PROJECT TITLE: Building Connections in Health & HASS

(Term 2 and Term 3, 2024) 

School Name: Manjimup Primary School
Teacher’s Name: Takara Rodgers

Year Group: 5-6
Number of students: 26

Creative’s Name: Nic Sinclair

Creative Practice(s) (e.g. visual art, music, etc.): Writer

Main Curriculum Focus: Health (Term 2) and HASS (Term 3)

Cross-curricular Links: English, Arts (Drama, Visual Arts) and Technology

 Context: Manjimup Primary School is one of two government schools servicing Manjimup. It has a student population of 270. Our class was of mixed ability and quite multicultural compared to other towns in the area. The group is shaped by students who have ongoing substance abuse in their family and students whose families are disconnected. There are several high-needs students (ADHD, Autism and anxiety issues). At the start of the program, the class was quite disjointed, and resistant to working outside of friendship groups. Previous assumptions about others made them reluctant to work with certain people.

Takara is a teacher by vocation and was raised in Perth. She has taught overseas and in summer camps in the US, and previously worked as a teacher aide. She is generous, passionate about education and loved by her students. Nic also has a teaching background.

WHAT WE DID  

Project overview:

In Term 2, the Health topic was Puberty. Students were genuinely curious (if a little squeamish!) about the topic. They learnt about both the physical and emotional changes experienced by boys and girls during this developmental stage. We always reassured them that everyone goes through puberty, and ‘normalised’ changes as much as possible. We explored how puberty was marked/celebrated in other cultures (micro to the macro study) - further reflecting that puberty is a natural progression for a human.  The culminating task was the creation of a Teen Survival Kit which reflected their learning, and was donated to local community outreach/support groups.

In the third term we focussed on Government and Civics. Students gained an understanding of the values that underpin democracy and were introduced to the Westminster system and structure of Government in Australia (regional, state and national levels). A key focus was ‘hands on learning’ and involved guest speakers, election campaigning and voting, and the creation of a Parliamentary Diorama. Traditionally this is quite a content-heavy and dry subject, and our aim was to make the term interactive and fun.

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How did we make the curriculum come alive?

Simply - we did not use a single worksheet (unusual when teaching Health or Civics!) and we are very proud of this. We also made the curriculum come alive by making material relevant to the students. In particular, the unit on Puberty was a real success because students were very aware of the topic, but many knew little about various aspects.

Sessions were very ‘hands on’ and students enjoyed the making and building sessions across both terms: drama role plays, making deodorant and stress balls to ease the physical and emotional changes during puberty, and creative expression via visual art – the life size drawings by ‘expert’ boy and girls groups of the changes encountered in puberty were a standout, as were the Government Dioramas, a 3D model reflecting student research.

Inviting different voices to share knowledge embedded in the curriculum was another highlight. Donelle Buegge, the Shire President, was a hit with the class and made politics accessible and ‘real’ for them – she was generous, engaging and approachable. The AIEOs, Jason and Mel, spoke about Noongar rites of passage, and Jason gave important advice when learning about customs of other countries – suspend judgement, just because it’s different, it doesn’t make it bad or wrong. This was helpful context going prior to researching puberty and the rites of passage of different cultures. Learning from people, rather than textbooks, was a key way the curriculum came alive. Students also went on two excursions – the local police station and lock-up and while on Camp, the Year 6s visited Parliament House. These interesting, engaging outings supported our activities in class.

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How did we make the 5 Habits of Learning come alive?

We were committed to making the 5 Habits explicit. We used the terminology throughout the lesson and often asked after the Warm Up or an activity, ‘what Habits have you been employing’? Team teaching was something that came easily for us. We modelled the Habits regularly (especially collaboration, inquisitiveness, persistence) explicitly mentioning them when we did so.

The Creative Habit-at which monitored the use of the 5 Habits was a real success (both as an activity in its own right, and as an effective way to record our reflections). Students were part of an expert group that created a hybrid animal (from two existing animals) which symbolised a particular Habit. They had to justify their design to the class, and draw a specific habitat for their original animal (the impetus for this idea came from a class brainstorm). For example – a red fox morphed with an owl for Inquisitiveness and its habitat was a red woodland. During our reflection discussions, we tallied the amount of time spent on each Habit, and added a square of corresponding coloured paper to the Habitat for every 10 mins spent on that Habit. This was a clear way of demonstrating how many Habits we’d used, and how often. By the end of the program, all 5 Habits were almost equally utilised. The Creative Habitat is in the middle of the classroom and forms a vibrant display!

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How did we activate student voice and learner agency?

Both units began with two questions:  What do you know? What do you want to know? Student ideas were given in the group brainstorm or via the anonymous suggestion box and these ideas and questions guided our programming. Interestingly, they reflected the curriculum! We often asked – how are you tracking? do you need more time? If the group consensus was that more time was needed, we acted accordingly, modifying our program.

When we had guest speakers, students compiled their own questions to ask. They all had the chance to speak. They took responsibility for what they wanted to learn, and many of the questions reflected deep thinking and insight.

A student came up with the idea of having an election to decide what the final assessment in HASS would be. This idea gained traction and although not our original plan, we went with it. It was great that we did as it allowed for learning about political parties, campaigning, election ballots and counting preferential voting slips – all part of the curriculum! The winning idea (Dioramas) was a surprise to us, and although daunted at first, we remained curious and trusted the students would be able to complete the challenge. They did! As part of the task, they had to compile their own research focus questions – encouraging them to be more autonomous and independent (good practise for high school), and then present their findings in a 3D form. In a similar way, during the Puberty unit, students decided what would be on the Teen Survival Kit checklist, giving them agency, and they added thoughtful personal touches we had not considered (for example, a bar of chocolate, a fidget spinner etc).

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WHAT WAS THE IMPACT?

Student: The class became far more cohesive by the end. Students accepted the random groupings and were more tolerant of others and became more open to activities and working with each other. This was a great outcome! Public speaking and confidence increased and they were also more willing to share their vulnerability (indicated by how many wanted to share their check-in metaphor at the start of each lesson). For many students, leadership skills developed as a result of the many different groups they worked in over the duration of the program. On the whole, they became more independent learners – less spoon-feeding  – which is good preparation for high school.

Teacher:  Takara enjoyed the collegiality and collaboration of the program, and taking time out to plan and reflect on lessons with another person. She now understands that fun activities can be really useful learning tools/opportunities and offer deep thinking. Going forward, she will use our format of a Check-in and Warm Up on Monday mornings as this helps the group gel post weekend. She will definitely use the Puberty and HASS programs again. Takara connected with the AIEOs at MPS (something she’d wanted to do for a while). She gained insight into how best to approach Aboriginal people when seeking advice, and that careful consideration and awareness of cultural sensitivity is needed when requesting information, organising class interaction etc. She knows she’s on an important learning curve, and has established strong connections with both Mel and Jason due to her willingness to take risks and prioritise Noongar perspectives.

Creative: Takara and Nic have similar ideas about education, people and life so an easy working relationship was established early. This rubbed off on the students – and the whole program just felt seamless. Initially, Nic was reluctant to teach Puberty and Government but found them both to be very rewarding experiences. Thinking of ways to make dry material palatable for students, and to be okay with the discomfort of talking about puberty motivated us to take a leap of faith and think outside of the box. It’s reinforced for me that kids WANT to have these types of conversations and are grateful when we do, and it’s been a helpful way to begin those conversations with my own children. Also, humour in discomfort is paramount!

School: The Creative Habitat display is a visible marker for visitors to the classroom. We invited both Aboriginal Education Officers in to talk about Puberty and in Term 3, governance, from a Noongar perspective. This provided important context. It also fosters cultural respect, sensitivity and inclusivity within the school - important for school culture. The Leadership team and the Year 6 class were invited to the Showcase presentation of the Dioramas. Takara informed parents via SeeSaw that we were studying puberty and invited any questions, concerns etc. Some parents said they were grateful that Puberty was being discussed (they’d been trepidatious about beginning those conversations themselves). Takara approached the MPS P&C who supported our project by funding the Teen Survival Kits (good collaboration within the school).

The Shire President Donelle Buegge was a wonderful guest speaker and it was great for students to connect with a local politician. Jane Kelsbie (MLA) was also keen to come but unfortunately the timing never worked. Student Dioramas will be displayed in the community (e.g. Shire offices, library) and Teen Survival Kits distributed through throughout the shire to teens in need.