This term we have continued looking at the concept of challenge.
We have focused on how different people deal with challenges and the feelings that we experience when something is a challenge. We also looked at the benefits of challenge and how it can make us come up with new and novel ideas when we are trying to solve a problem.
WORLD RECORDS
We looked at world records set by others and thought about WHY people try to set world records and HOW they get there.
COMPETITION
We looked at the rugby world cup and how people deal with the challenge of competition. We looked at skills needed to excel in anything (perseverance, time, effort, self-drive, support, coaching / teaching, equipment etc).
CHANGE
We looked at the changes that happen through our lives - changing classes, schools, houses, interests etc. We also looked at some child development and how many changes occur in the first 5 years of our lives. We thought about which changes are more difficult and why. We then had fun imagining if we could press pause on our life at any stage which age we thought we'd like to be forever. There were lots of great ideas here - 'Be a kid forever so I don't have to work' , '18 because then I could drive and vote, and it's not too old and not too young', 'A baby in my Mum's tummy so I would be all cosy and warm' (not sure if Mums would like that forever - ha ha!!). And then we had some great thoughtful ideas - 'I wouldn't stop anywhere because every stage in your life is important and every mistake or tough time is important as it makes us who we are' -WOW!
THE OCEAN
task - each group was given a different stakeholder group to represent in an imaginary location - commercial fisheries, Island residents who fish for their food and sell fish to others for money, a large neighbouring country with not much coastline (or Exclusive Economic Zone) and a big population to feed who value fish in their diet, Conservationists who are concerned about the ocean ecosystem etc. They had to discuss their position with government representatives and what they wanted, plus come up with ideas for how they could work with other groups to ensure everyone was happy. Lots of great debate and a realisation that it's not easy to negotiate with so many different needs and opinions.
It's important for our highly able children to realise that challenge is part of life and actually can help us learn and grow. It's equally important that they understand that it's ok to ask for help if we need it, and to know that different people have different experiences and opinions so we need to be mindful of that and not expect everyone to be the same as them. Lots of great learning this term.
