ISSUE 3
2012
THE ‘OUT OF THE BUBBLE’ EXPERIENCE WA EDUCATORS MAKING A DIFFERENCE – THE ‘HELP TO HOPE’ QUEST HAS BEGUN HOW ARE YOU LEARNING ABOUT TEACHING?
Scotch College The Service Learning Effect SCRIBE Issue 3
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SCRIBE Issue 3
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www.murdoch.edu.au SCRIBE Issue 3
ON THE COVER The Vounteer Clubs at Scotch College see the students participating in a variety of innovative activities including the ‘Knitwits’, a group of boys knitting scarves and clothing for children with Aids in Tanzania.
INTRODUCTIONS
20 BUSHFIRE AND NATURAL DISASTER EMERGENCIES
2 CONTENTS
FESA’s Disaster Education Programmes are developed by qualified and experienced teachers using the latest information around causes of disasters and emergency response and embedding this in current curriculum learning areas in WA Schools. Su Ferreira elaborates on this important service to schools...
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DIRECTOR’S NOTES
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LETTERS TO SCRIBE
SCRIBE CULTURE 9 SCOTCH COLLEGE – SERVING THE COMMUNITY The community service component of Scotch College is integral to everything they do. It is imperative the students have a sense of service and outreach in preparing them for life after school...
15 YOUTH FOCUS: EARLY INTERVENTION, PREVENTION & SUPPORT Recently, Cam Allen, Director of SCRIBE Magazine caught up with Mike Fitzpatrick, Training Manager at Youth Focus to ask about the vital work being undertaken in supporting the mental health of vulnerable young people within our communities...
18 SCRIBE ‘OUT OF THE BUBBLE’ EXPERIENCE – A FULL DAY CONFERENCE WITH A DIFFERENCE The SCRIBE ‘Out of the Bubble’ Experience conference is for all WA Educators and will provide an opportunity to energise teachers and educators, reminding them of their passion for teaching. It will also unify the teaching profession, propelling thoughts and ideas into action at the same time, breathing new life into education and celebrating choices...
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24 QUALITY AFFORDABLE EDUCATION IS EVERY CHILD’S RIGHT! SCRIBE Magazine and Destination Dreaming join forces to make the dream of a quality education come true for children in the remote village of Mukuro, Kenya, Africa...
28 MSP PHOTOGRAPHY – BIGGER SMILES... BETTER SERVICE! What makes your school unique? What does your school have to offer which sets you apart from other schools? Is your school memorable for the right reasons? SCRIBE Magazine talks school photos with MSP Photography, school imaging specialists...
30 EDUCATION IS THE KEY The life of a university student in Kenya is never an easy one. Marvin Omondi from Nairobi shares with SCRIBE some of the daily challenges students in a third world country face in trying to achieve tertiary education to better their futures...
32 HIGHER DEGREES OF CHARACTER At Curtin University many students find opportunities to fulfil their personal need for providing a benefit to the community either independently, through their chosen course curriculum, or by joining the student-run Curtin Volunteers (CV!) organisation...
36 HOMELESSNESS COULD HAPPEN TO ANYONE...ANYTIME!
50 SEA CHANGE
Fremantle’s St Patrick’s Community Care Centre celebrates 40 Years of Community Service and the launch of an impressive DVD...
Within a week of moving to this quiet seaside fishing town and experiencing the clear waters and calm beaches it had to offer, teacher Carol Fennell, very quickly realised she wasn’t going back to city life/teaching...
39 THE CLASSROOM THAT IGNITES A LOVE OF LEARNING
52 AWESOME STUDENTS, AWESOME PARENTS
Destination Dreaming is a non-profit, education organisation working with schools to create sustainable community partnerships and teaching young people about global citizenship, self-awareness and social justice...
Successful schooling is a partnership between parents, students, teachers and schools. Daniel Groenewald explores the critical role parents play in this partnership...
42 SCRIBE MAGAZINE – ‘INSPIRE, CONNECT, CELEBRATE’ PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION WINNERS! We formally announce our state prize winners in our second major photography competition and showcase some of our favourite entries...
46 BRIDGING THE CURRICULUM GAP The rollout of the Australian Curriculum has highlighted a crucial gap in the provision of curriculum resources in WA. Education Research Solutions help bridge this gap including statewide initiatives, national bodies and even the Teachers’ Union...
48 INNOVATION FOR ABORIGINAL EDUCATION GOES NATIONAL Balga Senior High School’s innovative approach to Aboriginal education is being showcased nationally. The school is one of just six Aboriginal Innovation Schools in Western Australia...
54 SUSTAINABILITY AT ST ANNE’S, HARVEY WA St Anne’s Primary School is nestled in what once was the heart of dairy country so the community has an affinity with the land and the natural laws and cycles of nature. Some might say this provided the rich soil in which St Anne’s planted its original sustainability seeds...
58 +1 TO RELEVANCY – HOW GAME DESIGN CAN LIBERATE LEARNING Dr Jason Fox is an academic rogue who shows educational leaders how to use Motivation Science and Game Design to boost productivity, influence behaviour and make clever, happen...
60 HOW ARE YOU LEARNING ABOUT TEACHING? School leaders and educators everywhere are looking for innovative ways to integrate technology into their everyday lessons. Winthrop Australia offers a unique approach to staff PD, delivering a ‘just-in-time’ and ‘over time’ model which means there is adequate time for participation and engagement in planning, implementation and reflection...
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63 CAN THERE BE ANYTHING NEW IN SCHOOL LEADERSHIP?
excellence has its foundation in the close relationships between business, tradition and schooling...
Dr Phil Ridden is a consultant with over 40 years teaching and leadership experience in government and independent schools. He is the author of the widely acclaimed book, School Management: A Team Approach (1992), which is regularly used in Principal Induction courses. In it he describes the evolving concepts of school leadership. In his article he shares with SCRIBE some of the most important leadership factors within our schools...
78 TECHNOLOGY 4 TEACHERS
65 THE STAFFROOM – HOW TO SURVIVE Leith Daniel provides some crucial tips on how to disrupt and adapt to school staffroom segregation...
SCRIBE gadget guru Brad Tyrrell gains insights into the latest Information Technology available to schools while attending the Australian Council for Computer Education (ACCE) Study Tour held in Canada and USA...
80 SCRIBE FORUM A Forum for everything ‘Education!’ Have your say and let us know what you are thinking! If you have any interesting stories, send them in and be in the chance to receive cool prizes!
68 ALL FOR THE LOVE OF THE ARTS Lillian Alonzo Marín is a Mexican Artist, Singer and nonprofit consultant who recognised many talented teens were missing out on an art-filled future in developing countries and the USA. Artistic Dreams International was born to tranform young lives through their exposure to the Arts...
72 CAMPBELL TO CANBERRA After taking the Year 7 students on camps around the South West region of WA for many years, Campbell Primary School felt the need to look for alternative options. Their goal was to find a camp which was educationally rewarding as well as being fun and memorable. Subsequent to much research, they decided on Canberra...
75 ETON COLLEGE – THE TRADITION LIVES ON IN INDIA Whether it’s cricket, business or education, India offers a flavour for every taste. It is a country with the second fastest growing economy having its engine room in Bangalore. Lionel Cranenburgh explores how India’s tradition for 6
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WA EDUCATORS!! We are about to ‘BURST YOUR BUBBLE!’ Go to Page 18 to find out how and why this is happening?
PUBLISHING & DESIGN Solace Design
EDITORS Cam Allen, Karen Reid
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS/RESEARCHERS Cam Allen, Karen Reid, Bill Cordner, Vicki Ward, Pina Giglia, Amanda Ritchie, Mike Fitzpatrick, Su Ferreira, Kate Miller, Joseph Oloo, Lydia Gallant, Marvin Omondi, Lisa Garside, Robin Clarke, Warren Clarke, Geoff Harris, Carol Fennell, Daniel Groenewald, Michael Grove, Dr Jason Fox, Winthrop Education Team, Dr Phil Ridden, Leith Daniel, Lillian Alonzo Marin, Lionel Cranenburgh, Rebecca Coslani, Bradley Tyrrell.
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHY Solace Design, Brett Canet-Gibson, Cody Gecas, Kate Miller, David Caird, Alex Coppel, Adam Head, Curtin Volunteers, Michael Grove, Sergio R. Reyes, Caridad Sola, Sean Ealy, Rebecca Coslani, Lionel Cranenburgh, Bradley Tyrell, Trevor Galbraith.
SALES & MARKETING
SCRIBE Director Cam Allen spending some time with the students at the Mama Paulina School of Hope in February 2012. Cam and a team of WA teachers are currently undergoing a fundraising journey to assist in the development of this poverty-stricken community in Kenya and plan to visit on 12 January 2013 for a rare service-learning experience.
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elcome to Issue 3 of SCRIBE Magazine; our second magazine in 2012 and fourth publication since our launch in February 2011.
Georgia Allen – 08 9330 5374 scribe@scribemagazine.com.au
Service in schools is a strong focus in Issue 3 and SCRIBE has been lucky enough to see first-hand the amazing volunteering and service programmes on offer at Scotch College, our feature school.
SCRIBE Magazine is proudly published by Solace Design. ABN 73 463 974 859 (Solace Design)
SCRIBE showcase the ‘Help to Hope’ Quest, a service learning programme designed to assist in the development of our Charity project, the ‘Mama Paulina School of Hope’. SCRIBE has recruited a team of educators to participate in a challenging fundraising programme which culminates in a 12-day journey to Kenya in the January holidays 2013. WA Schools are invited to take part!
SCRIBE MAGAZINE PO BOX 3072 Myaree LPO WA 6154 Tel: 08 9330 5374 Fax: 08 9264 8230 Email: scribe@scribemagazine.com.au Web: www.scribemagazine.com.au Printed by Daniels Printing Craftsmen SCRIBE Magazine is distributed to registered Primary and Secondary Schools in Western Australia (Public, Private, Independent), Australian educational suppliers and service providers and tertiary institutions throughout Australia. Every endeavour is made to ensure the contents of this magazine are correct at the time of print. The publisher does not necessarily endorse the opinions expressed by contributing writers. Nothing in this magazine may be reproduced in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher. Images and written material submitted for SCRIBE Magazine are sent at the owner’s risk, and while every care is taken, Solace Design will not accept any liability for lost, stolen, damaged or misused material. The publisher reserves the right to modify editorial and advertisement content. All images are used on the understanding that appropriate compliance and permissions with current privacy legislation has been obtained by represented schools and businesses prior to printing.
(See Page 25 for more information) The SCRIBE Magazine ‘Out of the Bubble’ Experience has been launched, our inaugural full day conference for ALL WA educators. This rare event aims to unify the teaching profession, propelling thoughts and ideas into action and at the same time, breathing new life into careers and career choices. Do not miss this one as SCRIBE has recruited some of Australia’s most entertaining and engaging speakers! (Full details are on Page 18) SCRIBE also focusses on a variety of community service initiatives in schools, touches on the Australian Curriculum implementation in WA and also reveals our winners of the ‘Inspire, Connect, Celebrate’ Photography Competition. Join our online mailing list today and be a part of the excitement this magazine has to offer. Remember, all members are eligible for monthly prizes and giveaways too! http://www.scribemagazine.com.au/Content/mailing_list CAM ALLEN – DIRECTOR
PAGE 1 IMAGE – Murdoch University Pre-Service Teacher, Erin Turner reads to Year One student, Elisha Seow, during her 2-Week Prac Experience at Burrendah Primary School, Willetton. Erin is currently in her 3rd year of a Bachelor of Early Childhood and Primary Education degree.
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ROLE MODEL FOR YOUNG WOMEN Hello SCRIBE team, I would like to congratulate you on Issue 2, it was a such an all-round GOOD read! I am thrilled you interviewed Narelda Jacobs. I think she is such an amazing person and have personally heard her speak at my daughter’s school, and she made such an impact on not only all of the young girls she spoke to, but equally, the teachers and attending parents on the day! You just have to look at all of the foundations she is involved with to see the calibre of person she is; such an inspirational WA woman. Looking forward to Issue 3! CATHERINE – KOONDOOLA
FILLING A NICHE Being a subscriber of SCRIBE magazine since its first issue, it is an honour for Scotch College to be showcased on community service in Issue 3. Working with Cam Allen and the team from SCRIBE was a joy for our boys and the Scotch Staff, I felt like I was working with an old friend. The friendly and professional manner was evident through the entire process starting from the first phone call to the delivery of the final design and product. I was very impressed with the quality of the photos and I would like to thank you so much for your amazing ability to capture the essence of Scotch College. It was truly a gift to the College to be given all of the images taken, to build up our bank of marketing images for all of our promotional material.
Cam, I appreciate your hard work as the Editor and the magnificent work your entire team does in organising each issue of the magazine. Thank you for filling a niche in the market with SCRIBE, a publication beautifully packed with information, inspiring ideas and a heap of fun! I look forward to continuing to work with the team at SCRIBE and am certainly looking forward to reading future issues! KERRIN GIRANDO – MARKETING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS COORDINATOR, SCOTCH COLLEGE (EMAIL)
KENYA SPEAKS OUT Hello Sir, I believe the almighty God has kept you and your family safe and in good health. I want to sincerely say a BIG thank you to you for granting me this lifetime opportunity to do what I love. I’ve gone through the edited copy and all I can say is ‘wow’. It is good and I like it. May he bless you as you continue touching the many lives round the world with your work. Lots of regards Sir. MARVIN OMONDI – STUDENT IN NAIROBI, KENYA (EMAIL) We met Marvin in February 2012 on our inaugural trip to Kenya. Marvin is a Media and Journalism student who wanted the opportunity to write about his challenging experiences being a student in Nairobi. A very humble and decent young man, we have maintained contact with him and you can read about his student experiences on Page 30.
TECHNOLOGY HAS TAKEN OVER Having read the last 2 issues of SCRIBE Magazine, I was ‘surprised’ at the amount
of technology-focussed articles being published. I initially thought that this was an emerging theme of the magazine but when I went to a recent Orientation Day at my son’s High School for next year, I realised the reasons for such a focus in SCRIBE of late. I was astounded by how advanced the classrooms were, but more so, the focus on technology for the students and teachers! Call me naive, but I simply had no idea and am shocked at how quickly technology has been implemented in schools and how much it plays such a major role in day-to-day teaching. I must say it is a little daunting for us to see such an emphasis on something which personally is very foreign to a high percentage of parents. DENISE – COTTESLOE
PRISON HOPE I was fascinated to read the story in Issue 2 about the Banksia Hill Detention Centre and the amazing rehabilitation programmes happening inside the facility, specifically using ‘sport’ as a focus. Rarely do the public hear about these types of initiatives, one can only wonder what benefit these types of programmes are having on young offenders. It can only be a step in the right direction to change their difficult situation. JAMES – KARRATHA The SCRIBE team welcomes your feedback, letters and emails and we will endeavour to publish all opinions expressed. Send your feedback to; scribe@scribemagazine.com.au
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“THE COMMUNITY SERVICE COMPONENT OF SCOTCH IS INTEGRAL TO EVERYTHING WE DO. IT IS IMPERATIVE OUR BOYS HAVE A SENSE OF SERVICE AND OUTREACH IN PREPARING THEM FOR LIFE AFTER SCHOOL.” DR ALEC O’CONNELL HEADMASTER
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lives. The Paraplegic-Quadriplegic Association of Western Australia and Rocky Bay are also closely affiliated with Scotch College, providing opportunities for Scotch Boys to engage with disability services and learn how to best support people with disabilities in our community. This extremely worthwhile and invaluable form of experiential learning benefits not only the students, but the entire community. In addition, the boys also work with the Claremont Therapeutic Riding Centre to provide the best conditions for teaching riding to people with disabilities.
SEA, SAND AND SURF VOLUNTEERS For the past five years Scotch boys have assisted the Disabled Surfers Association to run events at Leighton Beach. The Disabled Surfers Association, which began in 1987 in New South Wales, is bridging the gap between disabled and able body surfers providing people with a disability the chance to go to the beach, feel the sand and surf the waves.
AT SCOTCH COLLEGE, LEARNING IS MORE THAN AN ACADEMIC PURSUIT; IT IS A ‘TOTAL PICTURE’ WHICH PROVIDES A BALANCE BETWEEN A STUDENT’S INTELLECTUAL, PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL, RELATIONAL AND SPIRITUAL NEEDS.
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ike most schools, Scotch College aims to provide students with opportunities to learn about service and the role of volunteer organisations both locally and internationally. Where possible links are made to the curriculum and practical activities are set within an academic context. Headmaster of Scotch, Dr Alec O’Connell said, “The community service component of Scotch is integral to everything we do. It is imperative our boys have a sense of service and outreach in preparing them for life after school.” SCRIBE takes a look at the of ways in which Community is incorporated throughout the Middle and Junior schools at College.
variety Service Senior, Scotch
SENIOR SCHOOL SERVICE ACTION Service Action – the main focus for Senior School service – creates situations where Scotch College senior students learn community service lessons through first-hand experience and exposure to diversity. Essential to this experiential
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education has been the generosity of a number of organisations that allow Scotch students to work with professionals and engage with a broad range of groups.
LONG ESTABLISHED PARTNERSHIPS One such group Scotch has a long partnership with is the Volunteer Task Force (VTF) which has been serving the Perth community since 1970. Scotch boys work under the guidance of VTF volunteers to help with gardening services to the elderly and disabled – just one of the many good deeds VTF provide their clients. A similarly long partnership has been developed with Balga Senior High School. An exciting and rewarding collaborative activity for both schools has seen Scotch Boys working with Balga students who are attending the Intensive English Language Unit. Many of these students are refugees; therefore this dynamic has created a perfect opportunity for students from both campuses to work towards a greater understanding of their respective
Working in teams with volunteers from other schools, as well as adult volunteers, Scotch boys care for the individual needs of each participant as they enjoy the excitement and freedom of catching a wave. For many participants, this is the first time they have come close to sand and surf and for many students it is the first time they have interacted with disabled people. The outcome is a highenergy and transforming experience for all.
COMMUNITY ACTION Scotch Boys support the Western Districts Coast Care and The Friends of Lake Claremont. This latter organisation in particular has provided a wonderful avenue for boys to see community action transform an environment progressively over many years. Some boys have provided service on-campus: assisting to run the Public Schools’ Association sport; making toys to take on service tours to Cambodia, India and Tanzania.
INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE DIPLOMA SERVICE ACTIVITIES With the consolidation of the International Baccalaureate Diploma (IB) Programme over the past two years, Years 11 and 12 students have also participated in a number of distinct service activities. A major project involving IB Diploma students has been to assist Volunteering
WA to run the Homeless Connect Day. IB students are tasked with setting up the tented facilities and sorting the donated goods onto tables and racks. Related to this is the ‘Street Swags’ project which involves boys rolling and distributing swags for the homeless. Over 1000 swags have been packaged and distributed through the St Vincent de Paul Society, the Order of St John and directly through the Homeless Connect Day. The canvas outer shells for the swags are now fabricated for us by inmates in Bandyup Women’s Prison. Romily House – a hostel for some 80 people with paranoid schizophrenia is also the recipient of community service from IB Diploma students. The boys play board games such as Chess and Scrabble with the residents. Some IB students have laboured for Friends of Allen Park – weeding and planting. Along with these examples of group service, individuals in the IB Diploma programme have completed service in a variety of diverse fields e.g. assisting with Mana Industries soup kitchen and working in the John XXIII College Education Support Unit.
ONE-OFF EVENT SUPPORT Occasionally volunteers are asked to support one-off events – such as fundraising for Legacy at one of the AFL games at Patterson Stadium. This year boys volunteered to assist in the running of both silent and floor auctions at the Rafiki Ball – in support of medical
teams who travel to Tanzania to perform facial reconstructive surgery. Scotch senior students are continuing to support the Western Metropolitan Regional Council’s Earth Carers ‘Swap-a-lot’ and some boys have worked with ARAFMI to provide recreational days for carers of people with mental illness. A group of boys also assisted the Ross Memorial Church to cook pancakes on Shrove Tuesday.
VOLUNTEER CLUBS Lunchtime clubs provide an opportunity for Year 8 boys to serve others by doing what they can to make a difference. Long-term clubs include: Knitwits – knitting scarves for children with acquired Aids in Tanzania; Eco-warriors – advocating for the environment; Feeding Faces – maintaining the kitchen gardens; Kindy Kapers – reading to boys in lower primary; and ‘Gift of the Gab’ – creating story books to take to primary-aged students on our service tours overseas.
INTERNATIONAL SERVICE The international service trips to India, Cambodia and Tanzania provide an opportunity for boys to experience life in less economically developed countries. At the end of 2011, boys assisted the villagers of Soun Sah in central Cambodia to fund and construct a PVC pipe network system ensuring access to fresh water for all villagers.
Since 2004, boys from Scotch College and girls from Presbyterian Ladies’ College have teamed up to renovate a Primary School in the remote village of Matipwili north of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. Another strong and long-standing partnership with St Mary’s Anglican Girls’ School has seen students from both schools travel to India on six occasions to work in orphanages and schools.
LIFE OF SERVICE – LIFE CHANGING All Scotch College boys are encouraged to pursue service activities both on-campus and outside school. Through experiencing contact with diverse groups and providing service, boys have a better understanding of their place in the world. The partnerships with external organisations both locally and overseas over many years have allowed the College to extend beyond the classroom to provide our students with truly life-changing learning experiences.
Bill Cordner Head of Community and Service / IB CAS Coordinator
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cancer. The main fundraiser for this cause was a raffle to which the West Coast Eagles donated a prize and a signed cricket bat from Adam Gilchrist, was donated.
UTHANDO DOLL PROJECT The Years 6 and 7 boys chose this project as part of an activity club held on Tuesdays each week. This club was offered to the boys based on what they had learned about the plight of Aids-affected children in KwaZuluNatal, South Africa. The boys handmade their dolls knowing they would go to children who may never have had a toy. They learned that toys were also used to help the children express their grief through play.
MIDDLE SCHOOL COMMUNITY CREATION Middle School students at Scotch College are encouraged to engage in creative collection and fundraising activities which rely on a sense of community and determination. The boys take ownership over these initiatives, often pushing the boundaries in their endeavours to make each idea work! The following activities have been taking place in the Middle School:
FUNDRAISING FOR BALINESE ORPHANAGES After some class research about a variety of orphanages and villages in Bali requiring international assistance to improve their conditions and resources, the Middle School students took part in some simple and fun activities to generate funds: a sausage sizzle; a ‘guess the number of lollies in the jar’ competition; a free dress day at the end of each term and ‘Small Change for Change’ which involved the boys bringing in small change (5, 10, 20 50 cent pieces) and depositing it into makeshift money boxes in each classroom. At the end of term, each class had the opportunity to participate in two enjoyable events utilising the collected coins with 4 representatives from each class competing against each other to create a money trail. The longest money trail won the competition. Each class also had 2 boys represent it in a coin tower competition and the tallest standing tower won. The winning classes received chocolate; needless to say the boys all enjoyed this particular fundraising event! 14
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BALINESE CHILDREN SHOE DRIVE To ensure children from the Orphanages in Bali had decent footwear to go to school in, the students decided to bring in previously owned black school shoes which were too small or no longer used. These shoes were then delivered to children in Balinese orphanages. Hundreds of school shoes were donated as well as a variety of casual and sport shoes for these communities.
RAFFLE RAISES AWARENESS AND FUNDS FOR MS FOUNDATION Two mothers of young boys in Middle School were diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), consequently the Community Service Club decided to raise awareness about this condition, raising over $1000 for the Foundation. The boys were asked to bring in a donation of an Easter egg/chocolate of some sort, then, when all donations were combined, 11 Easter baskets were made and the boys sold raffle tickets to the Middle School boys for a chance to win one of the 11 baskets. There was one basket per class so the tickets were raffled by each class. The fundraiser ended with one final mega Easter basket raffled where all tickets previously sold were combined and a winner was drawn. This was a very successful and delicious fundraiser!
CHILDHOOD CANCER RESEARCH Another very worthy fundraiser was carried out for the Childhood Cancer Research Foundation. A friend of one of the boys in the Service Club had been diagnosed with cancer and sadly told there was nothing that could be done for him. As a result, the boys decided to raise money for research into childhood
On speaking to the boys they will all tell you they enjoyed the club: “I made my doll for someone who did not have any toys…I wanted to give them something special that I made.” Ollie Benson “Looked like fun because I could chat with my friends and make someone else happy at the same time. They do not have much, it might even be their first toy ever!” Oliver Davis “The boys have been amazing; developing their sewing skills, having fun chatting with their mates and helping someone who will really appreciate
their gift. They really took a risk joining this activity and did their best to show empathy for those less fortunate. We are very proud of the personal choice they made to join the club and even more so for their efforts.” “The hard work and dedication of the Middle School students is infectious. Other activities involved rigorous collection efforts for various appeals such as the Uniting Care West Winter Appeal and the Annual Christmas Appeal where clothing, blankets, tinned food items are collected and distributed to the homeless communities of Perth. Money was also raised for Juvenile Diabetes, inspired by a boy in Year 7 who was diagnosed with the condition and there are a couple of boys in the Senior School who also battle with this condition daily.”
a not-for-profit organisation, supporting orangutan conservation, rainforest protection, local community partnerships and the rehabilitation and reintroduction of displaced orangutans back to the wild, in order to save the two orangutan species from extinction.
the classroom. In addition, some boys base their IB Middle Years Personal Project on achieving a service goal.
INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE PRIMARY YEARS PROGRAMME (PYP)
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Taking part in community-based fund-raising appeals for agencies such as The Red Cross, Asthma Foundation and ACTIV Foundation.
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Completing the Duke of Edinburgh Award.
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Joining in House service action such as dune restoration, tree planting and organising the collection of donated goods for distribution to the needy.
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Providing service through public performances with the Pipe Band, Concert Band or Drama Groups.
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Becoming a member of the Scotch College Emergency Services Cadets.
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Developing individual links with external aid agencies and advocating for these within school.
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Joining the Scotch College Amnesty International group.
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Participating in disabled events.
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The College offers specific service programmes for boys in Years 8, 10 and 11. Year 12 boys are encouraged to pursue a service activity in the broader community independent of the College.
ACTION IN THE PYP As part of each unit of inquiry, the Junior School boys go through several stages of inquiry from immersion to investigation to presentation and reflection. The final stage of this inquiry is called the ‘Action’ stage which we don’t often get to witness in school as it typically occurs after school hours. Action takes place when the students apply their learning to help further their own understanding, or to help their community either locally or globally. The Year 3 unit of ‘Who We Are’ has the central idea that ‘We are influenced by the experiences of past generations’. An example of what action is in this unit of inquiry might see a student decide independently to find out more about their ancestry or research where their surname originates from. We encourage the boys to tell us about any action they have taken at home to do with the current unit of inquiry. Students are encouraged to take photographs, bring in examples or write an explanation of what action they have taken. There is also the opportunity for parents to note in the student diary any action they notice their sons take. This action will then be displayed on the ‘I took action by……’ wall, which is in all Junior School classrooms.
Amanda Ritchie PYP Coordinator SERVICE GOALS INTEGRAL TO SCOTCH COLLEGE Vicki Ward & Pina Giglia Middle School Teachers
JUNIOR SCHOOL In the Junior School, students do not run a community service programme. Rather, ‘action’ is an important component of each unit of inquiry. In addition, each term a student nominates a personal ‘action’ project to raise funds for a specific charity. In Term 2 of 2012 Harry Unstead raised money through a free dress day for The Orangutan Project (TOP). TOP is
The Service Programme at Scotch College has become an essential component of the whole school with a comprehensive programme of activities available to all boys. These service programmes complement the philosophy of the International Baccalaureate Organisation which places community and service in a central position in its model of education as one of five ‘areas of interaction’.
There are many opportunities for boys at any level to participate in service to the community on a local level. Some of these are:
surfing
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Through these programmes the boys discover innate abilities, learn teamwork, exercise initiative and, ultimately, find a productive place within the College, Local, National and International communities preparing them for life beyond school. Photography: Solace Design, Scotch College
SCOTCH COLLEGE 76 Shenton Road Swanbourne WA 6010 PO Box 223 Claremont WA 6910 Tel: +61 8 9383 6800 Fax: +61 8 9385 2286 Email: mail@scotch.wa.edu.au
Scotch students are provided with opportunities to complete service through the co-curricular programme as well as service learning activities within SCRIBE Issue 3
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YOUTH FOCUS
Youth Focus Early Intervention – Prevention – Support
RECENTLY, CAM ALLEN, DIRECTOR OF SCRIBE MAGAZINE CAUGHT UP WITH MIKE FITZPATRICK, TRAINING MANAGER AT YOUTH FOCUS TO ASK ABOUT THEIR VITAL WORK UNDERTAKEN IN SUPPORTING THE MENTAL HEALTH OF VULNERABLE YOUNG PEOPLE WITHIN OUR COMMUNITIES – READ ON TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS INVALUABLE ORGANISATION…
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an you tell our SCRIBE readers what Youth Focus is all about and outline the objectives Youth Focus endeavours to achieve? Youth Focus is an independent non-profit organisation, unique in that it supports vulnerable young West Australians by offering a range of mental health services. We operate with a team of highly trained and skilled psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists and trainers to provide a range of early intervention and prevention services aimed at supporting young people and their families to overcome the issues associated with suicide, depression and self harm. Our mission is ensuring adolescents that need our help are fully supported in what can be a distressing and confusing stage of life. These objectives form the backbone of Youth Focus’ service to young people in Western Australia:
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Prevent suicide and self-harming behaviors in young people
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Provide a youth-friendly communitybased support service
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Offer early support and assistance to young people and their families
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Promote the development of coping, interpersonal and psychosocial competencies in young people through counselling and training
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Promote strong and caring relationships between young people, their families, peers and communities
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Work in a coordinated and collaborative manner with other agencies and organisations which may also be providing services to the young person and / or their family.
We aim to understand young people and their difficulties within the broader context of their lives which includes family, friends, school and their local community.
This understanding acknowledges the effect of past experiences, the significance of current issues and circumstances, and the nature of adolescence as a life stage. The words ‘mental health’ conjure up a vast array of conditions and symptoms. How does Youth Focus interpret ‘mental health’ with young people in mind and what constitutes actual mental illness?
The World Health Organisation describes mental health as the “state in which the individual realises their own abilities, can cope with normal stresses of life, can work productively, and is able to make a contribution to their community.” In a young person it relates to the balance between all aspects of their life – social, physical and emotional. It influences their ability to manage their surroundings and make decisions that affect their lives.
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SCRIBE Director Cam Allen and Training Manager Mike Fitzpatrick discussing the training programmes offered at Youth Focus in one of the counselling rooms.
As far as mental illness is concerned, it is a diagnosable illness which causes major changes in a person’s thinking, emotional state and behaviour, and disrupts the person’s ability to study or work and carry on their usual personal relationships. It is an illness not a weakness. Why is improved Mental Health literacy important?
People are suffering through mental illness, often undiagnosed, and the more people that have even a basic understanding of what a mental health illness is, then the more assistance can be provided to those people to seek the appropriate professional help. The following statistics make it clear just how important mental health literacy is: •
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One in five Australians will experience a mental illness within a 12-month period
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The World Health Organisation estimates depression will be the number one cause of disability in both the developed and developing worlds by 2030
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In 2007, almost half (45%) of all Australians had experienced a mental disorder at some point in their lifetime.
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With regard to young people, what do the latest statistics around mental health illness show?
The latest national survey in 2007 showed young adults aged 16-24 have the highest prevalence of mental disorders of any age group – 26.4% compared with the survey average of 20%. The survey also showed that 15.4% of 16-24-year-olds surveyed suffered an anxiety disorder in one year and 6.3% suffered from a depressive disorder in one year.
that the risk of suicide will be significantly reduced. In what areas is Youth Focus planning to provide training?
Our training and education programmes currently cater for the needs of the community, education and industry sectors and cover a wide range of topics designed to assist in the following areas: •
To help people to identify any potential issues, to address those issues and to develop the resilience to cope in the future; and
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To help parents, employers, friends, work mates and others in the community to identify and assist with issues people may be experiencing.
Why is suicide a subject that is talked about more these days? The latest figures released showed 2361 Australians completed suicide in 2010. There has been a cultural stigma around suicide and in the early days it was just not talked about. In some countries suicide was or still is illegal. The idea that we should not talk about it, is not supported by any evidence that it will lead to more suicides. Most people do not ask the straight question “are you thinking about suicide?” because they are scared that they will not know what to do if the person says that they are. Training can assist to provide those crucial skills. The reality is that if someone is contemplating suicide, and they are supported and encouraged to get appropriate professional and personal support, there is a very high probability
What specifically is Youth Focus planning for the education sector?
We are keen to provide mental health education across school communities which include parents and friends. We also have programmes that provide appropriate training for teachers and support staff to approach, assess and assist young people that they think may be suffering from a mental illness or are contemplating suicide. For example, one programme we have designed involves mental health training across all teachers and support staff that
provides a basic understanding of mental health issues and recognition of the symptoms. The second stage provides training for selected teachers and support staff in Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) which equips them with the skills to approach, assess and assist a young person who may be experiencing a mental illness or contemplating suicide. YMHFA is a nationally recognised programme delivered across Australia and internationally. The course is for adults living or working with young people aged 12-18 years and covers the signs and symptoms of the 5 most prevalent mental health issues within this age group, those being, crisis scenarios, referral processes, mental health information, statistics and suicide as well as non-suicide self-injury support. Mental health first aid is the help provided to a person developing a mental health problem or in a mental health crisis. The first aid is given until appropriate professional treatment is received or until the crisis resolves. What are the main benefits for people who undergo this training?
It is tremendously important that we have more people on the ground in communities who have a basic
understanding of mental health issues and what to do to assist.
background, I decided that I would get involved in suicide prevention.
Another important point to make is that we are not trying to broaden everyone’s shoulders and load them up with a degree qualification in order to save everyone with a mental illness.
Suicide notwithstanding, the effects of mental illness can be hugely debilitating to young people in particular. Helping in any way to relieve these circumstances is tremendously rewarding.
The simple question;“are you OK?”, along with the skills to support the person if they are not, should be as common as basic first aid is for a physical injury – and most people know the basics!
Another two areas that can also be seriously inhibited due to mental illness such as depression are career aspirations and relationships – the sad thing is that people are unaware help is actually available.
I undertook some ASIST training this year which is designed to train people to intervene when they think someone may be having suicidal thoughts. There were 50 people at the weekend course and on the Saturday night four of the participants undertook an assist with someone they knew who was having suicidal thoughts. That alone indicates to me the value of awareness and specific training. Tell us why/how you are involved?
Having worked all around Western Australia I have seen the results of mental illness and suicide in communities. I sadly lost a family member to suicide last year and having worked in training and development for a long period of time, together with my counselling
That is why through our training programmes we hope to raise awareness of the symptoms of mental illness to as many people as possible. By providing assistance to family, friends, neighbours and workmates if they see that someone is not travelling too well and having some problems – they will know where to go to get help. That help can be as simple in the first instance, as talking to someone you trust – something us blokes in particular should remember! Photography: Solace Design
Go to Page 71 for a more detailed selection of the Mental Health First Aid training course/s available at Youth Focus.
Youth Focus provides Mental Health Training that will help you to identify issues and provide assistance. Our school programs provide training for teachers and support staff to
be experiencing such as anxiety, depression, self harm and thoughts of
build mental health literacy in the education community and are tailored
suicide. Contact our Training Manager, Mike Fitzpatrick, on 6266 4333 or
to fit the needs of the school community. They are designed to provide
mike.fitzpatrick@youthfocus.com.au to
the necessary skills to identify and assist with issues young people may
discuss how we can assist your school.
*Based on an average Australian Year 12 classroom of 30 students. Inspire Foundation, 2012.
54 Goodwood Parade, Burswood, WA, 6100 Ph (08) 6266 4333 Fax (08) 6266 4300 Email youthfocus@youthfocus.com.au Internet www.youthfocus.com.au
Youth Focus is an independent charity committed to the prevention of suicide, depression and self harm in young people aged 12-25 years
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Join us for this unique education experience which aims to excite, delight and remind you of your passion for education! As educators, rarely do we take the time out to ‘seek inspiration’ and reinvigorate our soul! Let this experience ‘burst your bubble’ and expose you to some fresh ideas and creative possibilities!
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VENUE RNDM Performing Arts Centre Sacred Heart College, Sorrento
DATE Saturday 3 November 2012
COST Subscribers: $175 (GST Inc) Non-Subscribers: $195 (GST Inc)
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Educators The SCRIBE ‘Out of the Bubble’ Experience Conference is for all WA Educators and aims to unify the teaching profession, propelling thoughts and ideas into action and at the same time, breathing new life into careers and career choices. The Conference will attract the very best educators. It will include thought-provoking presentations, entertainment and networking opportunities which will inspire all attendees!
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Our course finder tool asks a series of questions – such as whether you’ll like to work individually or in a team, or if money or passion is more important to you. We’ll then come up with a course that would suit you, plus other useful info. Ready? Get started now at www.murdoch.edu.au/CourseFinder
To secure your ticket and/or to download the sponsorship information, go to the SCRIBE Magazine Conference page: www.scribemagazine.com.au/conference2012 CRICOS Provider Code 00125J MD7605-8-12
All Keynote speakers are listed on the website, check out what we have lined up for you!
www.murdoch.edu.au
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Victorian Bushfires 2009. Chelsea Johnstone pulls a toy from the ashes of the family home. (Photographer David Caird) Photo courtesy Newspix Ltd
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Bushfire and Natural Disaster Emergencies – Why children should be educated... FESA AIMS TO EXPAND AND REALIGN PEOPLE’S NATURAL DISASTER RISK PERCEPTION AND INCLUDE CHILDREN IN THIS FRAMEWORK. THEIR DISASTER EDUCATION PROGRAMMES ARE DEVELOPED BY QUALIFIED AND EXPERIENCED TEACHERS USING THE LATEST INFORMATION AROUND CAUSES OF DISASTERS AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE, EMBEDDING THIS IN CURRENT CURRICULUM LEARNING AREAS.
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here are two main reasons educating children about bushfire and natural disaster emergencies is important. Firstly, if children experience the impact of a disaster, they see damage and injury; feel pain and grief, living through it in much the same way as their parents do. Children need the opportunity to understand and process these events in order to reconcile anxiety, fear and assumptions they may make about what has happened. Secondly, children need to learn the potential danger of bushfire and natural hazards, knowing what to do and how to act in order to increase their resilience. In the face of bushfire and natural disasters, a child’s resilience relates directly to their perception of risk and the safe behaviour choices they make. This enhances their capacity to take lifelong responsibility for their own safety, which can potentially save the lives of their own families and, ultimately, help create safer communities. Child disaster education is not the “silver bullet” to raising community responsibility around disaster and emergencies, but it is a powerful tool, especially with Primary School children. Young children are generally less exposed to community assumptions around hazard preparedness, making it easier to introduce safe choices and actions into their “default perceptions and behaviours”.
children being swept away, bitten by displaced animals or affected by spilled chemicals and sewage. These safer behaviours can stay with children for the rest of their lives. As adults (even by adolescence) we are less receptive to this type of instruction, because it challenges our own life experiences that have forged our personal interpretation of risk and understanding of how a disaster will impact us. In our mindset we have a boundary around how bad things can get and have created instinctive responses based on this. Without direct experience of a bushfire, just how bad can it be? Without experiencing the force of a tropical cyclone, how destructive will the winds really be? In post-disaster analysis, shocked victims and witnesses describe their surprise at the scale and power of the event. People who have experienced the winds of a severe tropical cyclone – like those who sheltered in a mining camp in the Pilbara during Tropical Cyclone George in 2007 – describe the noise and fear as their shelter is damaged.
After the Victorian bushfires in 2009, the massive fire storms were seen by some as “unprecedented”, yet Victoria and many other parts of Australia have a long history of deadly bushfires triggered by the same lethal mix of dryness, heat and strong winds. Having a low personal knowledge base of natural disasters and emergencies and how they can affect us means as adults, we may not always make the right decisions or heed the warnings during a life threatening situation. This is tragically demonstrated in deaths and injuries which occur when, for example, people are trapped in a burning house, attempt to flee a bushfire at the last minute, or go to the beach to see an approaching tsunami. Adults can also be hampered by an unrealistic expectation authorities will be there to save them when disaster strikes. The hard truth around the impact of a disaster or emergency is emergency responders will not always arrive to save you, your family, your house, or your community. Yet the Royal Commission into the Black Saturday Bushfires in Victoria in 2009 revealed over half of the community
For example, with home fire safety emergencies, simple lessons such as crawling low under the smoke in a burning house and knowing to use a window as an escape route, can mean the difference between life and death. Similarly, teaching young children about the force of flood waters and what lurks in them can prevent
Margaret River fires in WA 2011. Steve and Donna with their family at their burnt out home. (Photographer Colin Murty) Photo courtesy Newspix Ltd
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TEACHING YOUNG CHILDREN ABOUT THE FORCE OF FLOOD WATERS AND WHAT LURKS IN THEM CAN PREVENT CHILDREN BEING SWEPT AWAY, BITTEN BY DISPLACED ANIMALS OR POISONED BY CHEMICALS AND SEWAGE.
Brisbane floods 2008. Connor and Jacqui look out at the flood waters of the Brisbane River. (Photographer Adam Head) Photo courtesy Newspix members interviewed did in fact expect the fire service to save them and their house. As capable as emergency services are, it is counterintuitive to base your level of acceptable risk and survival plan on the limit you have placed on the disaster’s severity and the expectation someone else will come to the rescue. This is one of the most challenging and complex sociocultural issues emergency service agencies face in Australia and around the world; there is so much risk of personal pain and loss, so much potential to prevent it, yet so little is done. This predicament also places our emergency responders at greater risk, as they are called upon to save people in dangerous situations which could have been prevented. Having a strong response capability is the task of the Fire and Emergency Services Authority of WA (FESA) and accommodates this community deficit in awareness and preparation. To balance this, FESA also recognises education is critical to reducing injury and loss. People must know more about the potential impact of a hazard so they can make more informed decisions about what they will do. Education of both children and adults is a long term commitment comprising of a range of treatment options which address particular issues based on research.
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We know the instinctive response of children to bushfire incorporates the “flight or fight” reaction and, without intervention, this will become part of their bushfire response plan as adults, making it difficult to retract this thinking and replace it with a different disaster response framework. It is critical children are taught early to question their assumptions and seek out information. So when should children begin to learn about these frightening and scary concepts, and what should they be taught? Interestingly, most children already have a concept of natural disaster emergencies in their minds through exposure to various media and perhaps personal experience. Research has shown when school-aged children are asked to list their top ten fears, most include a natural disaster or emergency. Research has also shown this fear stems from a limited understanding of the hazard, and after disaster education their anxiety is reduced. Further, there are numerous examples of children offering life-saving information during an emergency, such as assessing changes in their surroundings and warning of a tsunami, or staying calm and calling 000. FESA’s school-aged disaster and emergency education is focused on building capacity to intelligently and calmly assess risk from an early age. It
enables children to develop the ability to make decisions preventing them from getting hurt, and helps them cope with a negative experience and recover from it. These are vital life skills for our children. At FESA we aim to expand and realign people’s natural disaster risk perception, and we include children in this framework. Our disaster education programmes are developed by qualified and experienced teachers using the latest information around causes of disasters and emergency response, and embedding this in current curriculum learning areas. All programmes are premised on numeracy and literacy based activities introducing students to information in a problem-solving context. Information is crafted into age appropriate language and concepts which provide a non-threatening, comprehensive learning journey from PrePrimary to Year Eleven. Our programmes are offered free of charge as an excursion to the FESA Education and Heritage Centre in Perth, or as an online resource for our remote and regional schools. For more information please visit our website: www.fesa.wa.gov.au
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FREE ENTRY - BOOK NOW NATURAL HAZARDS (Year 11 Geography 2A) NATURAL HAZARDS (Years 6-7) FIRE SAFETY PROGRAM (Years 2-7) EMERGENCY HELPERS IN THE COMMUNITY AND ME PROGRAM (PP - Year 2) Links directly to Society & Environment, Science, Health & PE Curriculum Framework Outcomes. We offer specialised programs with interactive displays on storm, flood, tsunami and fire hazards in Western Australia; as well as guided tours of Perth’s first fire station and fire engines.
For Bookings... Phone 9416 3403 or 9416 3404, Email educationandheritage@fesa.wa.gov.au or Visit www.fesa.wa.gov.au/educationandheritage to find out more!
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Help to Hope
Quality, Affordable Education... Every Child’s Right! SCRIBE MAGAZINE, PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA AND DESTINATION DREAMING, MELBOURNE, VICTORIA, JOIN FORCES TO MAKE THE DREAM OF A QUALITY EDUCATION COME TRUE FOR CHILDREN IN THE REMOTE VILLAGE OF MUKURO, KENYA, AFRICA.
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he Mama Paulina School of Hope is currently being established on the inherited family land of Joseph Odhiano Oloo, a 38 year-old ‘young’ man who was raised in the remote town of Mukuro, Kenya. The school was named after Joseph’s late grandmother Paulina Okello – a visionary and crucial role model in Joseph’s life growing up. Paulina was a unique, kind-hearted and loving woman whose house was a refuge for dozens of local orphans and young children of the region who had no hope. Generously, she took them in to her own home, immediately creating a safe environment for them as well as feeding and educating them, to the best of her ability. Mama Paulina’s compassion for the vulnerable was passed onto her grandson throughout his childhood and teenage years as he witnessed the difference she was making to young lives. In 2007, after her passing, Joseph’s vision and desire to continue his grandmother’s work intensified knowing the profound effect her work had on the vulnerable children of the region. At that point, Joseph began to build a brick dwelling on the family’s land in the hope of creating something beneficial for his family; his original intention was to create business or trade opportunities from the dwelling, but as each hand made brick was moulded and the walls grew taller, it became clear to Joseph that a school was being created right before his eyes.
opportunity to give something to those who have nothing. Out of love, we can achieve what we cannot afford,” Joseph said. The Mama Paulina School of Hope is a Primary School located in the remote town of Mukuro, Kenya (approx 8 hours drive from the capital city of Nairobi). The School offers quality affordable education to vulnerable students who sadly come from very poor families. It is both a sacrifice and a financial stretch for these families to provide their children with education. There are approximately 140 students currently enrolled, a growing percentage of them orphans; with the student age ranging from 3 to 8 years. The School currently has a 5-classroom brick dwelling with two drop pit toilets. There are a few other simple dwellings on the property that house Joseph’s family. The classrooms are cramped, the furniture is basic, there is no electricity, no running water and little or no teaching resources available in each
class. Financial support for the school is minimal; the fees the families pay for their childrens’ education are simply unable to sustain the school’s day-to-day expenses. A percentage of fees received go back directly to the children; feeding and nourishing them at the start of the school day, directly supporting attending children who do not have parents, or a reliable support network. Joseph also works, when he can, as a chef with a Nairobi International Safari company, however this work is limited and not an overly reliable income source. This job supports his family and parents at the same time as keeping the school functioning, making sure teachers are paid, students are fed and paying all ongoing bills. Life is challenging and every week is a stretch. The dedicated staff at the school are supportive and entirely unique; they work with passion and enthusiasm without the financial gain that quality teachers receive at higher fee paying public schools in the extended regions.
“After finishing the building, I heard a call; that I needed to involve the community directly. What of the children who have nothing, and families who cannot even support themselves? I had developed a sense of responsibility for the less fortunate directly from the actions of my grandmother. I also knew that by setting up a school not for financial gain was going to be a challenge, as we are also from a poor family, but I have the
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to Kenya were bought without hesitation and very soon these three “strangers” became firm friends. Following a long, arduous journey of international flights and a middle of the night marathon bus trip, the trio met, bonded and quickly formed a unique friendship and team. All three, driven by an all-consuming passion to assist in a cause that felt absolutely necessary, spent hours talking, walking, laughing, reflecting and planning. Very quickly they saw their collective potential in making a real difference to the lives of the young children and their families in this remote area.
SCRIBE Magazine Director, Cam Allen first heard Joseph’s call for help in 2011. Learning about Joseph Oloo was a blessing in disguise – as soon as dialogue took place between them it became clear these two like-minded men were distant ‘brothers’. After many e-mail conversations, they shared their passion for positive change and a desire to enrich the lives of the less fortunate by creating educational opportunities. At this point in communications, another crucial cog in this wheel came on board – Kate Miller, from Destination Dreaming. Kate and Cam met through their common interest in education and experiential learning via their respective educational endeavours. A few crosscountry telephone conversations later, they recognised a shared passion for service-based education. Both were touched by Joseph’s vision, two tickets 28
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Lodging on bunks in Joseph’s small mud brick home at the rear of the existing school dwelling was an experience that cemented this unlikely trio’s strong bond. Their short time together certainly didn’t mean a lack of adventure. Joined by Joseph’s partner Jemima, the team paddled Lake Victoria on a local fishing boat, took many strolls through the local village, visited Mama Paulina’s grave and enjoyed plenty of Tilapia (local fish), with Cam and Kate becoming the proud owners of their very own chicken, ‘Atieno’! (Which means ‘Born at Night’) Despite their visit falling in the school holiday period, a very special couple of days were shared with the school community. Parents, students and teachers all joined together to meet Cam and Kate, share their vision for the school and appreciation of the partnership commitments. Cam presented the school with its own sign and school emblem on the Saturday and the community reaction to this was amazing. Cam Allen commented:
“The children of the school were extremely inquisitive, fascinated that these two ‘Muzungu’s’ (White people) were actually in their school and spending time with them. The parents were very wary as to why we were there, but within a short time they knew we were there to ‘assist’ in the school’s development, with the ultimate goal of assisting in the education of their children and family”. The morning concluded with an emotional stone laying ceremony to mark the collective intent to construct the second phase of classrooms allowing classes to run from Grades 4 to 7. This was a very moving experience as the entire school community trekked up to the boundaries of the school property, plucking stones from the hillside and piling them up in a mound as a symbol of unity and strength. At that time, all participants knew a seed had been planted and these ‘Muzungu’s’ were going to come back to help in some capacity. Kate and Cam left Nairobi to begin the next stage of the journey – to introduce the ‘Help to Hope’ Quest in Western Australia: a service learning and fundraising programme aimed at raising funds to extend the school beyond class 3. This will culminate in a 12-day service learning experience for the team in the January 2013 holidays. The ‘Help to Hope’ Quest is designed to provide a life-changing opportunity for the ‘Help to Hope’ team (WA Educators willing to take part in a fundraising programme within the second half of the 2012 school year), as well as the opportunity for Australian schools and communities to support a meaningful, grassroots education project, seeing
first-hand the value of hard work and commitment, and the profound effect it will have on an underprivileged, overseas community. The community at Mukuro has experienced fleeting acts of generosity from individuals throughout many regions of the world over the last 2-3 years, which has helped them maintain a sense of hope. The ‘Help to Hope’ Quest team are now determined to create a programme which will not only have an immediate effect on their lives, but put structures in place which can give them the gift of ‘sustainability’ in the not-toodistant future. The ‘Help to Hope’ (H2H) team are driven by a shared belief in the universal right to quality education, regardless of economic status. In the short term, they need to establish a new building for the school, electricity, educational resources and classroom refurbishments (Including handmade furniture), so the children returning in 2013 – including those students who are completing Class 3 – will have a suitable and functional space to continue their education. This is the short term priority. Fundraising structures within many WA schools are put in place so ‘in-house’
fundraising is focused on more localised charities. While this is a wonderful initiative, the School of Hope in Mukuro, Kenya does not have the benefit of that type of support and relies purely on international intervention. Therein lies the challenge of raising funds for the Mama Paulina School of Hope, a challenge we know West Australian schools will rise to. “SCRIBE would love to involve as many WA Schools as possible in the development of The Mama Paulina School of Hope. One of our priorities is to directly involve those willing to assist in raising funds for the school’s growth and reward their efforts by having direct contact with the community. Through video, photographs, student letters and a monthly newsletter, those Western Australians willing to assist will see where their money is going and have the opportunity to be part of the process.
If your school or business can assist in fundraising for the Mama Paulina School of Hope, contact us by emailing scribe@scribemagazine.com.au for your fundraising programme starter kit! The collaboration and benefit emenating from your involvement in this cause will be profoundly rewarding for your staff, students and school community. If you would like Cam Allen – Programme Coordinator to come and speak to your school to get you started, please email him; scribe@ scribemagazine.com.au or phone 08 9330 5374.
THE SCRIBE TEAM Photography: Cam Allen, Kate Miller, Joseph Oloo
One of our long term goal to orgsanise a variety of groups to participate in fundraising programmes whilst working towards longer visits to the school. The ‘Help to Hope’ Quest in January 2013 is a foundation trip in which we will be able to establish follow up programmes.” said Cam Allen, Director of SCRIBE Magazine.
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Bigger Smiles… A Better Service WHAT MAKES YOUR SCHOOL UNIQUE? WHAT DOES YOUR SCHOOL HAVE TO OFFER WHICH SETS YOU APART FROM OTHER SCHOOLS? IS YOUR SCHOOL MEMORABLE FOR THE RIGHT REASONS? IF THESE QUESTIONS HAVE LEFT YOU WONDERING HOW YOU COMMUNICATE YOUR SCHOOL’S UNIQUENESS TO PARENTS OF YOUR CURRENT AND PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS, MSP PHOTOGRAPHY MIGHT BE ABLE TO HELP YOU! SCRIBE MAGAZINE CAUGHT UP WITH THEM RECENTLY... Tell us a little bit about the MSP Process... After 21 years in business our workflow procedures haven’t happened by chance. We have listened to our customers to ensure the school’s photo day is as orderly and successful as possible. School photos are irreplaceable memories for your students, so quality prints are essential. But as every school knows, service is just as important. From the lead up to your photo day through to the return of your photographs, you will be provided with a dedicated MSP team member who will manage your photo day and ensure any requests or requirements you may have are met. All enquiries from
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parents are met by our team, on and after photo day so the school workflow can remain uninterrupted, and the photo day itself, – hassle free. As school specialists, what types of additional services and products can you offer WA schools? Things are done differently at MSP Photography. We listen to what our customers want and we deliver new ideas. We appreciate your needs do change over time and this energises us to provide you with new solutions and innovative products. MSP offers much more that just a drama-free photo day. The schools we work with have access to a wide range
of promotional products designed especially for schools. From Calendars and flyers through to banners and ID Cards, build the profile of your school through our diverse products and fundraise at the same time, we feel these types of services really do benefit schools. Only MSP Photography staff handles your images. All orders placed with us are processed entirely in-house, from image set up through to the final dispatch of your products. We also ensure every staff member has a ‘Working with Children’ check, so you can be assured we have teachers’ and students’ best interest at heart.
Tell us about your ‘School Recipe’ for perfect school photography... MSP knows it takes the right mix of ingredients and methods to ensure the perfect photo day. Our FULL ‘Recipe to success’ is on Page 35 but can be achieved very easily by all schools. With some simple ingredients such as flexibility, innovation, skill, combining them correctly, you will always be guaranteed an excellent finished product your school will be proud of! Customer service and satisfaction seems to be one of MSP’s greatest priorities… what are you doing differently to achieve this for your clients? Service AND Satisfaction are our top priorities. MSP pride itself on being professional, innovative and above all,
supportive to our clients. We believe ‘our photographs are woven into the fabric of your students lives’, we like to think our personal approach contributes to that affirmation. This, combined with our specialised imaging laboratory, MSP is able to produce superior results every time, in fact, we even offer a money back guarantee if parents are unhappy with their children’s photo for any reason. We encourage teachers and parents to make contact with us and we will be more than happy to answer any questions or accommodate requests where possible. MSP is about communication and satisfaction.
We endeavour to do things differently at MSP AND above all…we listen. MSP Photography WA PO Box 2188 Warwick WA 6024 PH: 08 9342 3465 FAX: 08 6267 5115 EMAIL: eli.greatley@msp.com.au
MSP appreciates and encourages valuable customer feedback.
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Education is the key THE LIFE OF A UNIVERSITY STUDENT IN KENYA IS NEVER AN EASY ONE. MARVIN OMONDI FROM NAIROBI SHARES WITH SCRIBE SOME OF THE DAILY CHALLENGES STUDENTS IN A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY FACE IN TRYING TO ACHIEVE TERTIARY EDUCATION TO BETTER THEIR FUTURE...
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ducation is the key to success in life. This fact has been proven beyond doubt all over the world; however, it can also be argued that success in life does not solely depend on how educated one is! Africa, although blessed with wonderful scenery, some of the finest brains in history and not forgetting the massive mineral deposits, continues to struggle with enormous challenges on a daily basis. While education is a right, for many on this continent, education is only for those with power. There is potential in many countries that can propel them to greater heights, but due to ignorance and poor leadership, we in Africa, are still immersed in many injustices; mainly poverty and insecurity. Despite the fact, formal education is fast gathering momentum throughout the continent, informal education still remains a preferred priority among many communities.
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Nairobi is the capital city of my country, Kenya, which lies on the East side of Africa. Kenya has a population of just over forty million and Nairobi alone has a population of four million. This is the result of rural-urban migration – with education and job hunting being a major influence in the move. There are seven public universities in the country, twenty private ones, numerous Colleges, Polytechnics and Technical institutes. These educational institutes are spread all over the country; however, the majority is in Nairobi or its proximity. The education system in Kenya is 8-4-4, meaning one attends Primary school for eight years, Secondary school for four years and the remaining four years are for higher learning. The latter usually depends on what course is pursued on campus as some courses may take up to six years to complete. Completing the 8-4-4 cycle successfully is no mean feat for any student given the
ups and downs we go through. School is never comfortable or fun for many of us. Only the resilient students make it to the very end, while many drop out and opt for poorer choices in life which cause them even more misery. Life in the university is not easy; it requires a lot of determination and dedication just to survive. Most students reside in hostels in and around the campus. However, not all of us are fortunate enough to secure accommodation in these hostels. Therefore, we are left with no choice but to reside far from the university in affordable accommodation. I myself am an example of this, studying in one of the public universities (Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology). Nairobi is an urban settlement with numerous residential estates and people from all walks of life. I live in the Eastern part of the City where there are buses – which we commonly refer to as ‘matatu’ – taxis and train services ferrying residents
a continual uphill struggle for many students. On a more positive note, what I like about meeting and studying with different people is making new friends and becoming more flexible in life. I believe life is to be experienced and you can never keep to yourself all the time, therefore engaging with others adds to your life experience, making it a much more interesting journey.
in and out of the city centre. It can be quite challenging as a student commuting to and from campus. To make it to class on time, I have to wake up very early so as not to be caught in the morning traffic jams. I do not always manage to beat this traffic and sometimes spend hours in the nagging jams even though I woke up early! This causes me to miss some lectures or arrive to class halfway through. During the rainy season things turn from bad to worse. Rain in this part of the country is always a blessing in disguise. Aside from getting wet and walking through the flooded roads, it’s usually hard to catch a ‘matatu’ to or from school. Fares are normally hiked to three times their normal cost and the confusion on the roads makes matters worse as there are chaotic traffic snarls on almost all roads, leaving motorists with a massive headache! At the university itself there are still more challenges to face. Kenya is a country that is comprising of citizens from forty two tribes, yet we have to harmoniously co-exist as one people. Finding peace tends to be more like chasing shadows in the dark, yet, somehow we still manage to remain united as a country. On campus meetings and interacting with different people and different personalities is
Tribalism is always rife at the university. Those in leadership positions always put their tribesmen first, leaving the supposedly less important tribes on the sidelines. Occasionally students also suffer prejudice, finding access to some facilities on campus difficult. Furthermore, the fact that there are not enough facilities to cater for the large student population e.g. 15,000 students at my university is yet another obstacle. Fee payment is an additional challenge Kenyan students must face, as no student is allowed to attend classes or sit exams without clearing their fees arrears. Not everyone comes from well-to-do families and orphan students feel the pinch the most. In public universities there are regular and parallel students. The government pays 60% of the fee for regular students while parallel students pay the whole amount from their own pockets. Regular students are those who have attained a certain high grade at the end of their secondary education. Life without money on campus is very difficult. As a student there are numerous needs, from school projects, to food, clothing and other unexpected expenses. It is always a relief to have a genuine and reliable source of income. Unfortunately, the students who lack honest financial support are tempted to seek money via robbery and prostitution – crimes that
cannot be condoned. These students continually live their lives on the line, with only a few managing to successfully complete their courses. Alcoholism and drug addiction are other major detractors that cause students to lose focus on their academic bearing. Peer pressure and influence are to blame for this. Brilliant brains and able citizens have been lost as a result – defying logic why one would struggle so hard to get to university, only to blow the opportunity away before enjoying the fruits of their labour. It is true students need to enjoy their youth, but they also need to proceed with caution and remain disciplined. This way, success will always be knocking at their door. Being a university student in this part of the world is quite an amazing feat given the tribulations we go through, still to make it at the end of the day. After all, many have been there before and they’ve made it; so why not me?! Indeed a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. It only takes endurance for success to be achieved. Education is the key; therefore, it should be affordable to all. We are the makers of our own destiny and as Sir Winston Churchill once said, “Success is moving from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm”. It is that enthusiasm that I would encourage students to have in all that they do in life.
MARVIN OMONDI Photography: Cam Allen
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Higher Degrees of character
FOR SOME UNIVERSITY STUDENTS, TIME SPENT AT COMMUNITY SERVICE IS ACTUALLY A BREAK – A WAY TO GET AWAY FROM THE SCHOOL AND TO BREAK FROM THE “STUDY BUBBLE”. AT THE SAME TIME, OTHERS FEEL IT ENRICHES THEIR CHARACTER AND BENEFITS STUDIES AS WELL AS EMPLOYABILITY.
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t Curtin University many students find opportunities to fulfil their personal need for providing a benefit to the community either independently, through their chosen course curriculum, or by joining the student-run Curtin Volunteers (CV!) organisation. While community service differs to work experience or required practical placement, it can be seen as one and the same. In some study streams, work experience or practical placement on a volunteer basis is part of the required course work. For example, we find this
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at the Curtin Business School, in studies towards becoming a teacher and at the Faculty of Health Sciences. Equally, students can volunteer for community service independently from any course requirements. But in all cases, in addition to personal fulfilment, volunteering can provide students with many skills required for employment (team work, communication skills, confidence etc). The common thread between the differing perspectives on community service is that the service is of benefit to others. It’s also agreed that volunteering
for community service has an element of altruism attached to it, which is a purpose beyond personal gain and benefit; an unselfish concern for the welfare of others. But at university, there is usually a mutual benefit involved. Students – as well as staff – report of fulfilment as much as they do of the fun it brings to the university learning experience and skill building which contributes to the overall employment opportunities for graduates. Community service has multiple meanings and benefits to people, but
“We have strong partnerships with the host sites and our country coordinators (for each site) work closely with the site’s key stakeholders to identify needs of the local communities. This ensures there are always benefits to the host communities” said Dr B-K Tan, Go Global Programme Director. it certainly provides something for everyone wishing to get more than just a piece of paper at the completion of their university studies. Whether it’s volunteering as a balloon sculptor at country horse races, tutoring refugees, assisting the elderly or disabled, or project leadership for a large community programme, participants from many walks of life will vouch for the experience in community service volunteering as the most exciting, skill-developing and life-changing opportunities of their time. One approach is for students to become involved through courserequired practical experience. In line with this, Curtin’s Faculty of Health Sciences provides a little more structure with its Go Global programme, which is a service-learning fieldwork programme. Go Global is an international and interprofessional clinical placement that students can elect to do as one of their compulsory placements for their course.
Dr B-K Tan said, “Go Global offers Curtin University Health Sciences’ students a unique opportunity enables participants to develop a global perspective of healthcare and understand the different health seeking behaviours and health beliefs of different cultures.” In 2012 Go Global offers students clinical placements in the host countries of India, China, Cambodia, Philippines, Ukraine and Malaysia. “Australia is a multicultural society and Go Global is a part of the Health Sciences’ curriculum helping to develop our graduates’ cultural competencies and a global perspective of health at the same time as contributing towards the Curtin’s triple-i curriculum which aims to develop graduate attributes will enhance graduate employability,” said Dr B-K Tan. On graduation, Kristy Tomlinson worked in WA as a speech pathologist in the disability field before moving into a coordinator role at Challis Early Childhood Education Centre, which
provides free therapy and education services to children and families in the Armadale area. She credits her passion and enthusiasm for this field to her Go Global experience in India. “Go Global was an amazing learning experience for me and there is no doubt what I gained at Anandaniketan (the orphanage/Go Global host site in India) influenced the job I went to in the disability field and my choice to continue with community service,” said Kristy Tomlinson. “I knew from that point that I wanted to continue advocating for individuals with disabilities, particularly those living
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With over 40 volunteering programs, CV! provides a range of opportunities in areas from the Remote and Indigenous programmes (which send students out to communities in Laverton, Leonora and Wiluna) through to Health, CrossCultural, On Campus, Environment and Youth programmes. As well, students are able to participate in the largest annual CV! project, “John Curtin Weekend”, a programme that sends groups of students to work with communities across Western Australia during September and October each year assisting with small projects in towns in rural and regional WA. In 2011, John Curtin Weekend provided over 500 volunteers with the chance to work alongside community members at 35 regional and 3 metropolitan sites where projects ranged
in rural locations where services are often scarce.” In fact, the Go Global programme sparked Kristy’s interest to continue in community service on an individual level, to assist in servicing others in need, and since 2010 she has worked with Perthbased charity Equal Health providing health services to rural and remote communities in India and East Timor. She is currently Vice Chairperson and will move into the position of Chairperson in 2012. You don’t need to leave Australian shores to be a valuable participant in community service. Although some students at Curtin pursue community service individually or as part of course work, one of the easiest ways to get involved with volunteering is to join Curtin Volunteers (CV!). As Australia’s first and largest studentrun volunteering organisation, CV! has 36
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provided volunteering opportunities since 1994. The majority of CV!’s 1000plus volunteers who take part in various programmes every year are drawn from the Curtin University student body. CV! has particularly strong links with the local Bentley community but many programmes take place across the wider Perth community including several school and health association programs. “All of CV!’s metropolitan programmes target a specific need or deficiency in the community, and work towards changing this for the better. These can range from assisting mothers with young children to take a break, packing food for the less-well off in society, working with people with disabilities to boost their interactions with the communities they live in and improving the health of local river catchment systems,” said Carly Thompson, Vice President of the CV! organisation.
from planting out Primary School garden beds to running stalls at town races. In addition to this, CV! also coordinates one-off projects and trips to special events or locations to cater for differing levels of volunteering availability and community requirements. These programmes and projects are continually being revisited and refined as changing circumstances redefine community need. Carly Thompson said CV! strives to offer unique ways for students to develop themselves and their skills by ensuring opportunities are mutually beneficial: “That is, both the community and the individual grow and benefit through the activity.” “It’s true; many students decide to join CV! for the social aspect, because it really is so much fun and a great way to meet new people,” said Carly. “But there is strong research to support students who
make friends and have fun at university are more likely to successfully complete their degree and get higher grades.” Beyond the academic benefits however, volunteering gives students the opportunity to develop and demonstrate a whole range of employment focused skills, as well as an enriched overall learning experience. Karen Kerlin has lectured in public relations (PR) units at Curtin Business School, School of Marketing, for more than 15 years and she affirms the value of community service activities as an opportunity for students to apply and see the results of what they are learning at university. “My PR units involve real-life clients who need assistance in gaining media coverage or having some basic PR materials developed. I generally try to offer that ‘client’ opportunity to new not-for-profit groups who are trying to achieve positive results for sub-groups of the wider community,” explained Karen Kerlin. “If we are teaching the purpose and skills needed to run events, and a student volunteers to help run a community
event, it enriches the overall learning experience.” However, Karen also is quick to remark it is important for people to experience the value of giving to others but not for monetary reasons. “Community service volunteering generally helps community groups with specific disadvantages – poor English, limited food or clothing, animals at risk etc. By learning this throughout life, it helps create a person’s character,” Karen said. In fact, results from CV!’s last survey (2010) show the majority of volunteers report a significant development in their communication skills, confidence, sense of belonging to a community, recognition of diversity, and team work skills. According to Gary Hepworth, Associate Director, Community Life, from Curtin’s perspective the community benefits are enormous.
“Many students want to do more than their academic curriculum allows and volunteering is a fantastic way to develop skills and abilities that are increasingly being valued by employers and the community,” said Gary Hepworth. Aaron Mohann, former CV! President (2010) as well as current CV! Student Development Officer believes one of the root causes of many of the issues in society today is the lack of connectedness and empathy we feel for one another. “Volunteering in community service works to address this on both the micro and the macro level. Besides that, it has taught me numerous skills and is an amazing amount of fun to boot!” he said. “If you leave university with only a piece of paper, you’ve missed great opportunities.”
LYDIA GALLANT
“The community involvement is an important part of the university experience for many students, allowing them to connect with other students and engage with the University outside of the classroom.
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2. All enquiries from parents before, on and even after photo day, are handled by an MSP Photography staff member so that your workflow stays uninterrupted. 3. Through listening to our customers we have perfected our photo day procedures and provide an efficient and orderly process that is hassle free to you. 4. All orders placed with MSP Photography are processed entirely in-house, from image set up through to the final dispatch of your products. All staff members are screened with ‘working with children’ checks. Be assured, we have your students’ best interest at heart. 5. We deliver outstanding results every time, in fact we even offer a money back guarantee if parents are unhappy with their children’s photo for any reason.
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could happen to anyone... at anytime....
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ST PATRICK’S CELEBRATES 40 YEARS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE A SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY EVENT WAS HELD ON TUESDAY 29 MAY AT ST PATRICK’S BASILICA AND THE FILM AND TELEVISION INSTITUTE (FTI) IN FREMANTLE, AS ST PAT’S PAST MET WITH IT’S PRESENT. GUESTS WERE WELCOMED INTO THE ST PATRICK’S BASILICA PRIOR TO A COCKTAIL RECEPTION AND DVD DOCUMENTARY SCREENING AT FTI....
The DVD also reveals the personal and inspiring stories of several of St Patrick’s clients through their experiences and challenges. A moving photo exhibition of client portraits and observations completed during the ‘Photo Freo’ festival by Queensland visual artist Kelly McIlvenny, was also displayed at FTI for the event. The photo exhibition was then opened to the public until the end of June. Performances on the evening included those from the Basilica’s Director of Music, Domenic Perisinotto, ARIA and WAMI multi-award winning musicians Angus Diggs (St Pat’s employee); Gavin Shoesmith and Damien Denyer. St Patrick’s Starlight Hotel Choir also performed its signature song ‘Everybody’s Got Today’. According to Chief Executive Officer of St Patrick’s Community Support Centre, Mr Steve McDermott, 2012 is
Dave Johnson, Starlight Hotel Choir Director welcomes WA Governor, Malcolm McCusker to the St Patrick’s DVD screening.
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his year St Patrick’s Community Support Centre in Fremantle, celebrates 40 years of helping those in need and to commemorate this significant milestone, launched it’s inaugural DVD documentary. Entitled ‘Everybody’s Got Today’ after the uplifting song of hope written by the members of St Patrick’s Starlight Hotel Choir, the event and short DVD documentary aimed to increase awareness and break the stereotypes surrounding homelessness, calling for a whole of community response to the issue. The short documentary is the initiative of one of Western Australia’s leading philanthropists and Executive Chairman of Atlas Iron, Mr David Flanagan and was produced by local filmmaker Ross Tinney of RT Films. Reflecting a four-decade journey from its humble beginnings as a soup kitchen in 1972 at the St Patrick’s Basilica, through to its modern day operations as a leading not-for-profit organisation servicing the entire Fremantle and South West Metropolitan area, the documentary highlights the increasing need for help across the local and wider community.
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a significant milestone and provides a unique opportunity to increase awareness of homelessness in the community and acknowledge the many individuals and groups who are working to make a positive difference: “Homelessness could happen to anyone at any time. It has no boundaries and doesn’t discriminate between age, culture, religion or social standing. So often we see someone in need or struggling and, without realising it, we turn away, step over the person, or simply walk in the other direction. Homelessness doesn’t have a voice and needs a whole community approach. We can no longer rely on a uni-dimensional response and need to work together to solve an issue that is unfortunately increasing at a rapid rate.” “We are extremely proud to have consistently helped those in need for the past 40 years and would like to thank everyone who has helped us to help others. “Our new DVD documentary is the first time we have told our story through film and we sincerely thank Atlas Iron and RT Films for making this happen. We
encourage everyone to see it and to get involved to help in addressing this urgent issue in our society.” Joining to support the event on the night were business and community leaders, health professionals, arts and tourism organisations, major sponsors and Fremantle identities.
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LISA GARSIDE Photography: Cam Allen
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DESTINATION DREAMING IS A NON-PROFIT, EDUCATION ORGANISATION WORKING WITH SCHOOLS TO CREATE SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS, TEACHING YOUNG PEOPLE ABOUT GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP, SELF-AWARENESS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE.
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ate Miller from Destination Dreaming is passionate about using service learning to engage young people and prepare them to thrive in a global community. As educators, we strive to prepare students not just for their academic lives, but to deliver real experiences about life itself. In today’s resultsdriven world, it is important we provide empowering experiences which develop students as leaders who display empathy, resilience and imagination. We need to engage students with more than just words on a page and inspire them beyond ‘liking’ a social action group on Facebook. To develop inspiration and deep understanding, we also need students to feel the joy of meaningful contribution, to build new skill sets, to grow in understanding through human connection and in the realisation of our common humanity.
SERVICE LEARNING = EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING Service learning is grounded in the concept of experiential learning, offering students the opportunity to apply knowledge gained in the classroom through service to and engagement with others. Service learning programmes extend community service through integration in curriculum and the recognition of defined learning achievements. It is an approach challenging students both personally and academically, leading to life-changing personal growth and multifaceted understanding. Today’s students look to be challenged, inspired and taught in a relevant and practical way. Facilitating their learning through meaningful experiences recognises this, rather than a concept of education in which ‘students are treated like empty jars that need to be filled with knowledge’ given by their teacher (McCarthy - 2002).
Social education curriculum provides the foundation for theory and reflection, such that the experience and service is grounded in understanding which is then enhanced through a link between the classroom and the real world; building upon their classroom knowledge in a service-based placement leads to a new range of real life encounters, which are brought back into the classroom for reflection.
LIFTING SOCIAL EDUCATION OFF THE PAGE Ideally, service learning is implemented as an integrated approach to achieving academic outcomes in subjects such as Culture and Systems, and Resources and Power where drawing on direct experience out of school is both inspirational and effective. There is nothing quite like getting out of the classroom and actually living the experience. Destination Dreaming, in partnership with schools, also helps prepare young people for adulthood by gaining skills in decision-making and the process of accepting responsibility for one’s decisions.
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ENGAGING STUDENTS THROUGH SERVICE LEARNING
the relevance of Mathematics skills in practice.
Incorporating service learning into the curriculum, adopts an approach that can achieve significant outcomes for all students and the local community. It is extremely valuable for those students for whom traditional classroom learning is a challenge, or for motivating students who have become disengaged. It provides an opportunity for all students to experience success and provides a relevant context in which students can transfer academic concepts to real life environments.
IMPROVING ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
Through thoughtfully facilitated activities, students are likely to experience a less complicated relationship between reward and effort: if they work hard to cart rocks to a building site, or spend a series of sessions conversing patiently in English with a newly settled refugee, their objective will eventually be realised. They are rewarded for their hard work and participation, and so often this leads to a blossoming that is transferable upon their return to the classroom. Another benefit of service learning is enhanced opportunities for engagement by delivering practical, relevant skills. With increasing time pressures, we often find ourselves doing things ‘backwards’. Instead of starting with something worth doing, we start with the learning outcomes and identify methods by which to teach it. Although a student may appear unmotivated by a learning area, we find it is often a lack of motivation to learn via a traditional approach, rather than disinterest in the topic per se. For example, Peter, a Year 11 student, was disinterested in Mathematics class, until he laboured beside local carpenters on a project in Timor Leste and experienced
Research has shown that improved academic achievement results from carefully designed service learning integrated within the curriculum. In Term Two, Destination Dreaming designed a programme connecting a school with a local asylum seeker resource centre. Students will be involved in providing language tutoring, in the context of exploring the experience of diverse communities, the meanings of culture and encountering ethnicity. Without doubt, the student tutor will learn as much, if not more than the person being tutored. Experiential learning of this kind often leads to greater student achievement in the content area, as the knowledge and skill areas are integrated. The academic achievement is a result of the enhanced opportunity for practical exploration, discussion and engagement in the process of striving for understanding.
SERVICE LEARNING, SOCIAL INQUIRY AND ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP Through a strong foundation of community engagement, service learning allows a deep exploration of Active Citizenship. For example, Destination Dreaming recently partnered a Tasmanian school with a remote school in Timor Leste. In the classroom, students learn about the history and culture of Timor, concepts of ethical partnerships and the universality of human rights. There is then an opportunity for students and staff to visit their partner community and
engage in a collaborative project. Here students gain a practical understanding of the varying dynamic between the Australian and Timor Leste governments by exploring the CRAV museum. They further develop their understanding of contemporary issues by hearing from local young people who have lost entire families in their struggle for independence. Through regular reflection on their time spent within a community of diverse family contexts, intricate historical background and access to human rights, students generate questions and explore perspectives. They engage with one another as they process complex information and real-time challenges, acknowledge everyone’s perspective and discuss concepts of development as well as our responsibilities as global citizens. Each day, as students engage with their peers in the delivery of the project, they inquire and reflect on the experiences of their new friends in Timor, the response of global actions and the potential for social action. Character development occurs as a result of the practical need to take responsibility, to care for one another, to think creatively, to identify the most effective procedures and to constructively communicate in a cross-cultural context. Through their service learning, many students discover career paths they would otherwise be unaware of. Often this translates into more varied or ambitious job aspirations and an increased motivation for academic achievement. Last year Destination Dreaming received a phone call from Narelle, a student who joined them on an intercultural learning programme in Fiji in 2006. Prior to the programme, she had been unsure if she would finish Year 12 and of her career aspirations. During their time in Fiji, Narelle met nurses working at the rural village her Secondary School is partnered with. Narelle was calling to say this experience was a turning point for her, she had gone on to complete Year 12 and had just graduated from an undergraduate degree in community health.
ORGANISING SERVICE LEARNING AND IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES FOR APPLICATION Service learning is built upon the foundation of a community or organisational partnership. Considerable time and resources are required to create constructive partnerships. Destination Dreaming works with schools to create sustainable partnerships ensuring positive outcomes for both communities. It is critical a partnership is founded upon
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mutual respect and two-way learning. We ensure both partnership objectives and opportunities for equal contribution are identified. With careful planning, this creates a fantastic opportunity to help students see beyond narrow views about rich and poor. To recognise ‘rich in dollars’ doesn’t necessarily equate to ‘rich in life’ and a partner who may lack financial resources has equally rich lessons to offer. The value in a partnership is in the human contact, discussions between peers and cultural exchange, rather than the provision of monetary gifts. The service project itself should be collaborative, sustainable and build capacity in both communities. When designing a programme involving the delivery of a community development project, we develop a clear project plan with each school’s partner community. This is critical; to always ensure the project is based on the needs of the local community – not the wishes or capacity of the visiting student group. The service learning environment is unique – it’s about education of the heart as well as the mind. It provides an opportunity to challenge one’s selfcentredness and materialism, to work together to arrive as one at a destination, to cooperate in lightening the load and
discover one’s personal best is so much more than previously believed. “I hope to meet many of you out there exploring our global community, leading your students to discover, be challenged, celebrate their similarities and their differences, growing amidst experiences transforming education into a journey about life itself.”
KATE MILLER Photography: Destination Dreaming
For further information about service learning or to discuss a suitable
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“Inspire, Connect, Celebrate...”
WINNER SCRIBE PHOTO COMPETITION CONGRATULATIONS to Year 12 student Caitlin Schokker from Lynwood Senior High School who won first prize in the SCRIBE “Inspire, Connect, Celebrate” Photography Competition. The competiton was first featured in Issue 2 at the commencement of 2012 and schools were sent posters to promote amongst the staff and students! Caitlin’s photo epitomises cultures connecting with a shared vision of the world, invoking inspiration through a united effort to support each other and to celebrate all that is offered to us in our lives! BELOW: Caitlin Schokker is presented with a $3000 voucher to Camera Electronic by SCRIBE Director, Cam Allen.
lts es resu nnounc a n igh e H ll r A Senio r Cam nwood y Directo L E t a IB . s R SC ne 4s winner he iPho of the e’ on t to two im t e c a via ‘F School
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Runner-Up
SCRIBE PHOTO COMPETITION CONGRATULATIONS to Year 12 student Tabitha Wong from Lynwood Senior High School Runner-Up in the SCRIBE “Inspire, Connect, Celebrate” Photography Competition.
Runner-Up
LEFT: SCRIBE Director Cam Allen presenting a $500 Camera Electronic voucher to Tabitha in July.
Runner-Up Year 11 student Darrien Nightingale from Geraldton Senior College receives her prize of $500. Pictured with SCRIBE Director Cam Allen, Photography teacher Stephanie Alcock and Principal, Garry Simmons.
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Some of our favourites...
Darrien Nightingale (Year 11) Geraldton Senior College
Lucinda Maxwell Kalamunda Senior High School
Alicia Spurr – Nagle Catholic College
Tabitha Wong – Lynwood Senior High School
Haley Ranks (Year 12) – Geraldton Senior College
Timothy Mironenko – Atwell College
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Emmeline Davis (Year 8) Murdoch College
Australian Curriculum Implementation Professional Development Workshops Education Research Solutions is now providing professional development workshops to help teachers make the transition to the Australian Curriculum. WHAT YOU GET OUT OF IT‌
This programme has saved me so much time.
The workshops cover everything you need to know about the Australian Curriculum including: Understanding the curriculum so you can be
confident that you are meeting the requirements. Planning, programming and assessing for the
Australian Curriculum.
Integration of ICT for planning, teaching and learning.
Plus you get heaps of exemplar programmes, lesson plans and other planning resources. HOW YOU ACCESS IT‌ We provide flexible course options to suit schools and groups of schools across all levels and subject areas:
Full-day, half-day and after school workshops.
Rotating workshops throughout the day.
Early years, Foundation and Primary workshops.
Subject-specific workshops for Secondary.
Education Research Solutions has been providing Australian teachers with curriculum and planning resources for over 11 years.
AUSTRALIA
Education Research Solutions 102 Bermuda Drive, Ballajura, WA 6066 T +61 (8) 9249 2402 E contactus@educationresearch.com.au W www.educationresearch.com.au
For more information call us on:
(08) 9249 2402 Or email: contactus@educationresearch.com.au
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Bridging the
Curriculum Gap
THE ROLLOUT OF THE AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM HAS HIGHLIGHTED A CRUCIAL GAP IN THE PROVISION OF CURRICULUM RESOURCES IN WA. THIS GAP HAS DEVELOPED AS THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (DET) HAS DISMANTLED ITS CURRICULUM BRANCH AND AS A RESULT, THE BURDEN OF RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT IS NOW PLACED SQUARELY ON SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS. FORTUNATELY, NEW AND SURPRISING AGENCIES HAVE EVOLVED TO HELP BRIDGE THE CURRICULUM GAP INCLUDING STATEWIDE INITIATIVES, NATIONAL BODIES AND EVEN THE TEACHERS’ UNION.
I
n the 1980’s the DET’s Curriculum Branch was a bustling team of writers and advisory teachers. Since then, the pruning of DET budgets has led to the abolition of the curriculum branches as over 100 personnel were returned to classrooms. But the dissolution of the curriculum branch was not just about funding. It was also the result of a fundamental shift in the approach to education. Rather than imposing a top-down approach, responsibility 48
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was devolved to schools and teachers. This new direction acknowledged the increased professionalism amongst teachers who are now well equipped to make their own curriculum decisions. In addition, a ‘grassroots’ approach has meant teachers can respond quickly and creatively to the different needs of individual classrooms. However, the provision of professional support for teachers is emerging as a
potential industrial issue as the Australian Curriculum threatens to dramatically increase the workload of teachers. To help moderate the transition without imposing the old top-down approach, the DET has created 62 Teacher Development Schools. These specialised schools provide teachers with professional learning which help them to understand and implement the Australian Curriculum as well as provide
support for whole of school approaches to literacy and numeracy. The DET has also funded the creation of up to 75 school networks in eight regions in WA. The networks structure facilitates sharing among networks of up to 20 schools and thereby distributes the task of resource development across schools in a similar geographic region. The federal government has also stepped in to help teachers with resource development through the national body, Education Services Australia (ESA). One of the roles of ESA is to mobilise teaching resources from around Australia by collecting the resources into a single database. Many of these resources are already freely available to teachers but are underutilised either because they are not publicised or it is not clear how they integrate into different state curricula. It is hoped that by storing the resources centrally, teachers will become more aware of the wealth of resources being produced by the individual states and therefore the resources will become more widespread. Perhaps the most surprising contender to weigh in on the curriculum conversation has been the State School Teachers’ Union of WA (SSTUWA). The SSTUWA has formed an innovative partnership with a local Western Australian company, Education Research Solutions. In doing so, the SSTUWA has effectively attached a curriculum arm to its organisation. This means the SSTUWA is now able to provide members with
Australian Curriculum resources and professional development through their Teachers’ Online Planning System (TOPS). Traditionally teachers’ unions have focused solely on industrial issues. However, the provision of professional support for teachers is emerging as a potential industrial issue as the Australian Curriculum threatens to dramatically increase the workload of teachers. In particular, the SSTUWA has upped the ante by providing its members with high-quality PD focused on the Australian Curriculum and developing widespread competencies for its TOPS software. The nature of this PD has also evolved to reflect the changes in the education system as a whole. Rather than the traditional topdown approach, the current PD model takes a horizontal approach where teachers are provided with fundamental competencies. The idea being teachers are empowered to take responsibility for their own professional growth and assist their peers. In addition, more PD is being made available using the ‘just in time’ model where PD is provided as it becomes relevant – as opposed to the ‘just in case’ model where PD is provided before the need arises. More targeted PD is also accessible through other professional organisations, which also provide the conferences and curriculum resources.
post shared resources. Private enterprise and other community groups have also expanded to fill part of the void left by the DET curriculum branch. So while the Australian Curriculum has exposed a gap in the provision of curriculum resources, it has also inspired more innovative and collaborative approaches to resource development. As a result, we are seeing new and sometimes unorthodox members of the educational community come together to help bridge the curriculum gap.
WARRICK CLARKE Photography: Solace Design
In addition, teachers are also exploring other ways they can work collaboratively on a much broader scale through forums, mailing lists and websites where they can
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for Aboriginal Education goes BALGA SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL’S INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO ABORIGINAL EDUCATION IS BEING SHOWCASED NATIONALLY. THE SCHOOL IS ONE OF JUST SIX ABORIGINAL INNOVATION SCHOOLS IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA. THE INITIATIVE WAS SET UP BY THE STATE GOVERNMENT TO EMPOWER A SMALL NUMBER OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS TO DEVELOP INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS TO ADDRESS IDENTIFIED LOCAL NEEDS IN THE EDUCATION OF ABORIGINAL STUDENTS
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he Aboriginal Innovation Schools initiative is being showcased at a national forum in Sydney on 22 August 2012. Education Ministers and Heads of Departments of Education across Australia will be see the schools in action and learn about their achievements and challenges. There will also be a link available at the forum to all Australian schools via a secure browser-based interface. “We are really excited about being able to share our work so we can help shape schools and teaching and learning programmes to benefit Aboriginal students,” said Geoff Harris, Principal of Balga SHS.
“The forum has been designed to encourage maximum participation by and engagement of those attending.” Balga Senior High School is in the Marketplace segment where a pre-recorded video will be shown highlighting its innovative practices and the connection to families and communities. “Our range of programmes offers realistic solutions to connecting, engaging and advancing the learning of Aboriginal students,” said Mr Harris. “We get students to school and get them ready for learning. Our focus is on literacy, numeracy and using contexts
Students from the Balga Senior High School SNSEP Programme.
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such as culture, language, sport, dance and music. “We also work closely with parents and the community and recently started the Northside Nyoongars Growing and Learning Programme for parents to help them support their children’s education.”
GEOFF HARRIS – PRINCIPAL Photography: Solace Design
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W
e’ve heard about it, read about it – there have been television shows made about it, but the idea of a “sea change” was something completely out of my comfort zone. It was something other people did when they’d had enough of the city life. But secretly – moving to a small seaside, country town was something I had always dreamed of, but never really quite figured out if and how it was ever going to happen. I realized I was in a bit of a rut and needed to ‘get away’ then one day on the job at a sports carnival I decided to share my thoughts with my best friend. My work and life were beginning to feel like Groundhog Day: the same thing every year, the same routine every day. I decided to take the opportunity of one term’s long service leave at the beginning of the 2011 school year. This, combined with a new relationship to a lovely man who lives in Lancelin, helped me put the wheels in motion to ‘take some time out’ in Lancelin with the intention of returning to Perth for Term 2. Within a week of moving to this quiet seaside fishing town and experiencing the clear waters and calm beaches it had to offer, I very quickly realised that I wasn’t going back to city life/teaching. To quote Dave Kerrigan from the movie The Castle, “how’s the serenity?” However, to be sure, I applied for and was granted the remainder of the school year off on a leave-without-pay basis to explore new opportunities and new challenges. And thus my very own “sea change” had began. I had already submitted a covering letter with a copy of my résumé to the Principal of Lancelin Primary School letting him know that I would be available for relief if required. However, it was a long, hot summer and I really needed a break from rushing off to work, teaching, and in general – the ‘rut’, so I spent many days with my new man, swimming, enjoying the beach, enjoying the range of amazing wildlife in the area and taking in some of the most spectacular sunsets I have ever seen.
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Eventually, the day did come when I received a call from the school needing a teacher for a day’s relief. Some people will tell you that you are very brave when you mention you are a High School teacher. “Those teenagers can be scary” some would say. Well imagine going into a Primary School where the nearest year group you have taught is Year Seven. Luckily for my first time as a relief teacher, I was asked to look after a combined class of Year 6/7. “That can’t be too hard”, I thought, but I was still quite nervous. I needn’t have worried. I was greeted by friendly staff, an enthusiastic and friendly class of students who were only too willing to help me and plenty of work to get them through the day. I really take my hat off to Primary School teachers. They are so organised and have the most dynamic learning environments for their students and have to teach to all ability groups. From that day on, I received a steady stream of relief work (for which I was grateful as I’d stopped being paid by that stage!!) from regular gigs with the Year 6/7 (who got to know me quite well) all the way down to the Pre-Primary and Kindergarten classes. Believe me, they are fun!! I never imagined myself sitting on the floor with 18 four-year-olds singing songs!! But it’s not only that – teaching the younger classes gives one the opportunity to formulate good reading and writing habits and to mould these students in readiness for their future. It gets them started early!! I really enjoyed the days when I had the Pre-Primary and Kindergarten classes because they enjoyed being read to, they were keen to do their best and if they succeeded, after trying to do a difficult task, the smile on their little faces beamed with a sense of achievement which was very rewarding! It also helps to have organized and helpful teacher aides in the class who I couldn’t have managed without!! In actual fact, I enjoyed looking after all the classes as the children were just fantastic and most of them have a keen sense of ‘having a go’ – whether it be singing in front of the entire student body at assembly or participating in a triathlon, sometimes more than once!
There is a strong sense of community at the school where many parents, as well as teachers, take on before and after school activities such as football training, surfing, athletics and many other different activities, including the annual fete. It is also refreshing to see the students acknowledge you when they see you at the shop or down the beach. There are even times when I have heard some of them on the end of the jetty calling out hello to me before jumping into the clear waters. As I became familiar in town, I also managed to pick up some tutoring work and I hope I have managed to give these couple of students some confidence to tackle their school work. By the end of the year, I felt like a member of staff and all the students knew me well. Needless to say, I resigned from my position as teacher librarian at my former school to continue what I am now doing in Lancelin with plenty of new challenges ahead! Seriously, a “sea change” is everything I imagined it to be! So, as I stand on the beach, on a warm January evening watching a blazing orange sun sink slowly into the Indian Ocean, I realise that I have the “Lotto” life – but without the millions of dollars!!
CAROL FENNELL Photography: Cam Allen
WITHIN A WEEK OF MOVING TO THIS QUIET SEASIDE FISHING TOWN AND EXPERIENCING THE CLEAR WATERS AND CALM BEACHES IT HAD TO OFFER, I REALISED THAT I WASN’T GOING BACK...
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Awesome Students... ...Awesome Parents
SUCCESSFUL SCHOOLING IS A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN PARENTS, STUDENTS, TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS. DANIEL GROENEWALD EXPLORES THE CRITICAL ROLE PARENTS PLAY IN THIS PARTNERSHIP...
M
ost policy-inspired educational improvements, such as the Education Revolution, NAPLAN, Laptop Programmes and the Australian Curriculum, focus on system reforms. But constantly tinkering with the system to address a front-line problem can be inefficient and costly. It is a bit like trying to stop a skateboarder breaking bones by better training the medicos who have to reassemble the pieces later. Educational interventions should be made where it counts and we could start by looking at what effective students actually do.
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As a teacher, I’ve met some awesome students. These students were not always the best and brightest but they were terrific learners who expanded the boundaries of their potential. They often outshone others who appeared more naturally gifted. What distinguished these students from others were their attitudes, organisation, focus, resilience and capacity for extraordinary effort. When parent-teacher interviews rolled around, it was not surprising to meet jovial parents with very positive attitudes to education, teachers and their child’s
capacity to learn. It was a light bulb moment for me as a teacher and a parent. Educational problems – and the solutions – are almost always family affairs. Students arrive at school as they are and their natural gifts and talents are enhanced or limited by their attitude to school, the way they embrace learning, the encouragement of their teacher and other students. Students who learn and achieve effectively are usually shadowed by parents who value education, respect teachers and impart these values to their children.
When I felt my son was not doing his best at school, I drew on my experience from these terrific parents to rethink what we could do as a family to support him. I realised I was inspired by these parents, and this is what struck me: •
They saw education as a partnership between school, home and their child. Everyone was equally responsible.
•
They made it clear education was a wonderful opportunity to be seized by the student.
•
They believed effort, self-discipline, listening and respect are key features of a receptive mind.
•
They trusted and supported teachers and acknowledged their professionalism and expertise and sought their counsel.
•
They displayed realistic expectations of their children’s strengths and weaknesses and supported and resourced those.
•
They focused on self-improvement in their child, not comparative worth in relation to others.
•
They worked with their children supportively to ensure homework was completed, their children were organised, well-rested and ready for learning.
•
They addressed significant issues at school as respectful advocates for their children.
•
They contributed to the school community through classroom support programmes, by participating in festivals, creative pursuits, fetes, sporting teams and working bees.
As a family, we worked on these and suddenly our son’s attitude changed. He’s still a work in progress but the knowledge he was being held accountable at home and at school and that he was a participating member of the school community made a significant difference to his educational experience. It was empowering and unforgettable.
If we want our children to flourish then we need to help them grasp every opportunity that comes their way. Once we’ve done our best to ensure they are fully receptive to learning, maybe then we can think about tinkering with the system.
DANIEL GROENEWALD Daniel Groenewald is a teacher at Methodist Ladies’ College, Perth, and a parent. You can also view a recent article of Daniels recently featured in ‘The Age’ online: http://www.theage. com.au/national/education/learningto-tur n-off-in-a-techheavy-world20120526-1zayt.html
HO LEARN STUDENTS W LY E EFFECTIVE AND ACHIEV D E W Y SHADO ARE USUALL WHO VALUE BY PARENTS , RESPECT EDUCATION ND IMPART TEACHERS A ES TO THEIR THESE VALU CHILDREN.
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St Annes
Sustainability at St Anne’s, Harvey WA ST ANNE’S PRIMARY SCHOOL IS NESTLED IN WHAT ONCE WAS THE HEART OF DAIRY COUNTRY AND SO THE COMMUNITY HAS A NATURAL AFFINITY WITH THE LAND AND THE NATURAL LAWS AND CYCLES OF NATURE. SOME MIGHT SAY THIS PROVIDED THE RICH SOIL IN WHICH ST ANNE’S PLANTED ITS ORIGINAL SUSTAINABILITY SEEDS.
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he beginnings, like many others were somewhat shaky with Leo Wright a passionate Pre-Primary teacher, committed to the environment, trying to start simply with a Waste Wise project. Being placed at the ‘little end’ of the school meant she was physically and managerially challenged to create the drive and momentum to bring other teachers and staff on board so as to implement the programme successfully across the whole school. Not one to be easily deterred she persevered, chipping
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away at the resistance little by little. In 2010 a new Year Four teacher, Michael Grove, joined the staff and held a similar passion to Leo. Where there had been one, now there were two! Piggy backing on the Waste Wise project the Year Four class started in a small way with a worm farm made from an old fridge. The idea of the worm farm had been born out of a book they had read as part of their Literacy programme. The students had loved the book and had begged, “Could we build one Mr Grove?” This began
a series of lessons using collaborative learning, using ‘The Six Thinking Hats’, integrating Technology and Enterprise, Mathematical skills and nearly all the other learning areas. The ‘Sustainability Bug’ was well and truly alive in the class and the excitement of the students was starting to influence students from other year groups. Using lots of group activities the students began their own mini business, selling the ‘worm wizz’ to parents,
THE CHILDREN WERE VERY KEEN TO HAVE CHICKENS IN THE SCHOOL AND SO DURING THE SCHOOL HOLIDAYS AT THE END OF 2010 VOLUNTEERS FROM THE ALCOA COMMUNITY SERVICE SCHEME ARRIVED EN MASSE AT THE SCHOOL, ALONG WITH A MOUNTAIN OF SALVAGED AND RECYCLED MATERIALS. relatives, friends of the family, in fact anyone who had a garden. In a very short space of time they had raised enough funds to purchase three raised garden bed packs. Now all they had to do was convince the Principal to let them have the deserted space at the back of the Year One classroom. Fortunately, the Principal had seen the passion for learning this project was bringing to the students and he happily gave his approval. In a matter of a few weeks the students had cleaned, cleared and prepared the ground, accurately measuring the area they had to work with and calculating the perimeter and area of each of their garden beds, with each group submitting their own design for the placement of the garden beds. As Spring arrived the students were ready to plant, just needing to research which plants grew at that time of year and what were their needs. They also met with Mrs B, the Canteen Manager, to see what she would like them to grow for her hungry hoards.
education in the school and the structure and funds that would be needed to successfully implement the programme. Fortunately, a number of parents who worked for mining companies such as ALCOA have community sponsorship schemes, both in the form of financial grants and community service. St Anne’s was fortunate to receive support in both forms. This grant came with some discussion among committee members who were divided on whether they should be accepting funds from mining companies, which are not necessarily known for their positive impact on the environment. This is a desirable process as it educates the students and staff around the question of how ethical it is to be involved in partnerships with large corporations. In this particular case they decided to accept a $4000.00 grant on the condition they would not promote any activities which were not positive environmental initiatives.
The children were very keen to have chickens in the school, so during the school holidays at the end of 2010 volunteers from the ALCOA Community Service Scheme arrived en masse at the school, along with a mountain of salvaged and recycled materials. On a 36°C day the team knocked up what has fondly become known as ‘Cluckingham Palace’. Cluckingham Palace was built and ready to house some chickens who undoubtedly were going to live a very spoilt existence. The Pre-Primary class were to incubate and raise the chickens as part of their Religious Education and Science programmes. The biggest challenge in the process of having chickens in the school was the paper work involved in getting the ethical clearance to incubate and raise chickens in the school setting. However, the rewards educationally for the students and the enjoyment they got from being responsible for the welfare of another living thing far outweighed any difficulties in getting approval.
In the meantime the school, like many others, was undergoing a transformation under the Federal Government’s BER Project (Building an Education Revolution) this meant a new Pre-Primary classroom, playground equipment and garden. Leo was quick to design a sensory garden using a range of natural materials and chose plants that were indigenous to the local area. The school was very fortunate that Leo’s husband, Don was very skilled in this area and he helped bring to life her vision. In a sense the two ends of the school’s sustainability programme were beginning to take shape, starting at opposite ends of the school and meeting in the middle. About this time it became evident the students were gaining a great deal from the learning activities, which were taking them outside the walls of the classroom and immersing them in practical ‘handson’ learning experiences. A small Environmental Committee was set up comprising of the two teachers, a few students and one parent. The purpose of the committee, to set a methodical plan for the future direction of sustainable SCRIBE Issue 3
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At the end of 2010 it was also decided by the school’s leadership team that to best facilitate the school’s sustainability goals, it would be better to have a class teacher dedicated to teaching all classes about sustainability through the Science programme. Students in the extension programme would also participate in a number of activities based around the Sustainability Centre. This enabled the centre to grow more
quickly and also immersed all of the students from Kindy through to Year 7 in the Sustainability programme. As new teachers were employed in the school they became acculturated in the school’s environmental values and practices. The next logical step for the school was to take the programme beyond the school boundaries and become involved with different community groups. In 2010 the Year Four class had
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participated in tree planting for Greening Australia at Nell’s block, a short drive from the school. Rather than doing this as a one off activity the school made the commitment to participate on an annual basis. In doing so, the students had the benefit of seeing the changes in the trees they had planted the year before and also the flow on effect of fauna returning to the area. In addition, the school joined the CarbonKids programme sponsored by the CSIRO and Bayer Australia, which provides free of charge educational programmes and resources educating students about the role of carbon on the environment, and in particular, climate change. In 2011 the Extension group were lucky enough to participate in a Climate Change forum held at Bunbury Cathedral Grammar, where they had the chance to speak with world-renowned scientists and work with students from other schools in brainstorming sessions. The next exciting phase for St Anne’s is the construction of their own Aquaculture Centre in 2012 and hosting the CarbonKids Climate Change forum at St Anne’s.
MICHAEL GROVE Photography: St Mary’s Primary School Staff.
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+1 to Relevancy
How game design can liberate learning RIGHT NOW, THE EDUCATION SYSTEM IS SUFFERING FROM A CRISIS OF RELEVANCY WE HAVE BECOME MIRED IN CONTENT
But nowadays students learn stuff just in time, whenever and wherever they need it. You probably do too – thanks to efore the internet came along, an Google, anyone can access the content expert was someone who knew a they need, whenever they need it. lot of stuff. Teachers were like this – they Which, in turn, makes it hard for had a lot of content knowledge, and they many secondary students to see the seemed to have all of the answers. They relevancy of what they are learning. As were experts in the eyes of their students, teachers we are still experts, but simply and they taught their stuff just in case knowing stuff isn’t as important or one day their students might need it. valuable any more. Making sense of it is.
B
Therefore, if we want to engage ‘just in time’ digital learners and prepare them for an uncertain and creative future, we need to move beyond content-based teaching to instead become facilitators of conceptual learning.
CONCEPTS OVER CONTENT Mark Treadwell – a futurist for education – recently suggested, ‘if you needed to learn how to drive a car, the last person you’d want to teach you is a teacher.’ “They’d start with the history of the automobile,” he quips. And he’s probably right – our current system would certainly favour a content-based approach. But, to learn how to drive, all you need to know are the concepts behind it. Right now, teachers need to work through mountains of content with their students. The trouble is, by the time “stuff” is incorporated into curriculums, it’s often stale and outdated. Conceptual learning liberates teachers from the need to prepare and shovel content at students – instead, they become the facilitators and guides to the students’ learning journey. Likewise, it enables students to learn through enquiry, giving them the capability to produce their own content after understanding the concepts. But to make conceptual learning work, we’d need to have the right structure. Games hold the answer.
GAMES-BASED LEARNING In order to make conceptual learning work as a model, we need to have the right structure. The good news is, the structure is already out there and put to use by students everywhere. It’s the structure found in the games our students play which hold the answer. It iss estimated which an average young person growing up in countries like Australia, the UK and the US will have spent 10,000 hours playing video games by the time they reach 21 years of age. That’s quite a time investment, but before we grab our pitchforks and instigate an educators’ riot, let’s have a look at what forces are keeping our students at play.
GAMES ARE SIMPLY GOALS, RULES AND FEEDBACK Any good game is a goal-driven, challenge-intense and feedback-rich
construct, geared around making progress. Good games work because of these elements, and good education works when there is purpose, when the rules focus our efforts and when the feedback is rich and rapid.
GAMES ENCOURAGE FAST, SAFEFAILS In the game environment, it’s okay to explore, experiment and make mistakes – the parameters allow the player to learn and replay. This makes games less like a traditional classroom, and more like a virtual laboratory – experiential learning takes place through repeated attempts to solve challenges.
GAMES CAN PROVIDE CONTEXTUAL FRAMES The best learning occurs in context. Context is also the key to unlocking relevancy. Good games will often provide a narrative context serving the basis for the need to undertake certain challenges. For example, the zombie apocolypse is here, but the power has been cut off. You need to generate electricity and you only have access to these tools…
GAMES GRANT CONCEPTUAL FOCUS Crafting the goals, rules and feedback around games allows you to focus on key concepts without the need to rely upon a heap of content. All you need is the framework to allow the students to seek and generate their own content.
GAMES GET CHALLENGE RIGHT Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the seminal researcher and author of Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience argues we need to calibrate the level of challenge we undertake with the level of skill or ability we have. In other words, things need to be challenging enough so we don’t get bored, yet not so challenging, we become anxious. Good games do this very well.
This doesn’t mean you need to use fancy technology, or invest a heap of time and money. It begins when we frame key learning concepts in context and craft the parameters empowering students to seek and develop content to demonstrate their learning.
THINGS TO CHECK OUT: » Google up the New York Times article on Quest to Learn – a school whose curriculum fully embraces games-based learning. » Check out the 12 smartest presentations on applied game design at drjasonfox. com/blog (you can also subscribe to Jason’s “making clever happen” newsletter to learn more) » Have a look at what’s happening in PLANE – pathways for learning, anywhere, anytime: a network for educators.
DR JASON FOX Dr Jason Fox is an academic rogue who shows educational leaders how to use motivation science and game design to boost productivity, influence behaviour and make clever happen. http://www.drjasonfox.com We have TEN copies of Jason’s latest book “Game On: using games to execute ideas and accelerate innovation.” Anyone who subscribes throughout August will be in the running to win one of these AWESOME books. You can check out Jason in action at the SCRIBE ‘Out of the Bubble’ Experience conference on Saturday 3 November 2012. Check the SCRIBE website for details on securing your ticket! http://www.scribemagazine.com.au for subscription details.
HOW DOES THIS ALL WORK? We need to stop thinking about how to “get through the content” and instead think like a game designer: “how can we craft the parameters that make for rich engagement through challenge?”
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Winthrop Education team member, Joel Birch during one of his fortnightly PD sessions with Subiaco Primary School teacher Annie Birch and her class of iPadders!
ACROSS THE GLOBE, MILLIONS OF STUDENTS ARE EXPERIENCING THEIR LEARNING WITH DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY IN HAND. THE WINTHROP EDUCATION TEAM EMPOWERS TEACHERS TO EFFECTIVELY INTEGRATE THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY INTO TODAY’S CLASSROOMS...
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How are YOU learning about teaching? S
chool leaders and educators everywhere are looking for innovative ways to integrate technology into their everyday lessons. When we pause to look back over the technology-in-education story, the last five years have been nothing short of a quantum leap. The ICT questions facing schools now, isn’t so much around better access to technology, it is more like, “how do we effectively teach and learn with technology tools?” The digital devices have landed...and most educators will agree, they are here to stay. Whilst nothing beats getting your hands on the technology and using it, we should remember the well-known adage, ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’. Teachers in general have not always enjoyed a positive experience with IT. In many ways, the technology has over-promised and under-delivered and there is only so much you can do with 45 minutes a week in a locked-down IT lab, right? Now that most IT devices are portable, access is no longer the issue it once was. This shift occurred so quickly that it left some in the profession feeling somewhat unprepared. How do schools move ahead with this digital scenario and ensure the devices are not just ‘a $1000 pencil’? A unique approach to staff Professional Development is where the answer lies, and this article will explore those approaches. In its most basic form, PD consists of presenters/trainers visiting schools to
bring about change, and to show what is possible using the available technology. Usually, schools provide this sort of PD at the start and/or end of term. This ‘ticks the box’ when it comes to satisfying PD requirements, and for the most part is successful when measuring progress from a skills point of view. Occasionally, teachers are sent out on PD workshops throughout the year. Usually these are free (provided by technology vendors), while some you may need to pay for. The missing cost in these kinds of PD – and one that is usually overlooked – is relief teaching. Every time a teacher is sent out of the classroom the school can pay up to $470 per day for a relief teacher to take their place (This figure varies in different sectors). If each teacher in the school took just one PD day per year the cost would very quickly run into tens of thousands of dollars. Also bear in mind the hidden learning cost of a class missing out on their regular teacher. This workshop PD is usually based around the following premise: ‘We will tell you what we think you should know’. Using this approach, the effectiveness of the PD can be very short lived. Staff can walk away feeling uplifted and optimistic about the potential use of technology in their classroom, however, as soon as it comes to planning their individual programmes, staff struggle to integrate the technology at a level they feel comfortable with, lacking (or possibly forgetting) the skills needed to do so. Workshop PD has its place, yet seems out of context with what occurs inclass on a day-to-day basis. Over the years the Winthrop Education Team has delivered many of these types of PD. It quickly became clear to us we were not really making a difference at the classroom level to the extent we had imagined. We realised we needed to flip our approach over to one that considered the following:
individual needs, rather than individuals trying to squeeze out what they can from the presentation given to them. This PD is delivered ‘just-in-time’ and ‘over time’, which means there is adequate time for participation and engagement in planning, implementation and reflection. In particular we are now seeing teachers are truly able to reflect on their own learning. At this point, you might be thinking, this is expensive! However, if you compare it to the traditional model of PD and associated relief costs, it works out to be very cost-effective. It is also more pedagogically effective. Our model provides support at the point of need and in an ongoing fashion. This ensures change to teaching, learning, and provides real growth for the teacher. While there will continue to be a place for workshop PD, especially in specific skills training for staff, in-context PD, may well become the future method by which teachers learn to teach using current, upto-the-minute ideas. Nevertheless, for long-term success and for real pedagogical change to occur inside the classroom, ongoing PD is as valuable as purchasing the machines themselves. It is very apparent from the schools we meet every day, the success of any technology programme is ultimately in the hands of the teachers. A willingness and the ability to integrate technology into a classroom is without doubt an integral part of the varied role of today’s classroom teacher.
WINTHROP EDUCATION TEAM PD Blog: http://pd.winaust.com.au Twitter: @winaustpd Photography: Solace Design
‘We come to you, and you tell us what you need to know.’ Using this as a starting point, PD can be delivered where it’s needed most – at the school and in front of the students. More importantly, the PD is tailored to suit
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Schools are our Speciality....
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Can there be anything new in school leadership? DR PHIL RIDDEN IS A CONSULTANT WITH OVER 40 YEARS TEACHING AND LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE IN GOVERNMENT AND INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS. HE IS THE AUTHOR OF THE WIDELY ACCLAIMED BOOK, SCHOOL MANAGEMENT: A TEAM APPROACH (1992) WHICH IS REGULARLY USED IN PRINCIPAL INDUCTION COURSES. IN IT HE DESCRIBES THE EVOLVING CONCEPTS OF SCHOOL LEADERSHIP. HERE HE SHARES WITH SCRIBE SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT LEADERSHIP FACTORS WITHIN OUR SCHOOLS...
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veryone knows about leadership. We’ve all led and been led. We’ve seen or worked with leaders we admire, and felt the frustration caused by leaders who don’t know how to lead. Do people’s names spring to mind as you read this? What was it about them that you admired? Was it what they did, who were they and how did they lead? It goes without saying leaders impact our lives in either inspirational or destructive ways. Leadership in schools matters. While the most critical factor in a child’s schooling is the quality of the teacher, factors related to the school culture are also important. This is directly influenced by the Principal and other key leaders.
However, our understanding of leadership is continually changing. In schools, the titles of school leaders have changed over the years, reflecting the understanding of leadership types, dominant at the time. School leaders have been titled head teachers, administrators, managers, line managers, leaders…. and the list goes on. Leaders need particular skills, so, in each era, they have been taught skills or strategies considered relevant to the role, but more importantly, leaders need particular mindsets. These have also changed with time, as the expectations have changed. What are the key concepts for school leaders in this decade? John De Nobile
and I describe these in our book, Keys to School Leadership, published recently by ACER Press. Some of these concepts are not well understood by school leaders; others are accepted in a clichéd manner. For example, I once read that to be a leader all you need is to find enough people dumb enough to follow! Cynicism aside, he who thinks he leads and has noone following him is only taking a walk. But what will persuade people to follow you? The answer in one word is influence. Leaders influence others. If I want to lead, how can I influence people? I could exert influence through my formal position and authority. That is, if I carry a title, have a big enough office, with the authority to hire and fire,
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LEADERSHIP BY INFLUENCE NEEDS NEITHER A TITLE NOR AN OFFICE. A LEADER IS SOMEONE WHO LEADS WHEN A LEADER IS NEEDED, STEPPING UP TO INFLUENCE PEOPLE, TO ACT FOR THEIR OWN GROWTH AND THE GOOD OF OTHERS, OR THE SCHOOL. enrol and expel and I can demand certain behaviours – obtaining them through astute use of rewards and punishments. However, there is a blurring here between authority: the exercise of power over people, and leadership: the use of power with people. Leadership based on authority and manipulative power is tenuous. Position merely buys me time to establish myself as a leader. My expertise – my qualifications, acquired knowledge and experience – may enable me to influence others if they perceive me to have both knowledge (something worth saying) and credibility (the right to say it). I may influence people with my personality. If I have an attractive personality and communicate in ways which connect effectively with people, then I can evoke an emotional response from others. This emotional response may even override their intellect and good judgement. Others may admire my behaviour and see me as a role model or ‘hero’. They will seek to emulate my actions. However, when we want to influence people, perhaps it’s more helpful to consider that people will ask themselves just two questions: Can I do what they’re asking? Will it be worth it? Therefore, to influence others, a leader needs to connect with a person’s ability and motivation. It’s not hard to see that a person’s motivation will affect the way they see their abilities. Skilled leaders motivate others to lift their expectations of themselves, and so to achieve more than they thought was possible. What’s more, skilled leaders appeal not simply to people’s minds, but to their hearts. They imbue people’s work with a sense of purpose. A teacher, for example, might say they do not just ‘teach addition’; they ‘grow young people’. Leadership by influence needs neither a title nor an office. A leader is someone who leads when a leader is needed, stepping up to influence people, to act for their own growth and the good of others, or the school.
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It is useful to reflect on who the leaders are in your school. Ignore titles, age, formal responsibilities and other statistics. Who are the people who really influence others – staff, parents, students? These people may not be obvious. They may include some who are unobtrusive, almost invisible, yet others know who they are and respond to them. In addition, they may or may not be supporting the school’s values and agenda. When you identify influential members of the school community, consider how they are able to exercise such influence. An important skill of school leaders is to recognise the most influential leaders and persuade them to support the school ethos as well as the preferred directions and agenda. If we influence enough individuals within our school community, then we are able to influence the culture of the school, to shape its directions, values and relationships and practices of school members. Influence is just one concept that needs to be understood by contemporary leaders. There are several others. In our book, we argue for school improvement based on the concept of alignment. We challenge the dominant understanding of teamwork, replacing it with the concept of partnership. We question the accepted practice of delegation, replacing it with negotiation, and place collaboration at a different level from sharing and cooperation. We urge leaders to look beyond their day-to-day roles and demands to understand the influence of, and to influence, the local community and the world. We challenge trained dependency and argue for succession. Relationships matter, but they come together in community, and although most schools litter their documentation and language with the word ‘community’, we question the assumptions behind it. For leaders, certainty has been replaced by uncertainty, and we argue for coherence as a way to cope. Leaders are often seen to be at the ‘top’ of an organisation, but we argue for their placement at the centre, absorbing and expressing not just the intellect of the school, but its heart and soul. I am keen to explore these concepts with those who lead, or aspire to lead, our schools, and to challenge all teachers to lead, whether or not they aspire to formal leadership roles.
DR PHIL RIDDEN
Dr Phil Ridden is a consultant with over 40 years experience in government and independent schools as teacher, deputy principal and principal, curriculum writer and consultant, professional learning consultant, board member, executive officer, author, speaker – and parent. He is available to consult with schools and to conduct courses on a range of topics. View his courses and books, and contact him, at http://www.philridden.biz
How to survive... “I SAT DOWN AT A TABLE, PULLED OUT THE FIRST OF THREE ROUNDS OF VEGEMITE SANDWICHES, AND WAS ABOUT TO INDULGE IN THE ‘AUSSIEST’ OF LUNCHES, WHEN I REALISED THAT EVERYTHING AROUND ME HAD STOPPED...AND EVERYBODY WAS STARING AT ME.”
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or my ATP, I was sent to a school at the end of the freeway1. This teachers prac (sic) was one of those horror pracs you tell other prac teachers about in order to remind them things could always be worse. I’d been paired up with a nonexistent teacher, two days into my two week observation period, I was taking classes, three days in and I was taking classes without supervision – essentially they were using me as unpaid relief – and, at one stage, I was made to apologise to a teacher when I asked (desperate to get as many different ideas as possible from as many different sources) why she had no posters on her walls2. But one of my most vivid memories was when I walked into the staffroom for my first lunch. I’d heard of the camaraderie of teachers, and this school being the equivalent of a Khe Sanh3 I was also expecting a little battlefield fellowship. But, to risk mixing genres, it turned out to be a little more western than that. I sat down at a table, pulled out the first of three rounds of vegemite sandwiches, and was about to indulge in the ‘Aussiest’ of lunches, when I realised that everything around me had stopped. And everybody was staring at me. It was a definite stranger-walks-into-abar-in-tombstone moment. If there was a piano player in one corner, a poker game in a second, and a toothless, bearded wino in a third, I wouldn’t have been surprised.4 They were staring at me like I was eating a sandwich spread with smeared brains, and not the finest sandwich filling to be Krafted by God out of Marilyn Monroe’s own body sweat.5 I felt a hand on my shoulder; it was one of the English staff. She whispered in my ear: “Come with me if you want to live,” and led me to the English teachers’ table. Let me repeat that for emphasis:
The English teachers’ table. As if – unofficially of course – the staffroom had segregated itself into departments. I was sitting at the wrong department’s table and nobody knew how to deal with that breach of etiquette. Suffice to say, I never ventured back into that staffroom again. The sad truth is that not all teachers are those dedicated professionals we see being lauded in Hollywood films. Sometimes they are, but if we all were, would screenwriters really bother writing inspirational films about them? The truth is, sometimes teachers are more like those you read about in Roald Dahl books, using small children as projectiles.
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And then of course, you have the majority of teachers spread out on a continuum between the two extremes. But what they all have in common is the staffroom. And negotiating the staffroom takes skills not taught at university.
How to fit in:
Luckily, I am here to give you a crash course into the most common types of staffrooms you’ll find, how to survive and fit in, and then – just because I can – the best way to disrupt the mood – to make things more interesting.
Find the prom King and Queen. Then go the full Carrie on her; a bucket of pig’s blood all over them.8
THE PRISON CAFETERIA The obvious place to start is the place I started this article. In these places, groups and the tables at which they sit are exclusive. It is folly to try to join them. Occasionally, it’s borderline dangerous. They consciously try to intimidate and frighten strangers. But then again, they have to, just to survive. These are the schools where they lose at least one student a week being run over by staff members desperately trying to beat students out of the car park at the end of the day. It’s like living during the height of the Cold War: suspicions abound and violence can erupt at any moment.
How to Survive: Find your group. As in prison, where white supremacists hang with other white supremacists, bank-robbers stick with other bank-robbers, and sadistic kidnappers group with convicted music industry executives, so, in these staffrooms, teachers need to flock with their own. The easiest way is to simply stay close to your own department (High School teachers) or those people with whom you share the same common spelling errors (Primary School teachers). For more tips, study the TV. show Oz.
How to disrupt: Sit down, unashamedly at the wrong table. When someone hassles you, kill them with a fork. Within a term, you’ll be deputy. (Once again, see the TV show Oz.)
Be young and attractive. Sorry all you experienced teachers with so much to offer the profession. It is that petty!
How to disrupt:
THE CIGAR LOUNGE9 Whilst there are no actual cigars to be seen, there is a sense of overall exclusivity. This is a private club. The exclusivity is palpable, and you know that one day, probably after scoring another government handout, they’re going to splash out and hire that long dreamedof bouncer. Sitting in the couches that sprinkle the room like daisies on an open field, is like sinking back into a blowup paddle pool filled with strawberry marshmallows. These places are usually populated by people who take great pride in being called “Old Boys” and “Old Girls” but never “old”, “boys” or “girls”.
How to fit in Be rich.
How to disrupt: Fart – loudly and proudly. Then mention something about voting for Labour.
THE SAVANNAH DRINKING HOLE No one quite feels comfortable here. The Science teachers are drinking with the English teachers. But they don’t seem to be drinking with them. The Phys Ed teachers are with the Maths teachers. But they don’t seem to be with them. There are furtive glances. There are jittery movements. What’s going on? Why can’t anyone relax? There’s nothing…Oh, wait. What’s that? There! No, over there! It’s… Look out! The Relief Lesson Giver (RLG)! Scatter! Aaaarrrrggggghhhhh!!!!!
US HIGH SCHOOL
How to fit in:
These aren’t too dissimilar from the prison cafeteria.6 However, whereas the prison cafeteria is ruled by fear of physical death, the High School cafeteria is ruled by fear of social death. What this means is that there’s a social pecking order, with a couple of people (usually the prom king and queen) ruling from the comfiest chairs, whilst the less popular expand out in ever widening orbits.7
There is no fitting in. If you accept the last minute relief lesson with a smile, the RLG will continually give them to you since you don’t kick up a stink. If you do kick up a stink, they’ll find other ways to punish you. Best to avoid these staffrooms entirely and only venture in to check your pigeon hole at sunrise or sunset, you’ll avoid the RLG and if you’re lucky, you may even see the ceremonial presenting of the Principal’s heir.
How to disrupt; Ever seen The Great Escape? or Hogan’s Heroes? Early warning signs and elaborate escape routes work best – as does throwing first-years in your wake.
NARNIA Teachers gather in the true spirit of collegiality. Teachers mix with one another regardless of department, age,
or HTI rating.10 They share their failures, successes and ideas. In return, other teachers offer their advice, support and – occasionally – their Tim Tams. Middle and Upper Management mingle, sharing jokes and support. In short, it’s what a staffroom full of professionals who share the same passion for a true vocation should be like.
How to fit in Be open. Be honest. Be a professional.
How to disrupt “I hope you’re all preparing your students for NAPLAN!”
LEITH DANIEL Photography: Solace Design
1. Obviously I can’t name it. That’s not important anyway. My uni – who I had told that I lived nowhere near train stations and had no access to a car – thought that sending me 100 km away to a school was a good idea, so understandably, I was a little stressed anyway. But that was how my uni rolled. Incompetently, I mean. 2. Now as an English teacher, I am very aware that for rhetorical purposes I should have stopped at three examples (rule of threes and all that). But this place was so bad that normal rules of language cannot restrain its woe. There were many, many more stories of horror, however, without a free beer in me, they’ll be left unsaid. 3. The battle, not the song. 4. It turns out – like in most schools – there was a toothless, bearded wino, but – like in most schools – that was just the head of Science. 5. This is not a paid ad for vegemite, but if anyone is from Kraft and want to pay me wad-loads of cash (or at least a life-time supply of vegemite), please contact the publisher. 6. Anyone else notice the similarities between the two? There might be a sociology doctorate in there somewhere. 7. Yes I realise I’m making a lot of US references here, but if you’re an average Australian who grew up with a television, you know what I’m talking about. 8. For the one or two of you who get this reference and are now yelling at me, yes I know it would be more accurate to say “Unleash a maelstrom of religious-oppressed sexual frustration through telekinetic powers,” but a bucket of pig’s blood is a lot easier to get hold of. 9. For anyone who has worked their entire career in The Department, you may not believe that these exist. Sadly, they do. 10. Hot Teacher Index
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Making ‘Artistic Dreams’ come true L
illian Alonzo Marín, founder of Artistic Dreams International, is a Mexican Artist, Singer and non-profit consultant who recognised the fact that in both developing countries and the USA, many talented teens were missing out on an art-filled future. Artistic Dreams benefits young people in the USA and internationally, identifying present and future talent, enriching the lives of the many volunteer instructors that travel the world to welcome teens to a life of Art, Music and endless creativity. Lives are changed and futures are transformed – all for the love of the Arts! Something I enjoy most in life, is breaking out into song at any moment of the day – I think of life as one big Broadway Musical or sometimes as a living painting – especially in moments of high stress and worry or, alternatively, when I am feeling great! When walking in the streets I often wonder what it would be like if, at this exact point in time, everyone stopped what they were doing and started to sing and dance in unison. To some this might seem silly, but to me it is one of my many dreams yet-to-be fulfilled. Artistic Dreams International (ADI) was one such dream, I decided to make a reality: to be able to imagine the world as something you can create or recreate, that what you imagine can become real and the arts give you the perfect platform to explore this notion, is just one of the gifts I wanted to give ADI children. At Artistic Dreams we encourage, develop, and nurture creativity and selfexpression in children and teens through Arts Education. We also foster selfdiscovery, self-reliance, build confidence and instill leadership skills. Life was not always easy where I grew up and I did not always walk around thinking dreams come true for everybody. When I was eight, my family moved from Mexico City to Dayton, Ohio in the U.S. I can still remember the culture shock of being the only Mexican family in town. I listened to all the culturally insensitive comments coming out of the small mouths of the children at school. Burdened with all the common stereotypes of what a “Mexican” is, they asked questions like, “Lilly, did you live in a shack back home? Did you ride a mule?
Did you have electricity in your home? Is this what your country looks like (pointing to a cactus and a donkey in the desert)?” These comments were not as hurtful as the way some people looked at my family as we were walking into a traditional American restaurant. I felt different, I felt like I didn’t fit in and I know this had a negative impact on my self-esteem, yet, America gave me access to a world full of Art and entrepreneurial minds, not available in my home country. This ‘baptism of fire’ into American life has gifted me with being able to understand the ADI kids in our New York programme, especially those coming from immigrant families who (the vast majority of) live in Harlem and Queens. These kids are now learning they’re all equal, even if they come from diverse countries like India, Japan, Indonesia, Peru, Mexico, Dominican Republic or USA. This concept of equality naturally builds at ADI, as children of all backgrounds become fast friends while singing and making art together.
tear down like we (adults) do. Their talent is raw and creates “true” art faster. These children are already taking photographs that are gallery quality and they’re only seven to fifteen years old! For our Mexico City kids – living in a blighted neighborhood where nothing like ADI has ever existed – they don’t know what’s hit them! They’re already singing beautifully and one day soon they’ll see themselves performing at the Sala Netzahualcoyotl of the Mexico National Autonomous University (one of the two most prestigious music halls in Mexico City). Their phenomenal progress is due to their personal instructor, Ana Patricia Carbajal, Choral Coordinator for the university and Music Director of ADI Mexico. The kids will be blown away by performing exactly where they should perform. Just because any dream can come true! Artistic Dreams also holds drawing, painting and contemporary installation workshops. Through the Visual Arts the
Our New York choruses directed by Sanna Valvanne, an internationally renowned children’s choral director and ADI Music Director in Residence, build community, give kids access to more than 14 languages and inspire them to know they can! Their self-esteem grows every time they perform in front of an audience or exhibit their Art. Our kids use their natural talents; they have no barriers to
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children learn to open their minds and broaden their horizons in a way I did not experience until I arrived at Art School at the age of 32 when I finally realised I had to do what I love and believe in to lead a truly fulfilling life – in other words, be myself. I had to work hard to arrive at that point. I explored art at night in my studio apartment while working a rigorous full–time job to save up money to “start something”. I turned my living room into an art studio. In fact, my new living room is still my art studio. It was during those long hours creating art at night the idea of ADI began forming in my mind. What if thousands of kids in developing countries and New York City’s underprivileged neighborhoods had access to this kind of exploration, this kind of transformation, this empowered way of thinking – way before reaching College age? 72
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Consequently, after finishing art school, I took a job I believed would afford me the flexibility to create my own art, and launch a smaller version of ADI in the form of an after-school programme. When I saw this was not the case, I chose to forgo the comfort and security of that job, and take a risk, and launch a fullscale version of ADI. Perhaps the lack of flexibility was a blessing in disguise. Sometimes it takes a kick in the butt from life for us to “wakeup” – to realise that the perfect time to make our dreams come true is now! As Artistic Dreams International grows, the children will perform and exhibit in world-renowned halls, galleries and museums in the U.S. and abroad and we will start selling our music and art online in order to sustain the organisation. The next goal is to further expand into northern Mexico. Here children are targeted and recruited by drug cartels,
many dying before they reach the age of 20. Our dream is, instead of being involved in this deadly lifestyle, many kids will join our ranks: finish school; build a better future for themselves and their community; create peace; sow love and harvest a shining future. Longer-term goals are to expand to Asia, Africa and further into Latin America. To achieve these goals we need all the help we can get from the international community to assist with resources, volunteers and personal contacts. Together, we can change children’s futures and live our Artistic Dreams! To learn more about ADI or make a donation go to www.artisticdreams. org or contact Lillian directly: lillian@ artisticdreams.org
LILLIAN ALONZO MARÍN Photography: Sergio R. Reyes, Caridad Sola.
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two-day programme where participants will learn: the signs and symptoms of mental health problems; where and how to get help and what sort of help has been shown by research to be effective for adults working or living with adolescents. YMHFA is a nationally recognised programme delivered across Australia and internationally. The course is for adults living or working with young people aged 12-18 years and covers the signs and symptoms of the 5 most prevalent mental health issues within this age group: crisis scenarios; referral processes; mental health information statistics, suicide and self-harm. Mental health first aid is the help provided to a person developing a mental health problem or in a mental health crisis. The first aid is given until appropriate professional treatment is received or until the crisis resolves. Participants are not required to possess any prior knowledge of mental health issues nor experience working with young people.
Youth Mental Health First Aid is facilitated in over 16 developed and developing nations across the globe, is under the auspices of Orygen Youth Health Research Centre and supported by Melbourne University.
MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID TRAINING FOR ADULTS Mental health first aid strategies are taught in training programmes provided by the Mental Health First Aid Australia (MHFA). The 12-hour Mental Health First Aid course teaches adults (18 years and over) how to provide initial support to adults who are developing a mental illness or experiencing a mental health crisis.
MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID FOR SUPERVISORS AND MANAGERS Many supervisors find themselves struggling to understand the behaviour of young people they work with and because of these communication breakdowns, misunderstandings and conflict are common in the workplace. The Youth Mental Health First Aid Programme for supervisors and managers will assist senior staff to develop a deeper understanding of adolescent behaviour, prevalent mental
health issues in young people and how to provide appropriate and safe support within their workplace and community. If senior staff are better equipped to understand their young colleagues they will find it easier to develop strategies to manage potentially risky and sensitive situations as well as conflicts that may arise due to miscommunication surrounding typical adolescent behaviour. Managers will then be less focussed on conflict and negative performance management allowing their adolescent workers to be more productive. The aim of this programme is not to teach management how to ‘counsel’ young people who may be experiencing emotional or mental health issues, but to provide them with the skills to observe and identify the symptoms of common mental health disorders in the 12-25 year old age group. The programme also strongly focuses on educating staff how to assist and appropriately support young people to access professional help without breaking any personal or professional boundaries. For more information go to the Youth Focus website: www.youthfocus.com.au
“THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION ESTIMATES THAT DEPRESSION WILL BE THE NUMBER ONE CAUSE OF DISABILITY IN BOTH THE DEVELOPED AND DEVELOPING WORLDS BY 2030”
Photography: Sean Ealy
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due to the weather, we were lucky to secure a booking at the Sydney Aquarium where we saw a variety of sea creatures including penguins, dugongs, sharks, turtles, fish and much, much more. The penguins were a highlight for many of us! Although the students thoroughly enjoyed looking at all of the sea creatures many of the photos taken were of the various Lego sculptures throughout the exhibitions. After leaving the Aquarium we headed to a local shopping centre for lunch, another change from our initial plans to eat at the Botanical Park. Thankfully, during lunch the weather changed to a very warm, sunny afternoon. Making the most of this weather change we went for a walk around the Sydney Opera House, admiring the Harbour Bridge, and then boarding our coaches once more for our destination – Canberra. The coach trip to Canberra provided many of us with the chance to catch up on some overdue sleep. We arrived at the Gold Creek Resort around 4.30pm, where we unpacked, had dinner at a local café and settled in to our new home for the week. We then had an early night so we could recharge ourselves, ensuring we were ready for the busy week ahead.
DAY TWO
Campbell to
Canberra
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ot only would Canberra provide our students with the opportunity to visit the Nation’s capital, but its attractions supported our teaching and learning programmes, allowing students to benefit from a real life, practical and hands-on experience. Understanding the cost of such a trip, we embarked on a variety of fundraising events over the twelve months leading up to it. We held sausage sizzles, mini fetes, raffles and free dress days, to name a few. These events brought our community together with many local businesses making generous donations to our events. We were also able to receive the Parliament and
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After an early Sunday morning breakfast we went for a short stroll to Cockingham Green – a village of miniatures. The size of the houses and their intricate detail was fascinating. If you looked closely at the displays you were able to spot many humorous additions – the streaker at the local footy match, the grim reaper and none other than the SKUD! In the international area students linked the houses from the various embassies to their country and flag. After a quick stop at the souvenir shop we were off to our next location – The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).
At 9.30pm on a Friday evening, 90 students and 9 staff met at the Perth Domestic Airport ready to embark on the trip to Sydney and Canberra.
At the AIS we were given a tour around the facilities, learning about the many different sports offered to Australia’s best sportsmen and sportswomen. Competitions were being held in gymnastics and volleyball so we were fortunate to be able to watch these. The highlight for both students and staff was Sportex, which is an educational and engaging sports experience, where we were able to try football penalty shootouts, test our strength on the chin up bars, challenge each other on the rowing machines and even stand on the Olympic podium. Then, another quick souvenir shop visit and a short break for lunch before boarding our coaches onto our next destination.
We arrived in Sydney on a rainy Saturday morning but that did not dampen our spirits. We were met by our two coach Captains from Red Bus Coach Service. Our first stop was breakfast, and then we headed off for a drive around Sydney. Changing our plans
From the Institute of Sport we went to CSIRO Discovery, where students were able to take part in a range of hands-on Science activities. These included the Discovery Lab where they donned white lab coats and used microscopes, watched
Civics Education Rebate which provided extra financial assistance to our parents.
DAY ONE
a 3D movie and observed a variety of stick insects. The CSIRO Discovery certainly made Science fascinating. Before going back to our hotel we had one last stop – Black Mountain Tower which is 195m higher than the summit of Black Mountain. From this height we had an amazing panoramic view of Canberra. For many of us it was our first opportunity to see Parliament House and other distinctive buildings. At the end of such an action-packed day we were happy to get back to the hotel and have some time to relax before dinner. Our knowledge and trivia was tested after dinner with a Campbell Quiz Night.
DAY THREE First on our itinerary for Day Three was a visit to the National Capital Exhibition. Here we learnt about why Canberra was chosen as the nation’s capital and Canberra’s role in federation through a variety of engaging and interactive displays. Our next stop was the Australian War Memorial where we were taken on a tour of the various galleries, looking at lifelike dioramas and listening to fascinating stories of wartime endurance. We paid our respects at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and placed poppies in the Wall of Remembrance. Some students had names of relatives they were able to look up and place a poppy next to their name. It was a sobering yet unforgettable experience. After lunch at Old Parliament House Gardens we divided into groups to visit the Electoral Education Centre and Old Parliament House. At the Electoral Education Centre students held their own referendum, playing the role of polling officials and using authentic polling place equipment. This was a great way to demonstrate how votes are actually counted. Students also were able to carry out many hands on activities in the DEAZone – including looking for their parents on the electoral roll. At Old Parliament House we had to wear white gloves to protect the items we were looking at and ensure we didn’t damage anything. We were able role plays famous Australian politicians and looked at many interactive displays, learning more about our Prime Ministers, past and present. A highlight was looking at Bob Hawke’s Office!
Centre – a highlight for many of our students. Passing through eight rooms the students were able to learn informally through play and experimentation about water, the planet earth, and gravity among many other things. The most exciting room was the last where both students and staff were able to free fall down a 6.7m slide. After lunch at Reconciliation Park we divided into two groups to visit the National Portrait Gallery and the High Court. We viewed and discussed many of the portraits and had the opportunity to draw our own. We also looked at Ned Kelly’s death mask, listening with fascination as our guide explained its features and how it was made. Unfortunately the High Court was not in session as the hearing had finished early. We were able to visit the three different court rooms, learning about the role and function of each. It was an amazing place to visit. After another action-packed day there was time to relax before dinner. Our evening activity was bowling at the local AMF. It was a great way to relax and have some fun.
DAY FIVE Today was another busy one for us. The first stop was Government House. Quentin Bryce our Governor General was not in residence but that did not stop us from having a tour of the house. We were very lucky that two of our students were able to play the grand piano. We saw the drawing room where the most recent recipients of the Victoria Cross were awarded their medals and the room where John Kerr famously sacked Gough Whitlam. From there we headed to the National Museum for a quick tour. We watched movies, saw many exhibits and even got to do some dancing. Our final stop before heading back to the Gold Creek was Parliament House. We sat in the House of Representatives and the Senate, learning more about the role each play in our parliamentary system. At the end of the tour we enjoyed a drink and a snack at the hospitality wing of Parliament House.
DAY SIX The last day seemed to come around so quickly. After breakfast we checked out of the Gold Creek Resort and headed to the National Film and Sound Archives where we went on an exciting journey through Australia’s screen and sound history. Here we found out that the highest grossing Australian movie was ‘Happy Feet‘ – a surprise to many. We watched a few clips from old TV shows like ‘Skippy’ and commercials like ‘Aeroplane Jelly’. We saw the big reels that films used to be stored in and learned how technology has changed this industry. We looked at a variety of interactive displays about film, sound and television over the years. Anzac Parade was our next stop. We had already driven along the road when we visited the War Memorial but this time we were able to walk the 2.5km looking and reading about all the different memorials of the military conflicts that Australia played a part in. The final stop on our trip was the Royal Mint. We watched a video that explained the process of making currency, had a guided tour of the National Coin Collection and looked at the factory from the observation windows seeing the robots at work. Then we went downstairs to the souvenir shop to mint our own one dollar coin. From the National Mint we headed straight to the airport. We said goodbye to our awesome coach captains Andrew and Rob and thanked them for a great week. Our Canberra trip had come to an end but the memories for our Year 7 students will last a lifetime.
REBECCA COSLANI
At the end of the day we split into two groups, one group going to the Botanical Gardens for a night tour and the other to the Dinosaur Museum.
DAY FOUR Today started with a visit to Questacon, Australia’s National Science and Technology
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CAMPBELL PRIMARY SCHOOL CANBERRA TOUR TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS BY MORCOMBE TRAVEL • • •
“Morcombe Travel’s efficiency, experience and responsiveness made the organisation of our interstate school trip to Canberra considerably less stressful. Given the logistical and bureaucratic complexities teachers face in running such a tour, having a travel agent that both knew the process intimately and could fix problems quickly was a huge help.”
Richard Spence SOSE Teacher Perth Modern School
SCHOOL GROUP TOUR SPECIALIST WA OWNED AND OPERATED OVER 120 SCHOOL GROUPS BOOKED FOR 2012
• • •
PRIMARY SCHOOLS HIGH SCHOOLS COLLEGES
• 45 WA Primary & Secondary Schools travelled on our 6-day Canberra excursions in 2012
• Fully inclusive of airfare & accommodation, meals, transportation and 1 free of charge staff for every 10 students
• Plus booking of ALL venues including Parliament House & Australian War Memorial
Note: The Federal Government subsidises each WA student $240.00 when visiting Canberra. Visit www.ncetp.org.au for more information.
OTHER TOURS INCLUDE • • • •
History & Arts tours to Europe Soccer tours to Malaysia Music tours to Singapore Cricket tour to England
“From the very first contact with Morcombe Travel, I found the experience of organising my first school interstate trip to be extremely enjoyable, simple and hassle free. The staff at Morcombe Travel were excellent and worked tirelessly to ensure that our trip was successful. We have booked again with Morcombe Travel and I would not hesitate at all in recommending them to any school planning an interstate or international trip.”
“Morcombe Travel was invaluable in organising the Scotch College History Tour to Europe. The travel consultants were extremely professional who ensured that all our requests were met within our budget. No problem was too big for the staff and they endeavoured to investigate and clarify any concerns that we had in sending 28 students to Europe. I was most impressed by Morcombe Travel’s high level of customer service and I look forward to booking with them again in the future.”
Eric Radice Associate Principal Yule Brook College
Rebecca Kennington Outdoor Education & Tours Secretary Scotch College
• • •
Netball tour to Brisbane Football tours to Melbourne Performing Arts tour to New York “I have used Morcombe Travel to
organise student tours to Canberra and
to Europe. I have found their service to be excellent and their efficient organisation
took all the worry out of organising major
educational tours. I would strongly commend Morcombe Travel to any schools planning a major tour.”
Steve Wynhorst Head of Social Science Perth College
For more information and a costing, please contact JEFF MORCOMBE Tel: (08) 9325 5557 Email: perth@morcombetravel.com Web: www.morcombetravel.com
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The tradition lives on in India...
WHETHER IT’S CRICKET, BUSINESS OR EDUCATION INDIA OFFERS A FLAVOUR FOR EVERY TASTE. IT IS A COUNTRY WITH THE SECOND FASTEST GROWING ECONOMY HAVING ITS ENGINE ROOM IN BANGALORE. LIONEL CRANENBURGH EXPLORES HOW INDIA’S TRADITION FOR EXCELLENCE HAS ITS FOUNDATION IN THE CLOSE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BUSINESS, TRADITION AND SCHOOLING.
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ishop Cotton Boys and Girls Schools in Bangalore, India, pride themselves on the close support they get from their business community overseas and at home which shapes their need for nationbuilding. Almost seventy years after the British exodus from India two schools in South India emulate features of the grand Etonian College tradition dubbed by some as the school which runs Britain. Former Principal of Bishop Cotton Boys School Bangalore, Abraham Ebenezer, in the foreword to his book Eton of the East, claims Cottons has similarities to Eton. An Old Cottonian, writing from the United Kingdoms on behalf of Old Cottonians in the UK, said that Cottonians tell people that they went to the equivalent of Eton and Harrow in India.
While the obvious difference between Eton and Cottons is the education of boys and girls, many people see a resemblance between the two schools. Each school has existed for nearly 600 years and both were founded in 1865 by the Rev. Samuel Pettigrew of Cambridge UK. Like the great English public school Bishop Cotton Boys and Girls Schools have produced distinguished Alumni like the English test cricket captain, Sir Colin Cowdrey, General Thimmaya, the chief of army staff and friend of Lord Mountbatten, Prince Charles’ uncle, the Maharaja of Kutch and Dr Ramana, nuclear scientist and former Minister of Defence. Cottons Girls has on its alumni Chief Ministers, a Miss Universe and Miss World winner, including the chief executive of Indian’s pioneer in biotechnology, Ms Kiran MajumidarShaw, who was awarded India’s highest
honour, the Padma Bhushan, in 2005 for her achievements in biotechnology. In 2010 the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Right Honourable Dr Rowan Williams, visited Cotton Boys’ School to address the school and over the years distinguished visitors such as the Duke of Edinburgh, General Thimmaya, two Presidents of India including the late Prime Minister of India, Mrs Indira Gandhi have addressed students of both schools. In 2004 the President of India, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, visited the Bishop Cotton Girls’ School and invited two of its students to see him at Rashtrapathi Bavan, his official residence in Delhi where he held an interactive session with the students on Science, Education and other subjects. The President told the school’s students he had specially chosen Cotton Girls’ School for his visit as it was a school that was uniquely positioned
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An effigy of Bishop Cotton in the School with the Boys’ School buildings in the background. to produce good human beings with leadership qualities to serve society and the nation. Although the schools were founded in the same year by Rev. Pettigrew they were formed as the result of an idea by Reverend George Edward Cotton for children of Europeans with limited means. George Cotton was a master from Rugby College in the UK where he is described as a model young master in the English classic novel Tom Brown’s School Days by Thomas Hughes, a story about life and tradition in an English public school. The Cottons Schools’ records state they were the first schools in Asia in 1933 to introduce the House system on English public school lines with four Houses Pettigrew, Pope, Pakenham-Walsh and Elphick named after its Principals and a fifth, Thomas House, started recently. The Houses are the same for both schools which started out in the 19th century on the same site before the Girls School moved to a site across the street in 1911 called Stafford House. For 147 years Cottons Schools, through the House system, have developed a sense of self-worth in their students to achieve a purpose greater than themselves by being of value to society that is similar to the mission statement of Eton.
“A very strong aspect of my vision is the introduction of social conscience projects. Many Cottonians come from affluent backgrounds and we must never forget there is a very poor India too that needs our help,” he said. “Many of our Alumni now occupy important positions in the country and are having a say on how the country should progress. While we contemplate nation-building we need to educate our students to never lose sight of a more equitable society.” Whenever I spoke to business people, who were former Cottons students, they saw future business leaders in the country developing in schools like Bishop Cotton Boys and Girls Schools and are keen to donate time or funds to see the nationbuilding dream come true.
IN 2010 THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, THE RIGHT HONOURABLE DR ROWAN WILLIAMS, VISITED COTTON BOYS’ SCHOOL TO ADDRESS THE SCHOOL AND OVER THE YEARS DISTINGUISHED VISITORS SUCH AS THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH, GENERAL THIMMAYA, TWO PRESIDENTS OF INDIA INCLUDING THE LATE PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA, MRS INDIRA GANDHI HAVE ADDRESSED STUDENTS OF BOTH SCHOOLS. As part of an Outreach programme Bishop Cotton Boys’ School is one of a few schools that contributes to a scholarship fund to educate less fortunate among the diocese’s 31,000 students. The Boys and Girls schools support three Christian schools of the diocese providing students with funds to afford the essentials of life and schooling. As the first school in India to introduce a National Service Scheme under the motto ‘not me, but you’ through its funds and a mid-day meal scheme for every student, the Cottons Schools saved the United Mission School, a Christian school with a 150 year tradition, from closing its doors. Its actions led to the school being refurbished and with careful management students were attracted to the school.
Cottons’ reputation is so high that recently a league ladder survey of the best schools in India ranked Bishop Cotton Boys’ School second out of India’s 1.26 million Primary and Secondary Schools of which 1.25 are managed by the government. Bishop Cotton Boys’ School Principal, professor John Zachariah, is respectful of tradition and the achievements of the past but is more concerned about the future of his 5,500 students.
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Susan George, former Cottonian displaying a painting that captures Indian colours and themes.
The Cottons’ students are involved in the Outreach programme in different ways to experience an underprivileged situation and for individual development as part of Christian character-building. Every week students of senior classes visit senior citizens’ homes, places for mental health patients or even a jail visiting over 5000 residents from 50 institutions annually. The students share their experiences with others and raise funds to improve the living conditions of jail inmates or discuss their experiences with the aged and the mentally ill. The school is a world-beater in computer education with a multimedia centre where students from Kindergarten upwards are immersed in a labyrinth of Pentium terminals, multimedia kits, robotics and voice banks with imagecapturing recording facilities. In 2011 a team of Cottons boys represented their school and India in an international space settlement design competition and won the first prize in the competition from Britain, America and Rumania after being quizzed by NASA scientists. Susan George, former student from Bishop Cotton Girls’ School and business woman, who last year settled in White Gum Valley in Perth has commenced an ambitious project of bringing Indian culture through its Fine Arts to Perth and
hopes to educate schools, colleges and the public about the vast differences in regional art, sculpture and soft furnishings from India’s culturally rich states. She is proud of her school heritage but her project marks a changing of the guard from the days of the British Raj to a new India where Indian values, art and culture are reflected in the local Indian phrase ‘incredible India’ often heard in the country. “I hope to widen the horizons of children, parents and their teachers by exposing them to the best art, handicrafts and textiles of various states that are unique to them so that they can understand what is special to each Indian state. It will educate people about colour and sculpture that are part of the ancient world of India and show what some fine contemporary artists are doing today,” Ms George said. In Bangalore, students and artists visit her gallery to view a variety of art forms, objets d’art and works of Indian artists to appreciate colour, ancient and modern forms, contemporary paintings, Tibetan artefacts and textiles. She will launch a similar experience in Perth with the aim of exposing people to the diversity of Indian culture as reflected in its many forms.
Lydia Joshua, the new Principal of Bishop Cotton Girls’ School and former Deputy Principal at the Boys’ School, said that the school’s Fine Arts tradition was very popular and encouraged creativity. Although the school’s students placed in the very highest levels of academic achievement, setting challenging goals, values and service were considered to be equally important for her girls. She said that Old Cottonians were an important part of the school and that the Cottonian Association in Perth, organised by Ms Joyce Westrip OBE and the UK chapter by Pat Mamprin, held annual reunions since the Association was formed in 1927 in India, 52 years after the schools were founded.
LIONEL CRANENBURGH Lionel Cranenburgh is a Journalist, Career Specialist and an Old Cottonian who visited both schools in early 2012.
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SCRIBE GADGET GURU BRAD TYRRELL GAINS INSIGHTS INTO THE LATEST INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AVAILABLE TO SCHOOLS WHILE ATTENDING THE AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL FOR COMPUTER EDUCATION (ACCE) STUDY TOUR HELD IN CANADA AND AMERICA...
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n the second part of Term 2, I was fortunate enough to join the Australian Council for Computer in Education (ACCE) Study Tour. The tour focus was an opportunity to view and evaluate the various ICT programmes taking place in Canada and the United States of America, with the hope of bringing back fresh ideas to school communities in Australia. While looking at these schools we were also able to have scheduled visits with representatives from Google, CISCO, Oracle, Microsoft, Intel and Promethean. These excellent sessions provided a wealth of knowledge which I have blogged at: www.tyrrell.net.au The tour ended at the International Society for Technical Education (ISTE) in San Diego. ISTE holds an annual conference focusing on ICT development and classroom practices. Attracting approximately 17,000 educationalists from across the world, it was a truly inspiring event which I highly recommend attending. The conference keynote speaker was Sir Ken Robinson; TED speaker, education and creativity expert. Along with a panel of representatives looking at ICT and creativity in the classroom. The three main topics focussed on; The Flipped Classroom; BYOD (bring your own device) and Learning Space design. There was an impressive tradeshow exhibition space which took an entire day to cover. There was also an added bonus of the chance to meet vendors selling Learning Management Systems, Student Information Systems, spelling games for Pre-Primary and e-books. It was the perfect opportunity to look at other software and hardware available. The following are a few I found particularly interesting, not specifically for teachers, but for those interested in ICT.
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Sir Ken Robinson addresses delegates at the ISTE 2012 conference.
WIRELESS SYSTEMS AND HARDWARE – AEROHIVE http://www.aerohive.com/ A significant talking point in many schools currently is the idea of Wireless systems. I had heard of a new company called Aerohive in casual conversations prior to arriving at ISTE. However, I had not had the chance to speak to anyone regarding their products, so I took the opportunity to talk to their team directly at the conference. The highlights of this conversation were: •
No controller is used for their wireless networks. Each access point does its own routing, reducing the traffic across the network in general.
•
Aerohive now have a partnership with JAMF (Casper Mobile Device Management Software) For those schools using iPads the management of profiles is somewhat hard to manage; the student can remove the profiles
Students at Cindrich Primary School Vancover Canada – iPad Pilot School.
when syncing to a computer, thereby creating more work for the IT support teams in schools. To combat this, Aerohive have put together a software package that works on their Access Points, allowing Casper (JAMF Product) to detect a device is not enrolled and then automatically starts the process. The final part of Aerohive’s package is a stand alone Virtual Machine allowing bridging to virtual networks. Teachers’ iPads are on a different network to students, making it impossible for shared use in the classroom. The new Aerohive software bridges both the teachers and students networks, allowing sharing
across both and therefore creating the ability for both teacher and students to work simultaneously on the same programmes.
LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM – HAIKU http://www.haikulearning.com/ One thing made extremely clear at the tradeshow was the idea that schools’ online space needs a system which is user-friendly at the same time as meeting the needs of various devices. There were many to look at, but the one showing the most promise was a product called Haiku. Haiku’s platform could be used on an iPad, allowed embedding to YouTube and any number of multimedia websites seamlessly – and it was user-friendly. Above all it did not look like an access database; I believe many companies seriously overestimate how important the ‘look and feel’ is to students using their products. Haiku has the ability for students to submit work, to annotate on word documents within the LMS along with a range of other features. Be aware though, it is only an LMS and not the universal online bullet many schools are looking for. There did not appear to be a company who does Pastoral Care, Student Information Systems and Learning Management Systems all rolled into one.
IPAD COVER/CASE – IBALLZ http://www.iballz.info/ All schools are conscious of protecting their resources: iPads in particular can be prone to damage i.e. being dropped in transit! While there are many iPad covers available on the market, the iBallz cover is particularly interesting. The iBallz cover is very basic with four large foam balls fitted onto each corner of the iPad and a band to keep them attached. A case then wraps around it, acting as an additional safety measure. The smart thing about this case is it is light.
Trevor Galbraith and Brad Tyrrell at the Googleplex in Palo Alto.
Usually very protective iPad cases are cumbersome and heavy, which can take away from the positive aspects of the iPad. With the iBallz, no matter which way you drop it, it never makes contact with the ground. I watched the creator demonstrate by throwing an iPad around. So for another protective solution check out iBallz – it has very good potential and I will highly recommend them.
their files and sharing. ebackpack.com has a submit functionality as well as hosting files in the cloud, removing home access issues etc. It really is worth a look, it is also very inexpensive!
WEBDAV FOR IPADS http://www.Ebackpack.com Finally, while the iPad is the main topic/product of choice in many schools, its simple needs are hard to meet without good IT support: in particular ‘how to get information to the students /how to get work back?’ These needs are fundamental and must be easily accomplished. The key method has been the setting up of WebDAV on local servers, however, this is harder to do than initially thought. (Note: WebDAV is a system within windows allowing a shared drive to appear and is integrated into many apps). I attended three presentations of schools using iPads for more than three years and all three said in 2012 they were going to start using ebackpack.com to manage
The study tour was an excellent learning curve with many new IT insights achieved. You can check out more information on the tour and individual school ideas on my blog at the following link www.tyrrell.net.au BRAD TYRRELL
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TEACHERS & STUDENTS – CAN THEY BE FRIENDS? QUESTION: Many teachers and educationalists argue a friendly and relaxed atmosphere in the classroom helps learners develop more quickly, but is it really possible for teachers and students to be true friends? What are your thoughts? As a Primary School teacher, I don’t think being a “true friend” of my students helps their learning. I take the approach of starting the school year firm but fair, ensuring my lessons and classroom resources are engaging and relevant. Then I add the fun in once I’ve got them into a good routine! I have found once children push the “friend” boundary with me, they get a bit cheeky (particularly if I have a chatty class) and they start to do their own thing during my lessons! I like to be a fun teacher, but I can’t have exciting lessons without the respect of the children – towards me and their peers.
MELISSA – SUCCESS I had an Art teacher in school whose approach was to simply support his students in any way possible so we could aspire to be whatever we wanted. We were devastated when he left our school when I was in Year 12 but I remained in touch with him in what was a difficult year. Although we lost touch for some time, I sought his guidance once again when I was confused about my university degree and whether it was right for me. Since I entered the teaching profession, I have gained his advice in so many more challenging situations and I see him as not only a mentor, but now a personal friend. I hope to be a teacher like him; where I can offer a type of support and encouragement for my students not only while they are in my class, but for years to come.
LENNON – PERTH As a Drama teacher it’s necessary to create a relaxed and friendly environment as students need to feel comfortable enough
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to participate in the practical nature of the tasks set. I think students also learn better this way as the teacher is approachable and students are confident to ask questions etc. However this is different to being ‘true friends’ with the students. I don’t think it is possible because you still need to be respected as the higher authority and ‘true friends’ are on equal sitting. You share some of the most personal experiences of your life with ‘true friends’ however you would never share this with the students you teach. I think all teachers should work to create a relaxed and friendly environment for their students however know where the line is and maintain the professional nature of the relationship :)
JONELLE – FACEBOOK SUBMISSION My daughter has had 3 teachers now whom have really helped her through. Her Year 2 teacher went out of her way to be there for her when she was incredibly vulnerable and her Year 3 teacher gave her cuddles when she cried. She has since changed schools and when we have bumped into these teachers at other functions her face lights up, as do theirs and she runs to hug them. They are still in contact with me and ask about her regularly. Her new teacher is also another awesome teacher who has had so much positive influence on her, it warms my heart. Her self-confidence has gone through the roof and so have her grades. It is so important they have teachers they see as friends. That doesnt mean teachers have to include them in their social circle or take them out drinking. There is always a level of respect between friends regardless of authority. I think it gives the teacher a greater platform of respect but mainly it means if something is bothering your child or hurting them (including their parents) they have someone they trust and admire to turn to. And I’m sure the relationship is valued by both. A big thanks to all those incredible teachers who go above and beyond the call of duty. These can only be described as the ‘actions of a friend.’
TANYA – FACEBOOK SUBMISSION It is not only possible for teachers and students to become friends, it is almost inevitable. Friendship comes in all
shapes and sizes and it has absolutely no boundaries or rules. After spending a year together in each other’s company, learning so much about each other, sharing ups and downs, laughter and tears, successes and failures, guiding, learning from and growing with each other, it would be very hard at the end of the day, not to develop bonds of mutual affection with your students. The definition of a friend I feel is simply someone you know, like and trust. The students we befriend may not become close or life-long friends but we do often make lasting connections and create treasured memories with these gorgeous little people who we guide and mentor, and who I have always found, guide and mentor me. Healthy friendships challenge each other. Religion, race and gender are factors that can often test the strength of any friendship. Age is merely another dynamic that challenges a relationship. Like any friendship where a significant age gap exists, there are responsibilities and boundaries that must be respected. But where things like trust, admiration, nurture, fun, laughter, disagreements, familiarity, respect, appreciation, gratitude and camaraderie develop, so too does a meaningful friendship. Considering your students as friends doesn’t relieve teachers of any responsibility to do their job well. High standards and expectations to be well behaved and try your best are still crucial in all classrooms. I believe, in creating a friendly and relaxed classroom, where students feel happy, encouraged and supported to be the best people they can be, will help our little friends shine, not only at school, but in all aspects of their lives.
KRISTY – ATTADALE Thank you to all of our contributors! Kristy from Attadale has won our monthly prize, congratulations! Send your opinions to our forum by going to our website: http://scribemagazine.com.au/contact-us/
Or go to our Facebook page as we regularly publish forum competitions online! The SCRIBE team.
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Foundation
Brick Programme 2012 A $500 CONTRIBUTION FROM YOUR SCHOOL OR BUSINESS WILL BUY YOU A PERSONALISED ANODISED ALUMINIUM PLAQUE WITH YOUR PERSONAL MESSAGE OF HOPE TO THE CHILDREN OF MUKURO, KENYA (AFRICA). Your purchased brick will be permanently positioned in the ‘Heart of the School’ Memorial as a reminder of your generosity and a symbol of Hope for this community to develop and grow. All collected funds will contribute to the new school block and electricity for the school which are immediate requirements and will ensure the children in Class 3 can continue their
education into 2013. You will receive a personalised photo with the children and your plaque, a personalised letter from the children for your generous support and will be welcomed into our support team, where you will receive monthly updates on the development and progress of the School – YOU are encouraged to join us on this journey! Your contribution will make a direct impact on the children and their families, and we will involve you every step of the way! For more information and to donate to our cause, go to our website:
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