8th April 2022
Principal’s Message
By Mrs Simone Cooke
“Why fit in when your born to stand out” - Dr Seuss We have reached the end of what has been a busy and very wet Term One! The children have enjoyed some wonderful provocations this term, all drawn from the children’s diverse interests. Unsurprisingly, the incessant rain has meant that some of our Stage 4 children have become skilled meteorologists and are providing us with daily updates on the weather, teaching us all about cumulus and cirrus clouds, evaporation, floods and how a rainbow is formed. What talented children we have at Reddam! This week some of our preschool children have celebrated that very fact, dressing up to showcase their unique talents and what they would like to be when they grow up. At Reddam the children’s provocations reflect the children’s interests and are based on a differentiated learning programme. What exactly does this entail? Differentiation, means looking at the individual skills and abilities of our children and catering for their diverse learning styles. From a very early age, children have unique ways of learning. Some children are visual learners, who learn best by using mind maps, charts and diagrams. Others rely upon auditory learning, through active listening and speaking, whilst others are kinaesthetic learners and need highly tactile and sensory experience to consolidate concepts. By exposing children to a wide range of experiences and carrying out weekly observations and assessments, our teachers are able to develop a good understanding of each child’s specific learning styles and are able to tailor their provocations to meet the different styles and rates of learning within their classes. As part of this process you will see a mixture of child initiated and teacher directed learning taking place each day. Whole group and small group intentional teaching experiences are interspersed with outdoor free play and spontaneous learning opportunities, which allows us to gain a good understanding of how our children respond in different settings and contexts. This is then used in our weekly programming to ensure we are providing meaningful experiences which extends thinking and offers new challeng-
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REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
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