Words WOODS

As I reflect on the past year, and on the progress that we have made together, I am grateful for having had the privilege of spending another fruitful year in your company as we’ve guided our girls and watched them grow so beautifully. Once again, we have achieved much to be proud of this year.

Due to the rapid pace of socio and economic changes, School-in-the-Woods has embarked on preparing our girls for jobs that have not yet been created, technologies that have not yet been invented and problems that we don’t yet know will arise. As our children will become the citizens, employers, employees, professionals, educators, and caretakers of our planet in years to come, we need to equip them with the building blocks for learning. Technology routinely opens classrooms to the world and brings the world into the classrooms. Today, we know much more about the science of teaching and learning than we did before, with many conversations focused on what and how we tutor our children.

At School-in-the- Woods, we have started the journey, using both technology and future-focused educational skills that will help our girls become global and responsible citizens. We have created and fostered learning environments that encourage critical thinking, creativity, problem solving, communication, collaboration, global awareness, and social responsibility.

The consolidation of inquiry-based teaching, which places the children at the centre of the learning process by actively engaging them, has ensured that the girls are equipped with the skills, values and attitudes that will prepare them for their future. This has included the development of critical and higher-order thinking skills. Our use of collaborative teaching and learning systems helps prepare our girls for important teamwork and social interactions. Our focus on the introduction of simple, yet effective coding exercises, which the children are enjoying, and have taken to easily and enthusiastically, are also vital skills needed.

We have continued to instill in our girls a growth mindset that will help them feel confident and capable, embrace their curiosity courageously, build independence and develop persistence. These are necessary qualities and skills for their lifetime use and benefit. Through all this, we have emphasized the importance of play alongside academic school readiness.

The introduction of child-led conferences has catapulted our teaching and learning offering to an impressive level, which has the girls invested in their own learning. These conferences were meetings where our girls met with their parents and shared their knowledge with them. The children facilitated the meetings from start to finish. These are parent-teacher conferences in which the child is not only present but in charge of explaining her progress. These conferences can provide powerful opportunities for the children to advocate for their own learning. These were implemented at all grade levels. The benefits for our girls are immense as it teaches them responsibility, self-reflection, goal setting and leadership skills. These conferences gave parents a chance to watch their daughters demonstrate their own progress in their own words and see the interaction between child and teacher.

The fantasy areas in the Woods classrooms were also redesigned and are being used to create small worlds that provide a platform to stimulate the girls’ imagination. The girls can act out scenarios from real life, develop their language and practise their social skills. Walking through the classrooms you will find your daughters happily engaged in pretend play at coffee shops, vets’ surgeries, pizza parlours, fashion boutiques, etc. Small worlds, when planned well, are used effectively to meet many of the curriculum needs as these can be linked to Mathematics, Life-Skills, and Literacy. The girls explore and experiment during their play, solving problems and being creative.

The teachers have also embarked upon making learning visible through documentation boards so that parents can be more engaged in their daughters’ learning and development. Documentation of the children’s work provides an understanding of their thinking and helps drive the curriculum. Walking through the Woods now, you will find outstanding documentation boards making learning visible. With the implementation of various thinking skills strategies, such as “I see, I think, I wonder” our girls are well set for and on their way to a future-focused education that will prepare and help them to make their mark in the world that awaits them 12 years from now.

As Malcolm X so rightfully said, the future belongs to those who prepare for it today.

Sulochnee Nair Head: Pre-preparatory School