Exploration Zones
Set out and explore the school
The physical space of Brisbane Independent School is divided into Basecamps, designed for direct instruction, whole class discussions and small group learning, and Exploring spaces, designed to stimulate students to find out how and why things work the way they do.
We have so many exploration zones around the school, from the meditation Stupa to the Chook Pen, but we hope this gives you a taste of the Exploring Spaces:
The Hall
The Hall is where Tai Chi and Ju Jitsu are taught as direct instructional experiences but also the site for games, performances, shows, parades, displays and large scale inquiries.
The Library
The Library is run by parent volunteers and passionate students. It houses the world of books and journals that can carry our students on grand explorations through other lives and times.
The Sandpit
The Sandpit is a site for such a diverse range of learning from fossils and gold mining to early engineering. The sandpit is also used by staff as an active “group work” site to explore learning styles as well as developmental triggers to work with empathy and compassion.
The BIS Tree
The BIS tree is the site for mindfulness as well as physical play. Students have to learn all the rules and adhere to them if they want to be able to climb the tree. The tree was planted when the school was offically opened and since then has been shaped over the years to be the perfect climbing tree by decades of BIS kids.
The Veggie Gardens
Annual replanting sees the veggie gardens come back to life as the children explore the process of life from seed to the harvesting of the next generation of seed. The Dolphins in particular champion sustainability, using this as an opportunity to raise some funds when they have an excess harvest. In 2021, they have expanded this garden as budding apiarists, to include two hives.
The Birthday Grove
Each year some students will opt to plant a donated fruit tree in the Birthday Grove. BIS students get to select a birthday tradition such as a disco, dress-up day or planting a Fruit Tree. We have a beautiful food forest and often have past students coming to visit trees they planted during their tenure at BIS.
The STEAM Lab
The Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths lab is spread across three different sites. The students often intermingle the experience themselves at these sites by bringing their science experiments into the kitchen and their art creations into the “tinker/woodwork lab”. Each of the discrete sites require a permit for access and students are able to apply for Tool Licences as their developmental understanding broadens and they can demonstrate that they can understand and follow the rules of the space.
The Brisbane River
Our scale model of the Brisbane River is one of the first playground features you see when you enter BIS. It includes a replica of the Story Bridge, designed, built and named for the Craig Family, and the “Brisbane City mud-pit”. This space is often used for wet play on hot days and experiments in water flow, damming and observing ecosystems. When it rains, we get to see the ordinarily dry creek bed in action as the rivers flow, encouraging leaf races between students.
