I am very grateful that the Penguin class has been reopened. Over the past weeks, we have been welcoming new students and families to the class. The students have settled into the classroom and routine and already have built new friendships.
In the first few weeks of term one, we have been focusing on Grace and Courtesy. Lessons on Grace and Courtesy provide children with explicit instructions on how to interpret and react to different social situations and behaviours. For this age group, we provide students with the vocabulary, actions and steps that they need to develop their interpersonal skills and respond to their environment. The children have practiced greeting everyone in the class and communicate effectively and kindly. We put much emphasis to greet everyone in the morning to build positive relationships with each other. The students have also learnt how to politely interrupt a person engaged in activity, make friends, pack away materials after they have finished so other children can use it too, how to ask for more space etc. These lessons also assist children with learning to orientate themselves to their environment and answer children’s questions about how they belong and participate in the world at large.
Other activities such as the Practical Life Jobs support the children to become more independent in their everyday life and build self-esteem. The children make their own morning snack. In the mornings you can see children slicing carrots, harvesting spring onions, grating cheese or juicing oranges in the kitchen. The children take care of their environment by washing their dishes, washing cloths and towels, watering the plants, sweeping the leaves and making flower arrangements to make the classroom look beautiful.