2007-10

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H Vicki Harris is a retired primary school teacher, still supply teaching in a local school. Here she tells us a little of her experience... The way children learn skills, acquire knowledge and become responsible citizens has always fascinated me — I suppose that’s why I enjoy being a teacher. One minute they are coming into school, some only four years old, with a brand new uniform, book bag and P.E. kit, and within a very few years they become literate, numerate, join orchestras, gain sporting prowess and have an enviable grasp of all aspects of technology. If you ask any very young children what they have done at school, they will probably say, either, ‘I can’t remember’ or ‘I played all day’. Well, it’s probably true! Children in reception classes learn best through imaginative and manipulative play. Teachers use water, sand, pebbles, bubbles, fabrics, etc so that children learn through sensory experience. Concepts like shape, empty and full, light and heavy, large and small, thick and thin can all be assimilated. Will it float or sink? How can we make this move? Children draw and paint, mixing colours and experimenting with pattern and texture. They make models with boxes, tubes and plastic containers. They learn how to fasten things together and how to use tools safely. With all these activities comes the resultant language as children present their paintings or models and describe how they were made in ‘show and tell’ sessions. While all this is taking place other children are encouraged to listen in an atmosphere of mutual respect. Children’s attitudes are influenced by feedback from others, whether from adults or their peers. If a child learns to be positive about their work, then they are always eager to give more. As the poem says: ‘If a child lives with encouragement, he learns selfconfidence’. There is always a ‘home corner’, where through role play children learn to interact with others. This might be a kitchen, or a travel agents, a flower shop or a doctor’s surgery. Children are encouraged to handle money and give change, write flower orders or prescriptions and it is here that children, learning through experience and repetition, become part of the wider community. As language develops and the skills of reading and writing are established, children mature towards being independent. They soon learn what tasks they must accomplish each short session and develop a good work St Chads Church, Linden Avenue, Woodseats email: office@stchads.org Church Offices: 15 Camping Lane, Sheffield S8 0GB Page <strong>10</strong> web site: stchads.org Tel: (0114) 274 5086
H ethic. They learn the skill of taking turns; some learn how to speak up and some learn when to be quiet! Those who came into school unable to dress and undress themselves soon learn independence by imitating their friends and, of course, there is nothing like the reward of a special sticker badge to encourage the slow mover. Children soon learn a sense of social justice and moral responsibility. As they progress through school they take part in ‘Circle Time’ where they discuss world issues such as poverty, famine and homelessness. They use ideas and information learned at home and in school to share with each other how to care for animals, how to make healthy choices of food, how to keep themselves safe and whom they can trust to help them. They learn respect and appreciation for different faiths and cultures and often we adults can learn from the truthful and refreshing ideas which children contribute. In today’s primary schools we have School Councils where each class elects representatives to put forward their views on school life. Children are encouraged to play an active part in some of the decisions which will affect them. Our children are growing up in an increasingly technological age; they are immersed in it right from birth and use it far more easily than many adults. How many of you could manipulate text, change font, size, and colour when you were only four years old? Well most of today’s children can! They access the internet, find information and print it without batting an eyelid. Children use interactive whiteboards, videos and cds to enable learning, but in all this there is still always time for the stories which are read to them every day in school. Teaching over the years has changed in many ways, but the way children learn and grow is still the same miracle. We all learn in many ways, either by watching, listening or doing. We will all learn at different speeds because we are individuals. It is a fascinating process. They say you know you are getting older when the policemen look younger! – Well the children I taught years ago are now the policemen and women, and the people who serve me in the local shops, the hairdressers, the doctors and the nurses, the plumbers, painters and mechanics. The little girl who danced the ‘Sugar Plum Fairy’ now drives her own car, the boy who loved playing with cars now works in the pits at formula one races, ‘Aladdin’ is off to university to study the world of international finance and management. My Olympic hopeful will now not run like the wind for Britain but will instead study psychology and criminology, and the children who just made me laugh and laugh will continue to be a joy and inspiration to me. It has been, and I hope will continue to be, a privilege to teach these children and to watch them grow into maturity. It has been a God given gift to be a small part of their lives. St Chads Church, Linden Avenue, Woodseats email: office@stchads.org Church Offices: 15 Camping Lane, Sheffield S8 0GB Page 11 web site: stchads.org Tel: (0114) 274 5086
Page 1 and 2: October/November 2007 Reaching 12,0
Page 3 and 4: M Maturing Year As the year moves i
Page 5 and 6: F L The secret of life is not to do
Page 7 and 8: W’ O Light Metal Exhibition Novem
Page 9: T When thinking of harvest time
Page 13 and 14: A … "Age is something that does
Page 15 and 16: M decanted, they’re usually f
Page 17 and 18: We like to compartmentalise life. S
Page 19 and 20: During this autumn St Chad’s Chur
Page 21 and 22: R 2007 Thanksgivings August 26 Phoe
Page 23 and 24: All internal Plastering and Dry Lin
Page 25 and 26: M. GODDARD DECORATORS • Domestic
Page 27 and 28: S R It is the perfect time of year
Page 29 and 30: Registers 1927 Holy Baptisms July 3
Page 31 and 32: Sherwood House, 152 Abbey Lane Shef

2007-10

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