Holiday Medieval Fun!

By the end of Term 2 it was evident that I wasn't going to be able to get everything finished for the Medieval Feast in time. The kids all agreed it would be fun to come in on the last Friday of the holidays for a little working bee. We had pizza, listened to music, and put the finishing touches on our event preparation.

The kids spent some time making decorations (during brain-break).

I'm not really sure about the rules involved in posting photos of some of the kids, so I'm going to hold off until I'm sure if it would be allowed.

Anyway, it was a REALLY cool experience to be able to hang out with the kids in a relaxed setting. It's almost like they learned more because they knew they weren't in the traditional school environment. I don't think we should get rid of desks and books entirely, but I'm starting to think there is some real merit in educational immersion. Throw kids into a 'pretend' situation where they need to define their social status and rules and expectations, and devise structures based on information they have learned in the traditional old text book or internet.

We'll see how things go, but this might be something I do more often. Stressful as it was at first, I'm starting to feel a little more confident that it won't be a total bomb.

Victoria Floods

This post really should have happened a long time ago, but I'm only now just getting around to it.

The Victoria floods had a huge impact on our little school. Our town was a refuge where many stranded families were provided with shelter. Some people around town baked muffins and other single-serve foods to distribute at the camp sites. Kids weren't able to get to school in surrounding towns, and some of our kids or their families were faced with serious real-life issues. Granted, most of the flood action took place during the school holidays - but I just want to share this with you. I took these photos just outside of town at the end of February. This water isn't going ANYWHERE.