Reflection on what we have learnt
Throughout our project, which has lasted from September 2017 and May 2018, we have learnt a great wealth of knowledge. We have developed our understanding of making the correct decisions not only for ourselves but thinking about what the school and children would like. An example of this is, ensuring that the area is both low maintenance for the school and child friendly, which links into why we came to the decision of using stones and bark.
We have learnt a range of strategies on how to overcome challenges, throughout the project we faced some difficulties which needed a lot of time and attention to rectify. At the start of the project, we would try and rush into solutions however, our maturity and patience developed and enabled us to take a step back and think rationally about a solution. A key example during the project of this is, when we realised the bamboo did not fit on the pergola as expected, we did not take it down and discard it or instantly go to buy more but thought about a solution as a group. We then realised we could cut the overlapping strips and place them over the hole.
As a group, we feel that building an outdoor educational area for a school has developed us not only as young adults but as teachers too. The skills including- teamwork, resilience, compromise and determination are lead us to a successfully ending with our project. We feel that these attributes will set us up for our teaching career, by enabling us to successfully work in an ever changing environment.
By Roberto.
Reflection on the group dynamics:
Group dynamics play a significant role within a group project, so it was vital that we worked as team throughout. During the project we have all had different ideas, motivations, and sometimes different agendas, but this did not cause us any problems, as we were able to communicate effectively as a group to come to a solution. Communication is vital for a successful project. Good communication is an essential tool in achieving productivity and maintaining strong working relationships at all levels of an organisation. Therefore throughout the project we have ensured that we communicate effectively with each other. As Harvey lives in Brighton and Roberto and Jack live in Bognor, it has been difficult at times, however we have ensured that we were organised throughout. We made sure we had a clear plan of what needed to be completed at different stages during the project so we did not fall behind or become unorganised.
The project has enabled us to develop a host of skills that are increasingly important in the professional world. Working with others has enabled us to pool our ideas together and see problems from different perspectives. In a group situation, you can attempt tasks that could not be accomplished by an individual, combining a variety of skills and expertise to tackle more complex and larger scale problems. It has been essential that we have worked as a team throughout, and without each other we wouldn't have been able to achieve what we have.
By Harvey.
Reflection on the overall successfulness of the project:
Overall, we are very happy with how the project has turned out especially considering that only a few months ago we were sketching out plans about how we wanted the garden to look on plain white paper and now we have a full working outside area. We are also very happy that the final project looks very similar to the visions that we had at the very beginning in September which is something we were all very pleased about. The transformation of the area during this time has been incredible and we believe it is now an area that can be used to promote outdoor learning. It is also an area that the pupils will hopefully use in the future, as it is both educational and relaxing. The area can be a pleasant spot for children whilst they eat their lunch.
In addition to this, allowing the school to contribute to the project was something that we all believed would be important in order to make the area more successful. We were very lucky to complete this project for a school that were keen to contribute. As a result of the actions of the staff and the pupils at the school towards our area, we believe that the area will continue to make a difference in the future particularly with the pupils taking more ownership of the crops being planted. To summarise fully, the outdoor learning area we envisaged 8 months ago has come to life, this has been challenging but 100% worthwhile. We battled many challenges and overcame them all. We are proud of what we have achieved throughout our journey.
By Jack.