Such excitement!

It is imagination that gives life to play. Every day the children use their imagination and have been naturally telling stories themselves in a variety of ways, whether they are true stories about life experiences or about make-believe worlds and dreams. The children’s stories show us that they can create, revise and replay endless hopes and possibilities. Over the last few weeks the EY2 children have been working in their home room groups to construct their own story to share in the EY2 Performance on 12^th April. This is a delightful example of children collaborating and building on their collective knowledge and experiences on a project which has significant importance for all participants. The teachers have shown their trust in the children’s innate abilities and their belief that children are capable of deep thinking and problem solving. The project has been carefully scaffolded so that the children have a sense of agency and a belief that they have important thinking to contribute. The children seem to have a tremendous awareness of what is just and fair, that everyone has a valuable contribution to make and that everyone should be listened to. The children seem to have found many beautiful connections between previous experiences, their own stories and the relationships contained within them. They are already confident and adventurous storytellers themselves and are able to invent engaging characters, settings and plots. Together they have created a magical story drawing from all the children’s contributions. I have been so impressed with how well the children really listen to each other and hear each other’s ideas. And now the elements they have been working on are coming together. There are costumes, dialogue, special effects, and much, much excitement!

“I’m excited for my show because it’s soon.” (Theodore)

“I’m excited about my costume.” (Jude)

“I’m excited because I made a costume.” (Mia)

“Ours is a bit scary. I like scary stuff.” (Theodore)

“I’m excited because there’s lots of characters.” (Juliette)

“I’m a pilot.” (Louie)

“I’m excited because I’ve never done a show before. I’m a bit scared.” (Anna)

“I’m excited because I went to see Shrek and I wanted to be on the stage.” (Valeria)

“We have to have microphones, for speaking, the microphones are on the stander.” (Juliette)

“My mum can come.” (Chloe)

“I get stopped by the policeman, it’s the story.” (Bilal)

“I’m excited for the lights. I want to say, ‘Wow!’ when the lights go on. 3D lights…like pop out.” (Olivia)

“It will be fun. I like running. It’s a race.” (Ethan)

“We have practiced on the stage outside. So we practiced so we weren’t shy. And we all got not shy.” (Juliette)

“I love shows! Shows are my favourite! I really love them. I love being a bunny. I love getting my costume.” (Karma)

“Happy. I like all the things, the costumes and my mummy comes. I like the stage. I like all the lights and I like the race.” (Eli)

“Everybody will say it’s the best show.” (Lara)

I can’t wait to see the performances and see the children shine, transforming their hard work and ideas into something magical. I am sure they will be overflowing with pride and joy in their achievements and of being a part of this collaborative experience together.