End of term reflections
Helen Murray
Where is the year going?! I can't believe it's the end of another term already. So much to celebrate.
To mark the end of this term, Curiosity Hub planned an hour's festivities and invited family members to join them (I was lucky to be one such guest yesterday!). They planned, made and served delicious Easter treats, an Easter Egg hunt, which was announced, explained and kicked off very articulately by a member of the group) and a series of impressive dance routines (how do they keep the complex sequences they devise in their heads?!) for entertainment.
Although the group have lots of different interests and needs, by co-creating and sharing a space in ways that work for all of them, they worked together brilliantly, each only taking on roles they felt comfortable with. Barry had asked me what he should aim for by the end of this term and I tasked him with exploring fun, creative and inclusive ways of ensuring every single member of the group felt genuine ownership and agency. Seeing the group working together on their shared endeavour yesterday, looking really relaxed and at ease, I feel he's well and truly met that brief - with of course the input and ideas from the group members themselves and the help of wonderful Kristy, who brings such an uplifting sense of 'anything is possible' to the group. This term Curiosity Hub also had a bit of an animal theme which was a shared and bonding interest for many group members but science, cooking, music, intricate games and much more also featured.
Over in Tinker Lab this term with Sarah, there were valentines and Chinese New Year themes, explorations with light, dragons and dinosaurs. Tinker Lab also saw the development of an increasingly co-created culture in which parents all muck in and help support children inline with Waymakers values and share in planning activities - lovely to see this happening. Parents' generosity with their time and bringing in resources to lend, share or donate has been so appreciated across this and lots of other Waymakers activities this term.
The English GCSE group has been knuckling down to exam questions practise this term after some re-jigging to account for who was planning to sit the exam when. Group members have been exploring use of persuasive language, juxtaposition and symbolism; making arguments and counter-arguments, practising writing letters that make requests, letters that give advice, pitches to investors and writing and delivering headlines and interview questions together and they looked liked they were having lots of fun while doing it too!
We've also had engineering, stop animation, animal behaviour, first aid, online 'potions', cookery and paddleboarding/canoeing Deep Dives this term. Kristy and Sarah also worked really hard sorting out our inventory in our storage space at Springstead.
Thank you so much to all the children and adults who make up the Waymakers community - you're all amazing and we're so lucky to be making Waymakers a reality with you. Here's to entering the final term of our pilot year and have a fantastic Easter break!
