Its been about 5 weeks here at Tirimoana primary school and for all the people at home wondering what a typical day looks like I figured I would give you an inside look at a typical day in primary school.
7:30-9:00- The students and teachers begin to arrive at school and can play in the courtyard, the playgrounds, the classrooms, or the library before the school day starts.
9:00-9:15- morning greeting, roll call, reading class novel
9:15-9:30- Morning exercise- the teachers can have students play a game, run, do boot camp, anything to get the kids moving before the start of the day
9:30-11:00- Literacy block- The students have reading groups and meet with the teacher for guided reading. While the other groups are not with the teacher doing guided reading the other students are given independent reading work to do. When all the groups are finished there is some sort of writing exercise ranging anywhere from personal narratives, song writing, comic strip drawing and writing, etc.
11:00- 11:30- Morning tea- this is their snack and recess time
11:30-12:50- Maths block- During this time the students start out with some examples of what they will be working on during the block and then for the duration of the period the class is given a set number of pages they need to complete in their exercise book and different activities and games they can do if they complete early. While the students are working they are pulled by groups to meet up with the teacher and work with the target skill each group needs work on.
12:50-1:25- Lunch
1:25-1:45- Silent reading time
1:45-3:00- This is inquiry time, this time can be used as the teacher pleases so if the students need extra time to complete work from the morning they have this block to use. They also sometimes go outside for a game, There could be an art activity, anything that the teacher wants to do during this time, so everyday it is something different and a fun way to end the school day.
Every teacher at Tirimoana, just as every teacher and teaching style is different everywhere you go, but since there is no set standards or curriculum is has been neat to observe different classrooms throughout the school and see various teachers personalities, philosophies, ideas, learning, and activities come to life in different ways. The students over here love fortnite as much as the kiddos that I had at Southern Door and talk about it just as much as my kids did. Tirimoana also has a lot of activities that the students get pulled for throughout the day, things such as math extension, french, dance, hakka, environmental group, swimming lessons/ competitions, and so many different things that the students can choose to be a part of. Every Thursday for third block there is singing assembly where all the students in the school essentially have music class together and sing and learn songs. Every friday there is assembly to give out awards and share classwork is during middle block. Since there are so many activities that students are in, a typical day that runs smoothly never happens. In total there are about 30 children in the class that I am in, but all 30 children are never present, therefore meeting with groups can be difficult since not everyone is there every time you meet. The teachers are also in charge of teaching the children art, music, and pe, since there are no specific teachers that teach those subjects and the children all go to on a specific day of the week for a certain amount of time like it is in the states. This creates opportunities to teach and incorporate art, pe, and music often within the lessons that are being taught throughout the day.
It is definitely more relaxed and laid back than the states and what I am used to, but i love how the school develops the whole child and uses exploratory learning as their learning environment philosophy in the school. The kids love going to school and its refreshing to walk into the class every morning greeted by the children ready for an adventurous day!
