The Currambena philosophy is constantly growing and evolving which is one of the reasons it is such a vibrant and thriving community. As a staff, we continuously evaluate ourselves, our teaching, our skills and knowledge. Wendy was on a panel in the holidays and she gave a presentation on Currambena’s unique democratic system which emphasises our place in the school communities that are working towards a more peaceful world which is tackling bullying and violence in schools.
In this light we reviewed Free Friday on co ordinating day. We took on the feedback from parents and the children and made some changes so the core principal of Free Friday is maintained and enhanced. During the week each class is working on a vast ranges of topics and skills, there is a lot of pressure and expectations that need to be completed. Friday is a day to consolidate, to put these skills into practise, to transfer this learning into individual interests. Learning is of no use if it is not transferable. Self regulated or managed learning is important and needs practise. If children are constantly organised, timetabled and structured self regulation is never practised, experienced or developed. True learning needs to be tried and tested so it can be internalised.
One of the decisions for Free Friday was to move canteen to Monday. The canteen was limiting what we could offer and the children were deciding not to go bush walking or be involved in any activity which would delay them going to canteen. Some children seemed to spend a lot of the day waiting to eat! Blake and I had a discussion about this and it works for him as we want our classes to spend even more time together. The children were enjoying the composite aspects of our day and we also wanted the children to be able to develop wider social groups. So on Mondays we will be together all day, we will do personal projects together, incorporating maths and english.
On Fridays it is an open invitation to parents to come and share their passions and interests. Last term we made dream catchers and bound books. The water feature is a continuing project and dog radio is a great event in the afternoons. A number of parents and grandparents come in on Friday to read with children and enjoy one on one attention. Kath (who worked in the craftroom for Chris when he was away) has agreed to come in on Fridays and share her musical skills. We plan to do more cooking and of course a whole day of craft.
p.s Wendy’s class is still selling ice blocks on Friday!
