The Five Ways to Wellbeing

This week we cleaned out the craft cupboard and (re)discovered a special tool we use to make pompoms.

Each child worked with Kim to weave wool into a small ball and then carefully placed two eyes on to create a unique ‘character’. The children chose a name for their character and thought of special attributes for them.

It was a wonderful task that had the children practising fine motor skills, using descriptive language and storytelling. These are important early literacy skills that we work hard to develop in Kindy. The students created their character, drew a picture of it and then told a story about it. They were so proud of their cute creature.

“Storytelling develops listening and communication skills, improves concentration and memory, brings our experiences alive, creates a series of wonder and helps us sequence events. Stories have so much offer”.

- Wendy Bowkett

Bush School

As we move into the Noongar season of Djilba (August/September) we watch for the signs of seasonal change at Bush School. We look for emerging wildflowers – especially special orchids that grow in the paddock. We notice the kites and galahs guarding their nests and understand why they stay close to the trees. We watch the wood ducks and small marsupials and (hopefully) enjoy some clearer, sunny days. We have already seen bush honey in a hive in the karri trees. These are just some of the changes in the environment that mark the arrival of Djilba and we will guide the children to observe this over the following weeks. You may wish to look out for these changes yourselves – it is a truly beautiful time of year.

This week we discovered eggs under a tree in the Grove and some incredible small golden fungi. We are unsure what these small mushrooms are, so will follow up back in class next week to gather more information about them. There were lots of bird’s nests and perfect tiny flowers to observe. The children are learning to look very closely at small details in nature and take time to consider and appreciate their environment. This builds environmental awareness and can be calming and grounding for young learners.

At Parklands Kindergarten, we work on the “Five Ways to Wellbeing” – an evidence based approach to wellbeing which states that the five actions – CONNECT, BE ACTIVE, TAKE NOTICE, KEEP LEARNING and GIVE – will have direct positive outcomes on student health, wellbeing and academic growth. Our indoor and outdoor learning spaces provide wonderful environments for us to put this approach to work and Bush School is where we see the fruits of that labour. We see deeply engaged, calm and confident learners.