The Gully School - Learning Naturally.

Another cold 🥶 morning that bloomed into a beautiful day.

I had some awesome helpers chopping, cracking, measuring and mixing our yummy Japanese pancakes. Thanks so much for your efforts💖

It was great to see the quiet mindful moments dotted throughout the day. One learner has really leant in to the task of whittling. He focuses so much on each and every stroke. The world falls away as he focuses on the project in front of him. Alongside him another learner who has achieved his knife badge demonstrated his skills with pride. Mentorship among peers is such a strong way to inspire.

I also admire the practical minds and skills in our older boys. Two of them took up the challenge of putting the second Go Kart together. With minimal input from adults they followed the instructions and quickly got it done. Teamwork, communication and encouragement got the task done. Soon enough they were using the kart and practicing their skids. Watch this space as we create buds for more big projects for these lads.

We also spent some time with our little lamb who Tahi didn’t want to mother. He is a poorly wee chap and watching the gentle interactions from the children was heartwarming. We hope with lots of TLC he will continue to improve.

Thank you for a beautiful day! Looking forward to next week 💚❄️💚❄️

What a wonderful day working with these beautiful people.
I loved seeing the leadership and inclusion shining through today. One of our older students supported our youngest who had a hard time saying goodbye to mum. Before long they had a joint project and were working as a team to achieve their goal. After helping our little friend up the hill a little bit he proudly said “I can do it!” Knowing we can do hard things is such a great skill. Well done boys.

We also have lots of goal setters this term with their eyes on their achievements. While badges aren’t what we put the focus on - it’s the skill they are learning and achieving - the badge offers a tangible item to remind them of what they can do when they set their mind to it.

One play urge I saw was that of transporting. This urge is displayed when the children have a strong need to move objects, items, or themselves from one place to another. We saw the trucks being loaded up with dirt, the dirt moved and unloaded and the action repeated until they were finished. The communication happening in the play was wonderful. So much learning and developmentally appropriate learning happening.

We are also raising the surviving twin of Tahi and the children really enjoyed being so close to such a precious wee creature. He’s still quite poorly but we’re hoping he will continue to get stronger with our TLC 💗💗

The Gully Gals have been super busy this week attending a two day outdoor first aid course with POET and the legendary Peak team of Taz and Charlie. Lots of hands on scenarios and relevant information for us to learn for assisting in emergency situations. Now we know it I’m sure we will never need to use it 😅🙏

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Today we fell back into the comfort of familiar rhythms and spaces. It was great to see that projects were being dreamed up and worked into reality. We had three learners create some amazing wood knives - planned, carved, sanded and finished to perfection. It’s awesome to see our three oldest boys leaning into the challenges and setting great examples for our younger students. They aspire to have your skills and expertise when using the tools. We can’t wait to see what you come up with in the next few weeks.

We also began our clay exploration with making some smaller objects to cook in our fire. We discussed techniques needed to join pieces and what happens if something is too thin. We may not get everything out of the fire in one piece but it’s all part of the journey 💖

We see the need for risky rough play in our younger group of boys who are learning to set boundaries, make the group plan, communicate their feelings and listen to their friends. All huge things to learn and we are well on our way to knowing how we can ‘be’ in physical contact with other people. Proud of this little bunch of wonderful boys 🥰

Risk. Some people run towards it, others keep as deep as they can within safety zones. Children need to take risks, and it’s our job as adults to assess from a far and only intervene if we think something may have been missed. Today I came across a mine being dug. My adult brain screamed “danger! Collapse!! Stop the play” but I took a pause before venturing “hey boys, I’ve got some things I’m wondering about”. Immediately they articulated their own safety plan - which was brilliant. It showed me to conversations we have around safety are encouraging risk, as well as growing risk analysis skills so children can keep themselves safe. I was so impressed by these boys ability to notice, communicate with others, respond to dangers and articulate their thinking to those around them. The hope is that as 16 year old young men this skill will be so well practiced that when it really counts, they will be able to mitigate risks and keep themselves safe.

The elements were at play in The gully today.
Fire 🔥 and ice 🧊
We started off with a heavy frost and some fog rolled in from the lake. It was super cold so we immediately needed layers and some resolve to get through. The fire welcomed us and with blankets and hot water bottles we soon got the feeling of hygge and were able to see the joy of our cold mornings.
A group of risk takers enjoyed flying down the hills at high speed which bought many gasps of terror and delight. This play also required negotiation, turn taking, communication, cooperation and collaboration. All of these skills were practiced in great detail today.

We piled up a bomfire to farewell the term and celebrate the coming new year. It was a treat to watch our leaders take the role of fire lighters and soon the fire was roaring. Many of us sat in companionable silence contemplating the year that has been and what is to come.

A beautiful end to our term.
We look forward to seeing you all again soon 💚💗💚

Connection was today’s theme as we noticed children connecting in groups or duos for common goals, plans or projects. Working together towards a common objective is not always easy. It takes communication, compromise and sometimes handing over control. Practicing this sets our children off on strong footing as they move into other spaces like school, clubs, sports teams or cultural groups. We are learning sometimes we have to give up a little on our ideal vision if we want others to join our waka. I’m so proud of the way conflict was resolved and communicated to others.
Thank you for your support this term. We look forward to a restorative break and then coming back with lots of awesome opportunities in term 3 💚