Why is our Learning Commons called "The Garden"?
Copperfield School’s grade four students of 2016/17 created a list of possible names and then we held a democratic vote to decide on the final name of our shiny new learning space. The Garden was chosen as this space is a place where "Ideas Grow" like in a garden where we grow plants or flowers.
Since this space has large windows, we have a Maker Space, technology and books are at our fingertips and we love learning outside, "The Garden" is a perfect name for the place where we can invent new things, learn new information and work together to make the world a better place!
Guidelines for Respecting this Space
The Garden is a shared space. As members of this shared space our learners are reminded to be responsible and respectful of themselves, others using this shared space and the resources (books, technology, materials). To show care and concern for all the resources, technology and print, food and drinks are not welcomed in this space. All users of The Garden will take care of our Learning Commons by respecting the work of others and tidying up afterwards. When possible, students are encouraged to try to be environmentally friendly and re-use or re-think when creating things in the Maker Space portion of The Garden.
Since this space is meant to be shared and we are continuing to build our literature collection as a new school, students are encouraged to return books every two weeks. For our younger students, many teachers have a regular book exchange time and they come to The Garden as a whole class to sign out books for their reading pleasure. While some of our classes in the upper grades have chosen to foster a sense of independence and transfer more of the responsibility for book sign out/return to the individual student. Although these classes do not have a set class book exchange time, teachers do remind students to replenish their reading material on a regular basis. As these children mature, they will continue to need guidance from home, so that they remember to return their books in a timely matter so that these books may be enjoyed by many students throughout the year. The Garden is a place where students are welcome to grow as learners!
Copperfield School has the privilege of many new resources, especially in our Learning Commons, The Garden. All of our books are new! All of our technology is also new! We would like our students to have these wonderful resources for many years to come and to make that happen we all need to take measures to be responsible and respectful of these books and technology. On a regular basis, our staff will remind students of overdue books. It is the student’s responsibility to take care of the books and will be asked to replace books that have gone missing or have been damaged. Students know the expectations when using books and technology and are reminded to be mindful when using each of these resources.
