I’m sure everyone has had a chance to meet our newest staff member, but I would like to officially introduce everyone to Lucy. Lucy has recently moved over to Perth from Rome, Italy. Her last job was working with traumatized and troubled children, so I think she is finding Highgate nice and relaxing. Lucy also has a Masters degree in Child Cognitive Psychology. I think we can all agree that she’s a wonderful asset to our staff team.
We have recently decided to try and shift our programming to be more ‘project-centred’. This means that children will get to be part of a project that will last over at least one week. They will get to work on it from its inception to finish. We have found that the children feel a sense of achievement and pride when their project has been completed, much more so than with single day activities. The idea for this method of programming started with the Uthando Doll project and watching the children’s commitment to ‘getting the job done’.
Our first big project has sprung up out of need. Most of you will have seen our rickety bookshelves. Well, instead of buying new shelves, the children and staff have been working hard to fix, strip, re-design, paint, collage and mosaic them into a fabulous asset for our centre. I would like to make a special mention to Elena and Carys who removed all of the old wheels; Leila who helped me put on new ones; Maia, Luke, Thomas, James, Morrigan and Lewei who worked super hard to strip off the old melanine; Adrian who helped screw in the new brackets; and Omar and Antonio who helped with the HUGE clean-up.
Good job guys! We will make sure we include a picture of the bookshelves when they are finished.
If any parents, carers or children have any other project ideas be sure to let me know.
Amie Hamilton – Centre Director
