Moments of Agency
As the students continue to settle and resettle after our brief encounter with remote learning, we continue to observe students’ needs and interactions with each other and our learning spaces.
Throughout the Neighbourhood, we have encountered continued interactions relating to organisation and classification. Furthermore, in the past week or so, we are beginning to see greater imaginative interpretations of daily systems. Children have been asking for opportunities to dress-up or create pretend foods.
Fabius- This tower looks like a jungle temple!
Emily I like making a big toy machine. I would make it out of cardboard and it would make toy kitchens and pretend food…
Groups of children have been engaged in creating structures that mimic the docks and cityscapes that they are familiar with. Later, Melbourne’s Docklands was displayed on the screen to provide further inspiration. This drew new groups into our Construction Space at the back of the Courtyard.
A city with docks and a station. 
Reconstructing Docklands.
There is a train so people can get to and from the city if people can’t walk or drive. Leo
Imaginative play with toy dinosaurs has also been popular in the Construction Space. As educators, we have been interested in the children’s personification of the dinosaurs and the interactions they are performing. It is of particular interest to note the way the children are creating ‘play’ scenarios for their dinosaurs. The gradual introduction of materials, including water and rocks, continues to add dynamics and stretch imagination.
The dinosaur is jumping on the trampoline. Eve
The need a playground so they can play. Matilda
They are having a mud shower because they want to get muddy. John
The dinosaur’s water park 
The dinosaur’s shelter from the storm 
The dinosaur’s playground
We have observed children drawing and writing in the Learning Commons, looking for keywords or sentences to copy. Students are keen to create mini books, experimenting with end pages, recognising the need for covers and titles, and enjoying sharing stories with characters. Some students are beginning to notice text features such as fullstops, or speech bubbles. Students have maintained their interest in picture puzzles, and have extended their skills in using collections to create images and playscapes of their own.
Gemma- We are making a garden, we are putting in flowers and the rocks are there for the plants to lean over and the fish are for decoration and we can play with them…We need more rocks”…
Jazz notices the image of snow globes…
That’s a lot of snow globes!
Kat – It is…did you notice these pictures of people sharing their collections?
Gemma -Hey, yeh…Jazz I have an idea, we could put all the sticks and everything back and sort it out!
Jazz -what about we put them in groups?
Gemma- Yeh!…
While in the studio the exploration of our facial expressions and emotions has initiated sessions of portraiture amongst the children. They have begun to carefully observe each other’s features and hone their skills as drawers by focusing in on each specific section of the face.
She has blue eyes and I have grey-blue eyes and that’s kind of similar. Arlo
Yeah, the black dot is where we see from…I’ve noticed that my dad has dry skin in his ears and you don’t. Saskia
Discussing portraiture with Sam 
Focussing on detail 
Using mirrors to examine our faces 
Sharing ideas for drawing faces 
Focus 
Emotions and faces
Students are now adding details such as designs on clothing and eyebrows, hair and eyelashes. One of the children made the observation while reading the story, Grumpy Monkey “The eyes don’t match the face (the smile)”. This led to a whole group discussion about true and authentic feelings and their corresponding facial expressions. We are now beginning an exploration of only the eyes in the art studio.
We will continue to ‘collect’ and further provoke the childrens’ thoughts and feelings about their new environment and routines, continuing to respond and adapt together.