Thinking Differently Together Network Meeting

Date: Saturday 14th June 2025

Time: 11am to 2pm

Venue:

Category: NSW Network

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Program Description

BACKGOUND:

Winifred West, inspired by her upbringing in Frensham, Surrey, envisioned a school that nurtured individuality and community spirit in Australia. Alongside Phyllis Clubbe, she sought out a location offering an invigorating rural setting, eventually establishing the school at a property known as ‘Y Berth’ in 1913.

Gib Gate the preschool at Frensham began 71 years ago. It is situated within 10 acres of semi-rural land in Mittagong and is part of the Frensham School (preschool to Year 12).

ON THE DAY:

Tinna Loker, the director, will take us on a journey, exploring the space and environment. As you explore and experience this environment, consider how it has grown as a living, responsive organism, shaped by and shaping the people within.

REVISITING OUR THINKING from our network conversations at Explore and Develop Annadale (24/3/25). The following is a vignette of our conversations to reflect on, inspiring deeper discussions in our meeting today – See minutes for the full summary of our thinking together.

The Pulse of Our Community: The “pulse” is a metaphor for the energy within our spaces, constantly shifting with people, routines, emotions, and context. It requires awareness and care to stay balanced and responsive.

Environment as Skin: Inspired by Rinaldi, we see the environment as skin—living, adaptive, and shaped by relationships. It must be nourished, not treated as a rigid shell.

Relationships at the Heart: Community grows through genuine, caring connections. People—not places—shape and curate the environment. Relationships foster well-being, inclusion, and shared purpose.

Inclusion as Lived Experience: Inclusion is sensory and emotional. Everyone influences the collective rhythm. Welcoming environments support identity, safety, and belonging.

Embracing Change: Like skin, communities evolve. We must reflect often:

  • – Are we nurturing the pulse?
  • – Are we creating space for children to thrive?

A Living Philosophy: Our shared vision is always growing, shaped by dialogue, play, and collective care. Like a garden, it thrives through intentional design and deep relationships.

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS – Let’s ask ourselves:

  • – What did you discover about Gib Gate’s ‘skin’?
  • – What are your thoughts on Gib Gate’s evolution (past and current citizens)?
  • – Thinking about your environment, if you were to take its pulse, what would it reveal?
  • – Who do we value and engage with in this conversation and collaboration?
  • – How do we make visible our presence, our relationships and our intentions (what we are creating together)?

LARGE GROUP DISCUSSION – Share our thinking.

OTHER – Opportunity to discuss possibilities, ideas, questions, and contributions from the group.

FEEDBACK – ‘The Hundred Languages of Children Workshop’, facilitated by Kate Mount & Caterina Pennestri at Kincoppal Preschool, Rose Bay

Agenda for June Meeting:

  • – Welcome from Frensham Preschool and the Thinking Differently Together Convenors
  • – Acknowledgement of Country Tinna Loker

Second Meeting of 2025

We continue to reflect on Carla Rinaldi’s powerful provocation:
“Think of the environment not as a shell but as a skin—how does it change with those in it? How is it nourished?” (Rinaldi, 2013, p. 28)

It invites us to see our learning spaces as living, responsive organisms—shaped by and shaping the people within them. They are not static backdrops but dynamic ecosystems that pulse with our presence, our relationships, and our intentions.

Reading for reflection before our meeting:

https://www.thefrontproject.org.au/media/attachments/2024/09/11/apiary-future-system-principles.pdf

 

WORKSHOPS AND CONFERENCES:

REAIE Conference 2025: Landscape of Collaboration 3- 5th July 2025 Adelaide Convention Centre/Tarntanya

REAIE is looking for volunteers for the Mosaic of Marks Exhibition. if you would like to take on this role or know about what it involves, please let us know.

NEXT MEETING: Date TBC

The Mosaic of Marks exhibition, Marrickville Library: Exhibitions are mirrors, they reveal the possible and the desirable.