Learning for Life - after school care

Tudor House launches Learning for Life!

Learning for Life is a defined after school care program.  Its aim is to develop further the holistic education we offer, providing not just for our boys but also the community a great opportunity to explore and engage in courses that are broad and stimulating.  Exactly which courses will be on offer will be determined by the interest of students.

Students will be able to ‘enrol’ and elect a course to study for a term.  Every afternoon there will be different opportunities.

There is a need for a program such as this.  Too many of our youngsters are nannied at home by computers and multimedia devices.  Tudor House wants to offer a point of difference, engage the community, and initiate a model of learning that we hope might roll out into other schools.  This is a big vision but our children need to unplug and reconnect face to face not via the interface.  The age to learn these habits of mind are in primary school.

The basics…

Timing

Every afternoon – Monday to Thursday
Starts at 3:45pm (school concludes at 3:30pm).  Any child not collected by 3:45 will be placed into the Learning for Life program.
Concludes at 6:00pm (but children can be collected earlier if prior notice given)

The outline of each evening would be as follows:

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday
3:45 – 4:45pm Activities Homework Club
4:45 – 4:55pm Nutritious Snack – included in fees
4:55 – 5:55pm Activities Homework Club
6:00pm Collection from Memorial Hall

* If there is the interest, Friday afternoon will also be considered

Structure

• Children will assemble in the Hall.
• There will be two one-hour blocks of time.  Some courses will be for the full two hours; some are only one hour in duration.
• There will be caps for courses (15 to 20 students depending on course) – those first in will have preference.  Any child who misses an opportunity will be able to select other opportunities and popular courses will be repeated.
• Courses will be supervised by qualified teachers or specialists in a field.
• A nutritious afternoon tea will be provided between blocks (4:45 – 4:55pm).
• Children will re-assemble in the Hall for collection at 6:00pm.  Any child not collected will be supervised in the boarding house.

Courses on offer

This will depend on interest, but we are considering the following for Term 1:

Monday
• Free Play (for Boarders and Casual Boarders for first hour)
• Learning/Prep/Homework Support (in three areas – Day, Boarders, K-2)
• Cooking – make a nutritious lunch working in a special classroom kitchen
• CO2 Racing – using kits to build racing cars that work on CO2 gas canisters
• Languages – Mandarin, French and possibly German
• Outdoor Education – learning bush skills
• Board Games
• Library for research and reading
• Gardening and horticulture

Tuesday
• Free Play (for Boarders and Casual Boarders for first hour)
• Learning/Prep/Homework Support (in three areas – Day, Boarders, K-2)
• Kinesiology – movement and learning for younger students
• Photography and using Photoshop
• Woodwork – extension (this will be a two hour workshop opportunity)
• Music Band and Orchestra
• Sport – skill development and games
• Nature inspired Art and Craft
• Languages – Mandarin, French and possibly German
• Library for research and reading
• Water Polo – competition in Mittagong

Wednesday
• Free Play (for Boarders and Casual Boarders for first hour)
• Learning/Prep/Homework Support (in three areas – Day, Boarders, K-2)
• Science experiments and exploration
• Modelling Club
• Drama
• Board games
• Fishing
• Languages – Mandarin, French and possibly German
• Library for research and reading
• Gardening and horticulture

Thursday
• Free Play (for Boarders and Casual Boarders for first hour)
• Learning/Prep/Homework Support (in three areas – Day, Boarders, K-2)
• Kinesiology – movement and learning for younger students
• Woodwork – shorter (this will be a one hour workshop opportunity)
• Music Band and Orchestra
• Sport – skill development and games
• Languages – Mandarin, French and possibly German
• Library for research and reading
• Outdoor Education – bushcraft and survival skills
• Gardening and horticulture
• Environmental Science

These are our initial offerings, but we will define the program as interest and support is gauged.

The School will continue to offer other opportunities that are not included in the Learning for Life pricing, such as our swimming program.

We are interested in parents having some input as well.  If you have an idea you would like us to explore – or if you are interested in running a course – please let us know.  We are looking to develop Learning for Life as a program that will be the envy of other schools.

External Students

Tudor House is a jewel in the Southern Highlands.  We feel a great responsibility to play a significant role in our community.  We shall be offering these programs to the wider community because we believe it is right to do so.  We will continue to expect the highest standards in behaviour and discipline.  We see the benefits as outweighing any concerns.  Our boys will connect with a wider community and with girls (promoting greater social/emotional growth).  It will also mean parents can have daughters and sons together, enjoying the amazing environment that is Tudor House.

All external students – if not sisters of current enrolled boys – will require an interview and will need to sign a Code of Conduct.  Any breach will call into question their continuing attendance in the Learning for Life program.

We are looking to share our school with students who have the same values , best summed up as Respect, Responsibility and positive Relationships.

Transport connections

We are currently in discussion with Berrima Buslines, but it looks as if there will be  direct connection bus collecting students from local schools and arriving at Tudor by 3:45pm.  This also means the bus departing Tudor will now be leaving at 3:50pm not 4:15pm.

What next?

We will be announcing the program in more detail to our current students – and gauging their interest and what they may wish to see included. 

We will be sending home registration forms – so we can determine the interest for courses and on which days.

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