Your Move Professional Learning

Abbi Kerimofski
Harrisdale Primary School
64

Our P & C President attended the Your Move Professional Learning Course in April of this year. Below are some of her words:

In early April, I attended a your move seminar. This was to gain an understanding of the programme, hear what other schools have implemented and how challenges can be addressed.

It was an informative morning, with many takeaways. The key for me and our P & C was how Morley North implemented their walking school bus. Our school made an attempt in late 2017 to start a walking school bus. We designated the Satterley car park as our drop zone. Firstly as it had readymade parking, to try to draw traffic away from the school, and secondly as it was not such a long walk for any little legs that joined us on the way. Unfortunately, due to lack of volunteers, we could not continue with our efforts. What I learnt from the Morley model was they mapped the interest in the form of questions such as who would be available to be a ‘bus driver’ and where would the children be coming from. This enabled them to plan the routes. I loved this idea, and will be keen to look at revisiting this idea at Harrisdale Primary School, especially with the warmer months coming. I really loved the community spirit these ‘riders’ undertook, by leaving positive affirmations in some residents mailboxes.

Another takeaway I had, that ties heavily into the walking school bus, was the senses activity we undertook. We had the smell of gum leaves, spritz of water, crunching of sticks and leaves and bird noises played while our eyes were closed. This really was an impactful activity, as you could feel the change in your mood by being taken back to nature. Imagine how amazing our students could be with a walk in the morning before a day of learning.

Given the size of our school community, some wants can be very hard to get off the ground, but we will keep persevering with these activities until we can make a success of it and make it a habit within our school. How we change the mindset of protective parents and teach them that learning boundaries at a young age, is so valuable for their future, will remain a work in progress.

Thank you to the school for the opportunity to attend.

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James (Your Move)

Thanks for your summary and reflection on the April YM workshop. It's reinforcing to hear that you found the experience of Morley PS useful. Maybe you can do a 'senses' activities with your park & walk? As well as the 50 points for attending the YM workshop you also received 10 points for sharing so many details.

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