Physically there are lots of quiet spaces in our learning community, and the children are able to use any of them. Our programme allows for individual children to decide where they want to spend their time, depending on how they are feeling, and without the added pressure of a teacher-directed timetable.
Break-out spaces (used for teaching) are available for use by children, and they might read quietly in a corner (or just sit!) while a group is being taken. We also have four wooden cubes for the children to use which are surprisingly quiet inside. There are also quiet spaces under the bench by the windows at the east end of our community (closest to the admin area). Due to the acoustic design of the space, there are quiet spaces all along the edges of our community (around the yellow beams). Children are also free to move outside, away from the busy-ness of the learning community. We have small deck chairs that we take outside with a box of books to allow for quietness, and children are encouraged to rest on the couch or cushions if they are feeling tired.
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"How do you ensure the 'middle of the roaders' aren't over looked when awarding bus tickets?"28/2/2017 For those of you unsure about what the 'bus tickets' are, they are our new school-wide positive behaviour reinforcement scheme. Children receive a bus ticket any time they are 'caught' displaying one of our school values (innovation, connection, empowerment, determination, respect, integrity, vitality, empathy or resilience).
A teacher will fill out the bus ticket, and your children will bring it home so it can be proudly displayed on your fridge, mantelpiece, trophy cabinet or facebook page. ;o) There are actually two sections to the bus tickets - the fancy part that your child brings home, and a second (less fancy) part with the same information on it. This part is sent to the school office, and the information on it is entered into eTAP (our student management system). All teachers are then able to see a spreadsheet in real time containing information about which children have received bus tickets, and what they were received for. Teachers can view this information for their own pod, the entire kowhai community, or the whole school. This information is reviewed at our weekly meetings on a Thursday to ensure that all children are being treated fairly, and have equal opportunity to receive a bus ticket. |
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