In Memoriam

We recently lost two very well loved members of the Preshil community in Faye Lee & Spiros Sideras. Our thoughts are with their families and all who were touched by their contributions to our community over many years of service. As a tribute, we have included below some memories from Faye Lee on her time teaching at Preshil and working with Mug. Vale Faye & Spiros. You will be greatly missed.

Memories and Reflections from Faye Lee

Having been in Mug's tutelage for some 33 years as staff member and parent, I now pass on to you some of the sound wisdom she taught me during those years. I began teaching in the 5s in 1963, moved to the 6s & 7s in '67 then back to the 5s in '71. I resigned end of 1971 to have the boys, returning to the 6s in 1983 after updating my studies. I moved back into the 5s in 1985 and retired end of 1996. Teaching at Preshil was the most exhilarating, exciting, fulfilling,happiest years of my teaching life due of course to the never ending support and inspirational guidance given by Mug.

Mug believed all staff needed to understand the philosophy of Preshil enabling them to impart this to new parents, resulting in relaxed and happy children. Staff must always work to have parents on side as Preshil is a small school and it is very frightening to be in the minority. There are always many questions parents need answers to and staff need to be confident in their answers.

(Part of Preshil Philosophy. Preshil not an extreme school, it does not believe in anarchic behaviour in children nor adults, believes in brother/sisterhood and interdependence of the human race. Preshil tries to cultivate the qualities of compassion and courage, also the forthrightness of thinking which will remain to the fore during stresses in later life. Preshil aimsat self-discipline and aspires to create the complete individual - the young human being who is healthily adjusted to the environment.)

Early experiences are all SO important (chinese palm - much nurturing in beginning and not much to show for all input until finally a shoot appears, build support and maybe another shoot appears but not much to show for all the hard work until some years later!) Children must feel secure, have trust in themselves and those around them, trust in relationships which build confidence, so they can make full use of their potential intelligence and deal happily with their environment. Mug was always saying we have to help our children grow up in a society with increasing problems, have to help them live with others, adapt, adjust and discriminate and think critically to withstand mass pressures.

In growing up, children must be free to live as individual children NOW, to live and be confident and happy at the age at which they are, to enjoy what they do in the present, to learn from their environment with the stress on discovery and creative activity to face problems and difficulties.

The process of becoming, is the process of learning and learning to become a person is what life is about. Relationships between teachers and children and parents are of tremendous importance. Must talk together and watch and listen. Make sure you know what every child in your group does every day. Observe the quiet ones, it is the quiet busy ones that can slip through the net! Mug always suggested that the parents not ask their children "What did you do today?" as the answer is always "Nothing". And then the parents start to worry!! It is not a good idea for parents to ask a young child "Who did you play with today?" They then feel it is important to always have a friend in order to enjoy the day, this leads to isolation when 'friend' not at school. Children must feel as if they own their day and some, even when quite old, would tell you they can do what they like at Preshil!! Not so, there are always boundaries, a timetable, a plan from which to veer away, depending on what situations arise during any one day. Mug always told us to encourage the children to be different, staff to understand individual levels of development eg. 3s play alongside each other, 4s begin to seek other children to help in their play, 5s love to play in groups, learn to share, love to please and help, 6s become more independent, behaviour patterns change, new teeth, nightmares etc.

Learning to read can become a real issue. Parents come in a panic because Jane from next door, same age, can read! Staff need to point out to parents AND children how everyone looks different, dark hair, fair hair, blue eyes, tall, short ... so why should all be able to do the same things at the same age. Some children can skip now, climb now, read now but many not yet reached that stage of development and that is quite normal. Preshil does handle early reading differently, it is very much a stage of development. All adults need to relax and not have their panic transferred to their children. If worried check eyes & ears but emphasize - everyone WILL read and allow children to enjoy preparing for that magical moment when real reading begins. Some children read at 5/6/7/8 sometimes later but if they feel their parent's panic they become worried, stressed and tense and often pull the blind down, lose interest and stop trying.Children at Preshil are given much early reading experiences, games, notices, stories etc. all thetime being encouraged of course they will read. Care is taken that children do not criticize thosenot yet reading. Keep having discussions with children, parents & grandparents. Staff take every opportunity to introduce the written word in the children's play.

Preshil breeds adults who are not afraid to think outside the square! Staff and parents mustunderstand the benefits of play, fathers particularly. They are fine with the 3s & 4s but once at school they feel it is just wasted time!! It is important to explain very carefully just how much the children are learning incidentally. Maths - blocks, cubby building, carpentry -bigger/smaller, heavier/lighter, longer/shorter, wide/narrow, shapes, square/circle/diamond,colours numbers etc. Writing signs, making money for shops, water play etc. With the intrusionof so much TV, computers and technology in their young lives, children need to be helped withtheir creative play. They feel unless they are being constantly given activities to do and directions to follow they must be bored. Bored needs to be explained. Children need to be reminded of all the available activities, particularly at start of the year. Children learn by doing, experimenting, watching. Painting needs to be always available in all areas. Good for time out.

Bullying needs to be understood by the Preshil community. Too quick to use the term. Different forms, teasing, underhand remarks, uneven growth spurts, hard to control reactions. Rough playis a normal stage of development. Children need to understand the strength of their bodies. Useof words, learning repercussions. Need for constant group discussions. Word 'naughty' not used.Having a bad day therefore need to give space. Reasons explained to group. Sometimes a childneeds to be removed (to a previous group) to take message to another group. Staff know to givethis child an activity for a while. Play in the home corner of 5s when day too difficult in the 6s.Reasons given to group as to why behaviour happening. Distressed children held firmly byadult until calmer. Discussion when calmer, often much later. Never allow the child to go homewithout some discussion. Actions need to be sorted, lost toy found, collected from over thefence. Small children are "bower birds" and do like to collect things!! Always explain difficulthappenings to child's parent/carer at home time. Make appointments to talk with child's parentif never appears. Parents in these situations only have a one sided view of the school day! Oftenvery helpful to have a parent meeting including the student. The parent can then understandthere is another side. Discuss handling of a particular child with previous teacher (after someweeks). Children need boundaries, don't really like doing whatever they like, too scary! Goodmotto, Love and Liberation within limits. Children watch and listen and learn how moredifficult children are handled in various situations.

Children need to know that staff will listen to their side of the story. Important to have time to talk with them every day. Time-less-ness very important.

Most asked questions.

Why teach at Preshil? Most exciting, fulfilling, rewarding, frustrating, insightful, own initiative and development encouraged, friendly, relaxed, helpful, inspirational and complete job satisfaction plus own reasons!

Friends ask why have they sent their children to Preshil? Ask that parent, why first!! Want children to become quietly confident, competition not thrust upon them, not have them confined to age/class 'have to' learning. Enjoy compassionate, inner strong, understanding, thoughtful,caring, secure children.

How do Preshil children fare with VCE? Extremely well. (Refer to March 2009 Newsletter article written by Principal Frank Moore).

What about sport? Arlington children always on the move, running, jumping, ball games, skipping, footy played amongst themselves in winter and cricket in summer. Refer to 2009 Newsletter article by Principal Frank Moore.

My child really wants to wear a uniform and we think we will send him to Trinity!! Suggestion.Buy a blazer. A parent did just that and "David" proudly wore his blazer all day, in the sand pit, at the carpentry table, painting, clay table. Loved it, solved that need!!

"My child is swearing!! What to do? Seems to start in the 5s children will enjoy using every conceivable word if they receive shock horror attention. Never look shocked. Mug always explained quietly that Granny would be very upset to hear those words used because they are quite unacceptable. But if there is a need to be rude and crude, then go away to a private place and do it there. Can't stop children swearing!! However it is preferable to be sworn at, than kicked in the shins.

Parents come with all sorts of complaints in the winter. Hear what they say and if not of much importance let them know how so many complaints come to your ears in winter cause the cloud is down, it is cold, folk not well, and if still worrying them after winter, action will be taken.Complaint never seems to come to light again!! Mug always emphasized how important it is to be consistent at all times and always keep promises and follow through with plans.

I

Faye Lee, May, 2009

THE FIVES

Five year olds are enjoyable people, they have boundless energy and their joy in their own apparent strength bubbles over into wild action. They play indefatigably indoors and out, devising games which reflect their entire repertoire of experience. The less television and videos these small children are exposed to the more excitingly imaginative and original are their games.

"Children must have scope for imaginative games if their minds, bodies and spirits are to benourished. By this provision for creative play during childhood, we encourage their development into competent and responsible adults" (D. Butter 1986)

At Preshil we have built and maintained an area specifically and especially for five year old children - an environment where they feel relaxed and secure, in order to build feelings of trust and joy and eliminate feelings of tension.

During the school day we give many opportunities for choice and decision-making because we want children to mature socially and emotionally and develop self-reliance, self-discipline and good sense. We offer a happy environment with many opportunities for children to explore,create and learn by experience. Above all, we value creative and imaginative play activities as being fundamental to the enrichment of personality and to the development of language, motor skills and auditory and visual perception.

Many activities are purely creative. Children are presented with stimulating materials and their own imagination and inventiveness is allowed to flourish. Creative and play activities offered include - brush and finger painting, clay modelling, play and bread doh, cooking, pasting, drawing, threading, weaving, gardening, sewing, woodwork, block, cubby and sand building,home-corner play, waste material inventions, spatter painting and printing and many others. We try to provide a varied and interesting day interspersed with stories, poetry, music, discussions and games. There is a basic routine to the day within which the children find security and develop concepts of time. There is freedom of choice within broad limits. Children are encouraged to make decisions carefully and thoughtfully. For reasons explained to the children,no television related games are accepted.

Joining in the above activities can help the children come to terms with and understand, the world around them. As their concepts of the world grow, so too does their vocabulary. Language skills are vitally important to the child on the threshold of reading. To the articulatechild the words she/he reads become meaningful, symbols become fascinating and the world of books an exciting place.

Many children who experience difficulties learning to read do so because of problems of visual perception and not to do with intelligence. Reading readiness activities are provided such as pre-reading games, jigsaw puzzles, picture dominoes, lotto, pattern making, charts and newsbooks. All these activities are conducted on an informal happy basis.

Children are all at very different stages in their development during their five year old year. Activities are repeated in varied ways so that there is no set formal learning 'programme' which, if part is missed, the whole is misunderstood. Also, children often need to go back to a former activity to establish firmly a concept, before they can go on to the next step. Provision must be made for this without children feeling they have failed or that they are inadequate in any way.

Some children may be spontaneous early readers and to these of course we offer every encouragement but most children are not really ready until later when symbols are meaningful. If left until they are ready, children learn to read joyfully and with a strong sense of motivation. It is carefully explained to the children and grandparents that reading isn't just being clever, that it is a developmental skill and that all children will read at some stage.

Concrete experience in such things as balancing, buildings, sorting, filling, emptying and counting lay the foundations of real mathematical understanding later. Correct mathematical words are used such as - wide, narrow, heavier than, lighter than, in front of, behind, more, less. We might talk about and handle three dimensional shapes. We count when skipping, throwing and rolling the ball, bouncing on the jump-board, and having turns on the big swing rope. Thus number concepts are built up through play activities.

Children are extremely interested in the world around them and they tend and observe life cycles of many living things.

The introduction of the more formal skills takes place in the afternoons. During this time we have story and diary writing, writing patterns. Big books, maths, puzzles and 'guess' writing (when children guess the words and write phonetically e.g. "wuns thr woz u litl gra mows.") This cannot take place until a child recognizes and knows the sounds of the letters of the alphabet and these aren't known until a particular stage in the child's own individual development.

We provide an exciting room full of interesting activities in which children can participate. An environment where children can learn at their own rate. Adults are there to observe, comfort, assist when difficulties become insurmountable and to help in decision making and most important of all, to provide an atmosphere of affection, security and approval.

Faye Lee

February 1994