Our planning cycle is designed to recognize, plan, and support every child's unique learning journey. We believe in a transparent process where educators, children, and whānau work together to notice interests and extend learning capabilities.
This may be through learning stories, anecdotal observations and photos with learning being identified. We record what we see, what we notice, and special moments.
From what we have noticed, we as a staff team, identify the learning that is evident (learning we can see). We record these on the form "What Learning has taken place". We then identify our goals as teachers. These are called "Teachers Goals".
We brainstorm ideas on experiences we can provide to extend the learning identified and that support our teachers goals. This is recorded in a "web" format. It is "how we intend to respond".
We collect evidence of the learning and interests being extended and include any spontaneous events or changes in interests that occur throughout the cycle.
We evaluate the process we have been through. We put together all our documentation (the cycle), laminate it into a book and have it accessible to the children and parents. Children are then given the opportunity to revisit the learning and interests.
It is important to reflect upon the extension that has taken place, so we know things like how well the experience went, what was unplanned, and whether it was in the best interest of the child.