PROJECT TITLE: Sustainability Farming Robots and the 6 Noongar Seasons

(Term 2 and Term 3, 2024)

School Name: Walliston Primary School

Teacher’s Name: Josef Rayment

Year Group: 5 & 6

Number of students: 28

Creative’s Name: Claire Davenhall

Creative Practice(s) (e.g. visual art, music, etc.): Visual Artist - Sculptor

CURRICULUM AREA: Technology and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories & cultures.

Cross-curricular Links:

• HASS Geography, Science - Biological Sciences.

• English - Listening & speaking interactions.

• Maths - Units of measurements

• English - Listening & speaking interactions.

• GENERAL CAPABILITIES – Literacy, Numeracy, ICT, Critical & Creative Thinking, Personal & Social Capabilities & Ethical Understanding.

• CCP – Sustainability

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Context:

Walliston Primary School is located in a bushland setting at one of the highest points in the hills, east of the city of Perth. Their school motto “AIM HIGH” refers not only to our geographical location but to the expectations we place upon ourselves as educators and our expectations of our students. Walliston Primary School enrols families, not students, with a strong sense of COMMUNITY, that embodies a CONNECTED CULTURE and inspires CREATIVE minds for the future.

“The warmup games are really fun.” (Student)

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WHAT WE DID  

Project overview

In Term 2, students designed and built Farming Robots from cardboard and Lego league machines around the theme of Sustainability. They developed an app to control their robots and presented their designs and tested their machines using coding on mats.

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During term 3, students learnt about the 6 Noongar Six Seasons and the plants and animals in their native garden. They designed a footpath that highlights the features of the seasons around the yarning circle as a way to improve the area of the school and illustrate what important events that happen during the seasons. They turned their designs into clay bricks to be installed around the fire pit adding footprints from their totem animals.

At the end of each class, students made a Totem of native animals from an old t-shirt and wool. Their totem was an animal or plant they had a special connection with a reminder they are responsible for looking after their animal or plant in its habitat. At the End of each class, students wrapped wool around their totem in the colour of the creative habit they developed the most during their creative school session.

Noongar Six Seasons

● Birak (December - January)

● Bunuru (February - March)

● Djeran (April - May)

● Makuru (June - July)

● Djilba (August - September)

● Kambarang (October - November)

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How did we make the curriculum come alive?

We made the curriculum come alive through various project-based teaching and learning activities using recycled sustainable materials. We applied connected to a real-world application and gained feedback from the rest of the group to refine and improve their robots. They tested the robots by coding and navigating them on mats, merging practical skills with theoretical knowledge.

“I love Creative Schools I find it very engaging for the students. It gives them freedom and there is a natural extension for the kids who need it. There is a cheer when Claire comes into the school. We’ve had student teachers who have been in the classroom when Creative Schools is on and they are saying that they haven’t seen anything like this before. As a school we came up with the Learning Powers which have tied in beautifully with the 5 Habits of Learning. Working with a Creative Practitioner is beautiful. I love the warmups and the focus on the 5 Habits of Learning is really helpful. The reflection totems are meaningful because the students discuss which habits they have developed in the workshops as they are working on their totems.”  Josef Rayment/Teacher

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

We made the 5 Habits of Learning come alive by using targeted warmup activities that develop their inquisitive and imaginative skills. They were designed to introduce the main creative habits to be developed in the rest of the session.  This set the scene for the whole project and the students loved them. One of their favourites was the Cheerios’ Chopsticks Stacking Farming Challenge, where students had to stack and line up as many Cheerios’ as they could using chopsticks while focusing on the creative habit of collaboration - Giving and receiving feedback. By the end of the project, students were designing their own warm-up activities. They provided meaning and purpose to the rest of the session.

“I’m strongest at being imaginative because I play with possibilities and different ideas.” (Student)

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How did we activate student voice and learner agency?

To activate student voice and learner agency students arranged themselves into groups according to the Noongar season they were born in. Surprisingly there were 4 students in each season except for Kambarang (the season of fertility) where there were 8. We asked them what they knew about the 6 Noongar Six Seasons and the plants and animals in their native garden. Then used their knowledge to create clay tiles round the Yarning Circle to reflect their learning.

“I noticed that everyone is enjoying it. They are enjoying the games at the start and getting to do the wrapping of the totems at the end.” (Student)

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WHAT WAS THE IMPACT?  

“Creative Schools fits perfectly with our inquiry-based learning action plan. It’s about finding the balance between explicit and inquiry-based learning.” (School Deputy)

“With Creative Schools the kids come early to school so that they can work on their projects. They work on it whatever spare time they have. I’m looking at ways to share the expertise gained in Creative Schools with the wider staff”.  Craig Mainard/Principal

“Collaborating at Walliston Primary School has been an amazing experience, Jo has an ethic of excellence and has high expectations of his students and has a way of making learning really fun and engaging. The integration of robotics, sustainability, and Noongar culture is a beautiful way to foster both technical and cultural learning. I love how the totem-making process connects students with their environment while developing creative habits. I feel so inspired by the teaching and learning that has taken place in just 2 terms and made so many connections with students up the hills, his a creative community and a magical place to be.” (Creative Practitioner)

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