Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Workshops on Discovery Time

Just to let those in the Greater Wellington region know that Gay & I have two Discovery Time workshops with Mana Ed over the holidays.

23rd April 9.00-12.00 Masterton
24th April 9.00-12.00 Porirua

Contact courses@manaeducationcentre.org.nz
Tel 04 237 7318

This is a fun high energy session that will introduce you to Discovery Time.
It will cover:
  • The philosophy and research
  • How to get started
  • Focussing on the key competencies
  • Practical ideas and activities

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Book News

Copies should be here by the end of April! Yeah!

So watch this space for news of the release.

It seems to have been a very long process but we are really pleased with the result.

We have had a fabulous team working alongside us:
Joy Allcock our mentor
Margaret Cahill our editor
Stephanie Drew our graphic designer

We wouldn't have got there without them.

We have learned so much along the way. We now know what an 'ozalid' and a 'white dummy' look like and can navigate our way through import and shipping forms!

We'll keep you posted.

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Interesting article from the UK

Primary schools 'have got worse'

Latest findings from the Cambridge-based Primary review (Dominic Wyse, Elaine McCreery and Harry Torrance) indicate that:

"A narrowing of the curriculum has led to a decrease in the quality of English primary schooling, 'High stakes' testing of pupils has led to a system 'focused on literacy and numeracy at the expense of the broader curriculum'".


"While test scores have risen since the mid 1990s, this has been achieved at the expense of children's entitlement to a broad and balanced curriculum."

"Creativity is at risk of being squeezed out of our classrooms" says the Liberal Democrats spokesperson for education.


Food for thought!!!!
Are we in danger of heading down the same path in New Zealand?
Will the new curriculum help to redress this problem?
Is this an issue for education in other countries?
What happens if we stifle creativity?


Let us know what you think?

Monday, March 03, 2008

Foster creativity!

The Arts Festival is in full swing in Wellington - always a great source of inspiration.

Went to the Dowse Gallery in Lower Hutt yesterday. They have an exhibition - 'A Costura Do Invisivel' showcasing Brazilian fashion designer Jum Nakao's wonderful creations made from paper.

Alongside the exhibition was an activity table where students could create their own paper garments for cut out dolls. These were some of the creations.





I can see some of our budding designers being interested in this - perhaps show them the Nakao website (above) for inspiration.

Also look at the peg dolls / worry dolls on an earlier blog (July 16 2006 - click on 'blog archive' on the right of this page, then click on the arrow next to 2006, Then on arrow by July)

Have fun creating.