Junior School Donvale

Let’s play!

Margaret Adams Deputy Head of Junior School Donvale

The value of play-based learning to support a robust educational curriculum has been the subject of a great deal of research in recent years. Earlier this year I was fortunate to attend the Mental Health and Wellbeing of Young People Conference and learn more about this. Child development and neuroscience expert Nathan Wallis explained that children will be more intelligent and more resilient if we provide the opportunities for them to be creative. Nathan explained how research shows that getting high academic grades in the early years does not necessarily lead to academic achievement in later life. According to neurological research, from the age of nine, you will see an improvement in academic results if a child has developed creativity in the years prior. Especially between the ages of two and eight, play enhances creativity and supports the duality of concrete and abstract thinking, in turn developing intelligence and the ability to solve problems. During these impressionable years, play can also help children to build their social and emotional skills. These are the qualities, Nathan said, that lead to success in life. Through play, children are encouraged to share, take turns and consider the needs of others around them. They learn to communicate, connect and collaborate, all the while drawing on their imagination and curiosity and developing courage and resilience. According to the experts, this play-based learning needs to be child-led, not adultled. So, what is our role as teachers and parents, the primary influences on these

‘According to neurological research, from the age of nine, you will see an improvement in academic results if a child has developed creativity in the years prior.’

young children’s lives? The adult’s role is to scaffold and enable their play, and thereby extend their learning; they act as facilitators, watching for teachable moments, observing and jumping in when appropriate. Every child brings with them a deep curiosity and potential, and this innate curiosity drives their interest to understand the world and their place in it; we just need to observe and enable the right environment. Adults are the mentors and guides, listening to the child’s questions and stories, finding out what interests them and then providing opportunities to explore these interests further. This philosophy plays out at Carey Donvale through a number of programs. The Bush Kinder program allows students to discover the wonders of nature at the Flat, our ‘outdoor classroom’ on the Mullum Mullum Creek Trail; the Perceptual Motor Program for ELC and Prep children helps to build motor skills through movement; and Tech Tinkerers encourages students to explore technology and design. This is in addition to integrated classroom activities with our expert educators. Play-based learning has practical applications beyond the Junior School as well. In Middle and Senior School, anything that engages students to be curious and imaginative in a hands-on environment will greatly enhance their learning. We call this inquiry-based or project-based learning. So, when your child comes home and states that their favourite part of the day was play in class, you’ll know that they were enhancing their creativity, developing their cognitive capabilities and growing as intelligent individuals. The communication, collaboration, knowledge and curiosity that went into building that castle in the sandpit, or the Lego city they constructed in the classroom, or the bark hut they built on the Flat, or the maze they created at Tech Tinkerers, are all vehicles for developing their problem-solving skills and setting them up for success in life.