30/05/2008 by James.

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14/05/2008 by James.

Yesterday was the last session of the year at Pitton, and we asked the children what they wanted to do, what materials they wanted to use, and showed them photos from across this year to support them in remembering the range of places and materials that they had explored so far.

They chose to revisit the junk materials, and the outside spaces and features around the pre-school, creating moving structures from bamboo, foam, and a strong wind, working together in teams to develop new relationships, and using role-play to test out new or recurring ideas.

A case study exploring the learning that has taken place for individual children at Pitton Pre-School, as a result of their involvement in this year’s research, will be published over the next couple of months on the 5×5x5=creativity website .

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09/05/2008 by James.

Creative Thinkers=Powerful Minds is a conference for strategy leaders, head teachers, artists, teachers and anyone interested in exploring this belief in children’s and young people’s creative capacities and participation. The conference and workshops will enable you to reflect upon and commit to shaping the future direction of education towards developing creative thinking and powerful minds.

Keynote speakers will address topics including personalisation, participation, mass creativity and transformation. Speakers include: leading authority on innovation and creativity Charles Leadbeater, author of We-Think; artist Richard Wentworth, Master of Drawing, Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, University of Oxford; Professor and Professor Anna Craft, Chair of Education, Exeter University, Reader, Open University and Visiting Scholar, Harvard University.

‘For centuries, children have expected adults to believe in them – in their talents, their sensitivity, their creative intelligence and their desire to understand their surroundings. We have to understand them through the things they want to do and show they can do. Children use a 100 languages to teach us and show us. They have an inexhaustible desire to learn.’ Loris Malaguzzi, Founder and Director of Reggio Emilia,1992

More information at www.5×5x5creativity.org.uk

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09/05/2008 by James.

Encouraging the children to recall what they did last week in their own words gave us further insight into the learning behind their play and where they were taking it. We gave them chance to watch the video of the last session, and tell us what they were doing in their own words, before encouraging them to start to plan todays session, listing the materials they would need and where they needed to play to carry their ideas out.

They chose to revisit the construction materials, and we provided some extra recycled materials from the scrap store, working on the field again, where a stronger narrative and role-play element came through, as bowls were filled for imaginary dogs and the sensory experience of moulding cut grass let to the creation of a production line to mix food for them.

The group negotiated roles amongst their team of ‘workers’ and ideas flowed, triggered by the new materials added and the features of the field around them.

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01/05/2008 by James.

Today we gave the children a chance to explore the tubes again, combined with sheets of hardboard, wooden blocks, piping, canes and willow. We wanted to give them a chance to bring together their fascination with connecting and exploring inner/outer spaces with the ‘real-world’ of the walk last week, and the more immediate landscape of the field behind the pre-school.
Key areas of interest from the walk around the village (paths, drives up or down hills to houses, walls constructed of stone or brick, drains and gullies) reappeared and were revisited through the creation of structures and the marking-out of spaces across the ground and up a grassy bank, whilst imaginary play turned some of these into houses, spaceships and beds.

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