August - September 2015

81 146

81 Aug-Sep15
EDUCATION
Day in the Life
Ever wonder what goes on at school after you’ve dropped the little
ones off? Pre-Nursery Teacher at EtonHouse, VICKY VAUGHAN,
gives us a sneak peek into a day in her classroom.
What time do you get to school and what’s the first thing you do?
The day starts early for me. I get to school around 7.45 every morning. The children
arrive by 8.25. I use the time before they arrive to put the finishing touches to the
environment, so that the classroom is an exciting and inviting place for them to
explore – adding something new and inspiring every day.
What does a typical school day involve?
I’m currently teaching the Pre-Nursery class – two- to three-year-olds. I enjoy this
group so much; it’s the age of many significant developments in young children,
the explosion of vocabulary, the growing sense of independence, awareness of
friends and developing social skills; it’s such a joy to work with them.
In the morning, we welcome the children into the class and the day begins with
lots of talking. The children love sharing stories about what they’ve done the day
before. We then have our first circle time where we read stories, sing songs and
discuss what we will be doing that morning.
The children then begin to engage with the learning experiences and materials
around the classroom with the teachers. We have different learning spaces around
our school which we also use each day in small groups. We visit the light studio,
library and storytelling studio, and the Chinese cultural studio.
During the morning we also have snack time and an explore in the indoor garden,
and we use a range of other resources in the sandpit and tree house. There are
intentional Mandarin and English large-group experiences during the day, too. We
then end the day with reflection and goodbye.
In the afternoons, I work on my
documentation. We record learning
stories, write newsletters, work on the
documentation panels in the classrooms
and also set up the learning environment
in response to our observation of the
children’s learning. I also meet with the
teaching team every afternoon where
we discuss our observations, what we
thought went well, and if any changes
need to be made. My day finishes
anywhere between 4 and 5pm.
What’s your favourite part of the
day?
The best part is observing the children
enjoying and engaging in the learning
experiences that I have provided to
extend their learning. Going through their
learning stories and reliving some of those
wonderful and significant moments is
something that givesme great satisfaction
and comfort in what I’m doing.
There’s never a dull moment in this
job, but what I love about it is that I learn
something new every single day.