17 Feb 2021
In January, 2020 our teaching staff engaged in intensive professional development in Walker learning during the Summer term break. We all came away from the two day conference motivated and excited about the positive impact we knew that Walker Learning would have in our classroom. We felt that the play based learning approach would particularly benefit student wellbeing and help them to view school as a place that is enjoyable, inviting and reflective of their interests.
At Macdonald Valley PS our focus is always on individualising learning to allow for maximum engagement, development and success for all students. Walker Learning ensures that our students have more ownership of their learning and their learning environment. Our students are able to contribute to their learning by engaging in authentic and relevant experiences based on their personal interests as well as their learning needs.
Our strong commitment to curriculum is enhanced by allowing our students time to reflect on their learning through facilitated play or personalised research tasks. The activities we do during our explicit literacy and numeracy sessions are often part of the investigations process, as our students experiment with their new skills and knowledge. Our younger students benefit from the opportunities to develop their fine and gross motor skills through thoughtfully orchestrated activities, as well as developing their language, social skills and emotional development. All of this occurs in a beautifully designed environment which immediately invites children to participate.
Our children are eager to start their ‘investigations’ time each day and display curiosity and enthusiasm for the provocations for learning which their teacher prepares for each session.
For further information about Walker Learning: https://earlylife.com.au/walker-learning/
