The voyage of MY EXTRA SCHOOL in a search of its own unique space
“THE SPACE”: our most devoted and inseparable colleague since time immemorial! A place that hosts everyday reality and its evolution, we talk about space in relation to the environments where the Extraschool Service has evolved over the years.
In telling you about it, we would like to retrace the birth and the places of this rich service of My School Ticino:
The Extracurricular Service was born in 2015 among the classes of the My Child preschool: it is a silent and discreet birth. Pre-school, lunchtime and after-school activities are part of the identity of the Pre-school and are shaped by respect for its surroundings and characteristics.
As time goes by, particularly during afternoons and holidays, the extracurricular service begins to feel the (borrowed) clothes of the Infant School as a little uncomfortable: sometimes too tight, sometimes too short or too long…. And so begins the journey in search of his own personal space, his own and his only clothes!
Like all the best journeys, it all starts with an inner search:
“I am not school, I am not free play, but what am I?”
In 2018, we ask the UFAG to recognise our birth and our name: My Extraschool. With its recognition comes the designation of its first director: Valentina Impedovo.
The service is still a small one and Valentina, with the support of the pre-school teachers and the nursery teachers, starts thinking about an afternoon and summer time characterised by creative workshops. Having started the journey, we decide not to stop but to explore further the possibilities of this young service in My School Ticino: the road is long but it is the right one.
In 2020 we are again looking for a space where we can identify ourselves and for staff who can create the perfect outfit for our My Extraschool. We share the space with the art atelier My ArtLab. The space begins to tell of us, of our desire to be a place, a time of well-being and exploration of the creative arts; what we cannot offer in the extracurricular space we move to the areas of the school that best suit our proposals.
We arrive in June 2023: the team is consolidated but always open to welcoming new resources, and we finally take our first steps in a new space dedicated to us with the latest work to enlarge the campus. Everything smells new and the echo of our voices makes us feel somewhat foreign. Every week we move shelves and materials to accommodate the suggestions that this environment offers us. We want the space to tell the story of a centre for youth and children and to guarantee their free expression.
In November 2023, we would like to give value to our original, flowing colleague Space through the final furnishing.
Space plays an educating role when people in relationship with it are able to grasp its characteristics, express themselves and take care of the place. Space motivates, suggests and stimulates the experience and encourages the consolidation of the link with the identity of the service itself. It conveys and supports growth processes on both an individual and collective level.
Places, environments and materials are precious resources for generating sociality and transversal learning. In this way, the architecture enhances the neuro-diversity of individuals and the complexities of the different systems of aggregation and integration. It is a complex ecosystem that requires an empathic involvement capable of connecting educators, children, young people, directors, families and the territory in order to enhance and valorise the richness of each person and of the service itself.
Loris Malaguzzi spoke of the school as a second home: in the same way, the Extracurricular Service wants to be a link between home and school, gathering the value of each of its members.
In practice, the extracurricular space is designed to have the following areas:
– reception area with personal lockers
– area with carpets and low seating dedicated to reading, constructivity activities, graphic expression and board games
– motor area and free play area, separated by a movable wall
– refreshment area for lunches, snacks and table activities.
The journey in search of extracurricular identity and its places has inevitably helped to shape its essence, and as much as we wish to recognise ourselves in our space. We also don’t want to lose our fluidity and our aptitude for seeking out and encountering new places of experience, fun and sociability.
To all intents and purposes, ours is an iridescent garment and each of us is a weaver capable of enriching and forging the weave.
