The past three weeks have been an exciting deep dive into a range of rich learning opportunities, including celebrating Chinese New Year, commencing our ‘Wonder of Me’ projects, caring for our chicks and launching ‘Munchy’ (our butterfly) into the Wilderness.

Thank You

Firstly, I would like to begin by extending my sincere gratitude to everyone involved in celebrating the opening of our new ELC with our Housewarming event. It was a beautiful evening and a wonderful way to begin another chapter in the 140-year history of Wilderness.

Celebrating Chinese New Year

On Friday 23 February, we continued with celebrations, but this time we were celebrating Chinese New Year by wearing red. Wearing red is believed to bring good luck, happiness and prosperity. The celebrations certainly brought us happiness on the day, and we are hopeful we have attracted positive energy for the year ahead.

Noodle and Dumpling

‘Chicken Noodle’ and ‘Chicken Dumpling’ are the questionable names that have been democratically voted in by the girls for our two little chicks. Despite these unfortunate names, the chicks are being very well cared for and loved in our ELC. As you can imagine, the girls learn so much from the chickens, including the science of life cycles, what is required for their growth and good health and, most importantly, how to care for them.

Munchy

‘Munchy’, our butterfly (also unusually named), recently brought immense joy to our Annie House girls. The girls charted Munchy’s life cycle and observed with wonder the transformation from caterpillar, to chrysalis, to butterfly. If you have never seen this transformation, we encourage you to do so, because regardless of whether it is through the eyes of a child or an adult, it is truly magical and beautiful.

Wonder of Me

Over the past few weeks, the girls have continued to share their ‘All About Me’ bags with pride. Creating and sharing these bags supports the girls’ continued development of their unique identities and provides an excellent opportunity for the enhancement of public speaking skills. Additionally, the audience learns to listen respectfully and to respond with thoughtful questions, kindness and acceptance—all of which is deeply valued at Wilderness.

Professional Development

Over the past three weeks, the educational team have been busy networking and attending professional development opportunities.

In the evening on Wednesday 28 February, I attended the IPSHA (Independent Primary Schools Heads of Australia) ELC Directors meeting at Pulteney Grammar, which was an excellent networking opportunity with like-minded schools. On Friday, as co-chair of the Early Childhood Curriculum Reference Group of AISSA (Association of Independent Schools of South Australia), with the support of my co-chair, I led a workshop and panel at the conclusion of ‘Leading Learning for Impact’ professional development day. During the day, experts in the field of education encouraged participants to think deeply and critically about how leaders can make room for impact in schools using formal evaluative processes to analyse the costs/benefits of initiatives.

Tuesday 5 March was an excellent opportunity for in-house professional development as Ms Sheree Gordon, our School Health Nurse (Critical Care Nurse), attended the ELC staff meeting to consolidate and extend our team’s understanding and treatment of asthma. This was invaluable learning, and we are incredibly grateful to have such a highly skilled nurse on site.

Following that, the ELC teaching team attended St Peter’s College on the evening of Wednesday 5 March, to reflect upon the role of the educator and the importance of active listening in dialogue with participation and documentation. This networking opportunity and thought-provoking learning continues to strengthen and develop our commitment to the principles of the Reggio Emilia educational project.

These exceptional learning opportunities, supported by Wilderness and made the most of by the team, are indicative of our commitment to continuous improvement for the purpose of providing an outstanding education for your daughters. We are also incredibly grateful to the schools in our community, including Pulteney Grammar and St Peter’s College, for facilitating these experiences.