Prospect House is a co-educational independent prep school with a village feel overlooking Putney Heath in south-west London. They aim to educate and inspire children both inside and outside the classroom.
In the Nursery classroom, Callie holds a feather, turning it slowly and examining it carefully. She places it under the microscope, adjusts the magnifying glass, and spends some time looking and wondering. She describes the pattern to her teacher, who then challenges her to paint what she sees. Callie takes the feather to the art table, selects her chosen media and begins to paint circles within circles. The teacher points out this is like the Kandinsky artwork they explored last week, and Callie recalls the circles she made with the beads on the light box.
Down the hall in Reception, Jackson has discovered the rectangle stencil in the maths area. He takes a sheet of paper and pencil to a table and traces around the shape 3 times. He cuts these out, then chooses to go to the art area. Jackson finds different coloured tape which he measures to size and places around the edges. The teacher wonders aloud what the difference is between a rectangle and a square, which inspires a conversation about the properties of shapes amongst the group of peers at the table. The teacher records the conversation on the online journal system. This informs planning for the following week.
Real experiences. Inviting investigation. Everyday moments to inspire learning. This is the basis of the Curiosity Approach.
Prospect House has been implementing elements of this approach to heighten children’s development. It incorporates past theories including Montessori ideals and calls for a calm space with neutral tones and elements of nature, where children feel at home and see themselves represented. Gone are the days where brightly coloured plastic toys grace the classroom, where colour dominates on every display and every minute of every day is scheduled. Outdoor learning is a key element, and open-ended resources that connect to nature and encourage sustainability are increasingly utilised.
When selecting new resources, real objects are chosen rather than plastic toys. Recently an aeroplane role-play area was set up and stewards offered tea from real tea pots into china cups. If they broke, there was a dustpan and broom set nearby on the Montessori shelves waiting to be used – with adult supervision of course, but with controlled risk. There are intricate activities set up for small groups to experience at a time, and challenge questions are displayed to show the learning intention behind them. These could be quite open ended or have a slightly more focused intention.
The Curiosity Approach is ‘child led’; as the examples illustrate above, careful planning and observation is required. The adult plays a special role and it takes control to recognise where to step in and scaffold, rather than take over and direct. The children at Prospect House will continue to learn and enjoy ‘ordinary’ moments, which really, after all, are extraordinary.
: Prospect House School 75 Putney Hill London SW15 3NT
: https://www.prospecths.org.uk/
☎️: 020 8780 0456
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