At the Goodstart ‘Goodies’ Awards, the Amplifying Impact Award went to the team at Goodstart Osborne for their Around the World Learning program in the Kindergarten Room.
Lockdown and quarantine got the Kindy class experiencing some strong Wanderlust. For weeks, their lunch conversations centred around reminiscing on holidays they have taken with their families. Small groups gathered to look through their book of Australian sights and one class member told everyone about a dream they had where they flew around the world.
So, they decided that the hard working kinders (and teachers) deserved a holiday and packed their bags to head off on a trip around Australia! They explored the vast culture of the country we call home, seeing the amazing natural sights and learning about the history of Australia.
They visited:
- Lyndoch Lavender Farm in South Australia to explore the sight and smell of this plant, practiced observational skills by sketching the plant, put on scientist hats and used magnifying glasses to explore the different parts in more detail.
- Kalgoorlie in Western Australia to learn about how gold was discovered. They used their physical skills to explore goldmines and pan for gold.
- In the Northern Territory, they went crocodile watching and then observed the amazing rock art of Nourlangie in Kakadu and were fascinated by the way indigenous people recorded their stories and histories. Their final stop in the Northern Territory was the amazing sacred natural rock Uluru. They talked about why it is important and sacred to Aboriginal people and made their own Uluru’s with red clay.
- In Queensland they visited Kuranda Village, a mountain near Cairns that has a lush green rainforest and explored the natural wonder of the Great Barrier Reef. The children were excited to snorkel with the sea creatures.
- The Blue Mountains in New South Wales where the children hiked and explored bush walking trails. Their next stop was Bondi Beach where they learnt surfing and explored the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge.
- Mount Hotham in Victoria to experience snow and explore the cold, icy temperatures.
- Mole Creek Caves in Tasmania where the children were fascinated by stalagmite and stalactites.
After they got back from their Australian holiday, they decided to go international! The first thing was to get a passport and go to the travel agent. They then visited London, Italy, France, Japan, China and India.
The feedback from families has been nothing but positive and it was fulfilling for all Educators to see the excitement on the children’s faces when sharing with them what they had learnt.
The Educators not only incorporated literacy and numeracy on their experiences, but STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) has also been embedded throughout this project, as well as sustainability.
The program developed was creative, well presented and responsive to the Covid-19 situation. It supported the children’s emotional wellbeing and had high levels of engagement from the children and their families. Well done to the team at Goodstart Osborne!