the end of the play-based learning session, that we would get back together again and ask them to give us examples of when they met that goal. But we also said to them that if you find that throughout your play, you are achieving that goal, please come and let us know. And we jotted it on the board. Whatever the children told us, we would just put on the board. We also took photos of the children as they were playing and talking to us. We actually continued with the same goal for that week.
Luisa Kalejuk:
Yes, two weeks. It just helps consolidate the goal and for students to, you know, have explored themselves as much as they are exploring then their new friends. Getting to know how they work and what they like to play with, you know, early in the year, It's good for them to just, you know, self-regulate themselves and then explore their friends as well, get to know each other.
Maria Mandilas:
We changed it up that second week and we said to them, you know, come and draw about a time where you did make a new friend and tell us what you did. They drew. They explained how they made a new friend and what they did. And they have put it in the journal. Ideally, we want them to feel that this is their creation, that they are the authors of this book.
Luisa Kalejuk
They've got real ownership and they can reflect. And reflecting is a really important part of the curriculum. Through play, after they can come back and reflect about what they have achieved in that play or how they have learnt the different approaches to learning, which is like our social skills, it is a great way for them to look back.
Maria Mandilas:
In terms of social and emotional literacy, we believe that the play-based learning has allowed the children to develop that sense of belonging and also not just in the classroom, but when they take it outside. They feel that they can socialise with someone new, they are able to move outside of the classroom and feel that they are comfortable to be outside in a different space. And emotionally it helps them because they are able to talk about various things, whether it is during play or whether it is then moving into a numeracy block or a literacy block. They are able to communicate with a different partner and play with them as well with those, you know, literacy and numeracy-based games.
Luisa Kalejuk:
We've found that our play-based learning has really contributed to student well-being just in terms of talking about emotions. When the students are playing and as teachers, we can get down and really converse with the children about, you know, if there's conflict. It really helps students connect with themselves emotionally. It is a very important part of our curriculum. And as we have embedded the play-based learning, I believe as teachers in our foundation team, they've just really... you see more and more the value of it. You get to see how different students work, how the classroom gels and connects more.
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