My name is Samantha Ackland and I have been working at VIS for over 7 years. I grew up in London, part of a large family, very much immersed in a world of The Arts. My father was a Londoner and my mother from Scotland though she grew up in Central Africa. I studied at Exeter University where I got a BA in Art and Italian and continued at the Froebel College in Roehampton to obtain a PGCE in Primary Education. After working in the center of London I moved to Italy and spent a period in film production. However I was drawn back to working with children, following an intrinsic drive to connect and inspire young people to learn to learn, to follow their innate desire to discover in a way that learning is always a positive experience. There is nothing more grounding in this complicated changing world than working with innate curiosity and scaffolding natural learning blocks to encourage student agency and lifelong learners. Sensitive to children’s different needs I do my best to individualize each child’s learning path so learning is a natural stress-free experience. I follow a multi-sensory approach to learning and incorporate art, music and dance throughout the curriculum. Creativity and spontaneity are important facets in the primary classroom. I like to inspire children to express themselves without inhibitions, encouraging them to be confident about who they are and become well rounded human beings.
I have learned through my years of teaching that young children are predisposed to latch onto big ideas and hence provoke thinking on a deeper level discussing the philosophical concepts present in children’s literature. I reach learning objectives by eliciting inquiry and scaffolding stepping stones to discovery. I highly value home school relations and aim for inquiry to pass spontaneously from school to home where hopefully further discussion will bring feedback to the classroom motivating deeper discussion and extending and consolidating learning. My inherent approach as a teacher aligns perfectly with the PYP attitude. I am excited that VIS is actively forward thinking and inspired by its vision and openness to contemporary thought and future challenges. It offers the teachers a pathway to professional development and provides the student with a healthy, forward thinking, global, learning environment. I am proud to be part of a dedicated team. Diversity and life experience are inevitably high up on my values list. In consequence I have a large family, a fact that urged me to move from Rome to the beautiful hills of Umbria where Nature dominates. Nature has been a touchstone in my personal life while bringing up children in this changing technological world. Exploring, appreciating and taking responsibility to safeguard the environment is an essential part of the curriculum and fundamental to the well being and mindfulness of the child. I am presently living in the heart of Umbria with five of my nine children, surrounded by olive trees, wine groves and woods. I have spent much of my spare time exploring the territory on horseback in Umbria as well as Tuscany.