LC2 2017 - Here We Go!

What a fabulous start to Term 1 2017 we have had.  It has been fantastic to watch the children join together as a new team right from the get go.  Our first week saw us having fun on the waterslide and spending time getting to know each other, our learning advisors and our new learning space.  Our second week we have hit the ground running with some great learning experiences AND a fantastic trip to the Auckland Art Gallery.

Hopefully your child has been coming home and talking about the word Courage.  This week we have been unpacking the concept of courage, what it means to us personally and interpersonally.  Take a look at what courage means to some of us - 

'When I have a bad dream, going back to sleep without waking up my Dad takes courage.' Meela

'Doing a Michael Jackson dance in front of everyone took courage.'  Alfie

'Going up the Sky Tower because I don't like heights.'  Dylan

'Touching a spider even though I don't like them takes courage.' Isla J

'Sharing learning can take courage.' Diego

'It takes courage to be nice to people.' Vrinda

'Courage is being brave enough to do your fears.' Janneke


We have started to look at and respond to pieces of art with a particular focus on the emotion that the artist is trying to convey.  We have had a go at answering questions like 'What is the story that is being told?'  'How does this piece of art make you feel and why?'  'How has the artist used colour to convey emotion?'

On Thursday we were lucky enough to visit the Auckland Art Gallery to support us with our learning in this area.  We had a session in the Art Studio producing our own art, we spent time in the gallery with a guide who asked us to respond to three different pieces of art and finally we got to have a good look around the gallery by ourselves to see which piece of art we liked the best!

Check out our day by following the link to our photo album.

PINs
We are hoping to get our PINs workshops up and running this Friday.  For those of you who are new to our school PINs stands for Passions Interests and Needs. We run two rounds of workshops on a Friday between 10 and 11 and 11.30 and 12.30.  These workshops can be run by the LC2 learning advisors, children from LC2, other children and adults in our school and YOU!!!  The children have had a think about the workshops they would like.  These ideas are written on yellow post it notes and are currently on display next to our office space.  Please come and have a look to see if you would be able to run a workshop based on any of these interests.  Alternatively if you have a Passion in pretty much anything that you would like to share, please get in touch!  There will be a sign up sheet by the PINs display board soon. 

The children who felt they were ready to lead a workshop in the coming weeks opted in to a workshop on how to fill in a PINs plan in more detail.  Here is an example below.

P.I.Ns Workshop Plan
Leader(s) - Kerry and Bella
Week - 3	How many people can be in my workshop? 6
Title of Workshop Self portraits using abstract art.	What Do I Need From Kerry, Reid or Elizabeth? Examples of abstract art.
What resources will I be using? Pencils, pastels, sharpies, paper, mirrors.
What will happen in the workshop/What will I be teaching? Practice with the pastels to experiment with different techniques - shading, smudging, colour mixing. Share pictures of abstract art and talk about them. What makes them different?  What are the features of abstract art? Have a go at drawing an abstract self portrait.  Use pencil first, then colour with pastels. Finish by using sharpie to go around the outside. Share each other's art and give each other feedback.
Reflection - How did my workshop go? We found it hard to manage that many people.  Next time we are going to have only 5. More examples of abstract art would have been helpful. We need to run another workshop so that people can finish their pictures.

LC2 Team