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Fostering learning dispositions that stay with children throughout their education helps build excellence from the bottom up.
Wonder, creativity, inquisitiveness, observation, and appreciation are seen in learning throughout our lives. One of the key elements of our educational philosophy at Ivanhoe Girls’ Early Learning Centre is to celebrate the wonderment of childhood whilst nurturing the learning that occurs rapidly during this time and help build strong foundations for future learning.
One of the many ways we do this is through our engagement with our local community. The sense of belonging that comes from being part of the School community is one we aim to foster as it enhances wellbeing and learning at all levels.
We are fortunate to enjoy many areas that make up our learning spaces. Walking back from our Music class one day we were struck by the beauty of the stained glass windows looking extra bright and colourful in the midday sun of summer. We stopped to appreciate the different colours and invited the children to share what they were seeing.
Some noticed flowers, some saw a sun, others saw water. We all noticed something different in the sparkling window. This moment in amongst thousands on any given day could have gone by without much thought but instead became a provocation, an invitation to delve deeper.
Back in the ELC the children were invited to look closer. Looking at photos of our school window and images of other stained glass windows we began to notice similarities. The black lines that outlined each colour. There were straight lines, curved lines and they all held the translucent colours within.
Again, they shared their thoughts on what they saw. They experimented with line and colour. They discovered that lots of lines close together was not as effective as a small number thoughtfully placed.
As teachers and educators, we observed a change in how the children were approaching their artwork. They slowed down and took their time to consider the details. Working thoughtfully and calmly, many seemed to block out the busy world around them.
We provided different mediums for the children to explore light and colour and created stained glass inspired art on our walls, windows and using the light box and overhead projector. What may have been a fleeting moment became weeks of engaged learning and experimentation.
Ms Bernadette Gioia
Director of the Early Learning Centre
The stunning stained glass window was designed by architect Bryan Dowling and glass specialist John Devitt.
The design depicts the winding path of life, overlaid onto five circles. The circles represent the four elements of earth, air, fire and water, with the fifth and top circle representing knowledge.
The window is 7.5 metres high and 1.5 metres wide and contains almost two tonnes of steel framework. It took four people two months to complete.
