Personal Writing

Every week we have two personal writing sessions. Genevieve and I each describe the genre that we will be modelling on Monday and the children choose which group they want to be a part of. They go to the same teacher and group on Tuesday when the focus is on editing. Children are free to choose what genre they write and are expected to edit their own work before conferencing.

We have a writing area full of tools such as:

Inspirational images and photos of the children on the Merri Creek, in Project Time etc.

Word pockets and useful word lists

Writers' Toolbox with dictionaries

Sentence Stems (sentence starters)

Last Monday during sharing time we asked children what genres of writing there are. We then took a survey of what genres they had written.

Yesterday we repeated the activity, adding a few more genres that they had thought of.

We are very proud of our writers in Prep. Children are encouraged to publish selected pieces of writing that they have edited and conferenced. We have a special section in our writing for such pieces of writing.

Come in and read some our published books!

End-of-term clean up - thank you

Several parents came in on the last day of term to help us clean up. Amanda, Amelia and Kirsty spent hours in the Atelier. Kerrie helped move some furniture at the end of the day, as did some other parents who popped in just before the end of the day, like Hayley.

Thank you to Kerrie who took home lots of dirty smocks, table cloths and dress ups to wash over the holidays.

It feels great to be clean – no more crusts, marbles and chewed up pencils under furniture; no more overflowing piles of old resources in the Atelier crowding us, and clean table cloths to cover ugly tables! We couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you a thousand times over.

Learning spaces in Bicicletta

If you haven't had the opportunity to visit Bicicletta recently and have a look around, please enjoy this virtual tour of our learning spaces... 

Entry. This doorway leads out to The Terrace.

Entry from the door near "the Pit" - take home readers and a display of our family photos.

The Science area - currently on display are a number of machines, donated by families, which are support our Inquiry project into movement.

Blocks on the light table and a comfy ottoman.

Reading area.

Reading area.

The Atelier.

View towards the dramatic play area. Lunch trolley and display of children's work in the foreground. On the wall behind, children's movement drawings are on display.

Dramatic play area.

Writing area.

A popular place for children to work on writing skills.

Parent helpers - thank you

Thank you to Moira who went and brought several more wicker baskets from Kmart to store our resources in – so much more beautiful than plastic! Moira also spent a while transferring resources into these baskets and, with the help of Jane and Ally (student teacher), improved the labelling of them.

Thank you to those parents who helped take old furniture to the rubbish yard, move furniture and rearrange our learning spaces after school last Thursday. Since then, Jane and Libby have taken initiative and moved a few things around to make things either more beautiful or practical. This is amazing! Please, families, feel welcome to come and do anything you like to improve our learning spaces (both inside and on the terrace). You don’t need to ask us first unless it’s something huge – we trust you and value your own ideas, skills and perspective. Bicicletta belongs not only to the children and teachers, but to you – the families.

Thank you Jane who has offered to take care of this blog for us. Now Genevieve and I put documents into a DropBox folder and then she does all of the fiddling around to put them on the blog. You’re a star! Thank you Genevieve for doing everything on the blog up until recently – I (Nerida) really appreciate it and I know that the parents do, too.

Greening the Terrace - thank you!

A big thank you, as has already been made, to all of the people who made our terrace the beautiful and inspiring place that it is. Whether you made a donation or helped out on the day, we are truly grateful. An thousand thank yous are owed to Kirsty and Libby in particular for initiating and organising it. We feel so lucky, in Bicicletta, to have such a generous and supportive community of families.

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The Terrace

The Terrace is the outdoor extension of our classroom. This space incorporates big blocks, playdoh, writing materials, sandpits and painting at the easels.  It is used for everything from construction to art, writing and imaginative play.