Playful Curriculum

 

A Playful Learning philosophy believes in creating a learning space that fosters creativity, communication, imagination and collaboration through play and child centred learning, providing a platform for building self-belief and student agency. 

This pedagogy provides scaffolding for children to follow their passions, to access learning that is individualised and engaging, and to develop effective communication strategies for problem solving. It fosters our belief that when children are engaged in core learning that is fun, authentic and presented in various ways, the learning becomes deeper and more meaningful. 

 

5 Key Themes

 

Literacy: communicating thoughts and feelings

Thinking: making choices and being inquisitive

Exploration: being curious and imaginative

Social Development: building positive relationships

Numeracy: developing number sense and problem solving

 

LITERACEY: Communicating thoughts and feelings

* Verbalising our wonderings

* Listening to others ideas and opinions

* Building a strong literacy foundation through talking, shared reading, singing and rhyming.

 

THINKING: Making choices and being inquisitive

* Becoming conscious of ourselves as learners

* Constructing meaning through personal experiences

* Stretching my ability to think

 

EXPLORATION: Being curious and imaginative

* Developing a love of learning

* Recognising that a mistake is a pathway to new learning

* Thinking creatively, making decisions and improvising

 

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT: Building positive relationships

* Recognising kindness in others

* Negotiating, sharing, cooperating

* Developing emotional understanding

 

NUMERACY: Developing number sense and problem solving

* Building mental capacity for new learning

* Seeing mistakes as an opportunity to learn

* Noticing patters and relationships in numbers

* Becoming familiar with mathematical symbols

* Using trail and error to test new theories or ideas

 

Visitors to West End Te Kura Ō Mōrere will see the Playful Curriculum through observing our tamariki at play

 

Playful Learning is so varied. In order to ensure meaningful ways of tracking progress and achievement our methods are broad, flexible and widely differentiated in order to celebrate the successes of our children as individuals.

Assessments are undertaken in the safety, security and familiarity of our learning spaces. Ako are offered materials or equipment they use and play with on a regular basis in order to show what they can do.  We use various methods to record thoughtful observations and offer learning opportunities to develop new knowledge.