Play taken seriously at Castlecliff School

Castlecliff School pupil Byron Moase photographs classmate Noah Hill and his lego wall. PHOTO/BEVAN CONLEY

The new entrant classroom at Castlecliff School is humming with busy and active five year olds.

There's lots of talking and laughing as children play with Lego blocks, arrange flowers, count cupcakes and pull an old computer keyboard apart. A couple of children sit quietly by themselves, drawing or gluing pictures together.

There's one thing missing in this classroom: rows of desks and children sitting quietly on their chairs.

That's because Castlecliff School has just introduced a new programme, the Walker Learning Approach, for its new entrant pupils. Rather than have the children sit at desks while the teachers stand up the front talking, the pupils move around the room and carry out "investigations" at different stations.

There's the construction station, the collage station, the nature station, the tinkering station, and others.

The idea, say new entrant co-teachers Terrayne Whata and Daphne Stedman, is that children are eased into formal learning, rather than suddenly have it thrust upon them when they turn five.

"There's a lot of research that says that many children of this age are not yet ready for formal learning, and that play is very important," Mrs Stedman said.

"This provides a link between pre-school and school."

However, the Walker Learning Approach is not just random play. While the children are mostly free to play at whatever station they want, there is a number limit for each station - and the teachers may make a suggestion as to which station a child should work at.

Literacy and numeracy skills are introduced to the children through the activities; and at the end of each session the class comes together for a reflection period.

"The child leads their own learning, and is able to follow their own passions. For example, we discovered one of our children is very knowledgeable about animals so we've set up a station with lots of animals," Ms Stedman said.

Miss Whata said Walker Learning Approach sessions happen in the morning then gradually the learning becomes more formal.

"But the sessions can really flow into the entire day," she said.

Walker Learning Approach has been used with great success at Lytton St School in Feilding. Mrs Stedman said she became aware of it thanks to the LINKS group, which provides connection between pre-school and new entrant teachers.

"A lot of children can be quite anxious when they first come to school. But this approach to learning can help take that anxiety away."

Castlecliff School principal Katherine Ellery said although the programme had only been going for two weeks, there had already been a noticeable improvement in behaviour of children in the new entrant class.