As part of their learning, Year 2 students were posed with the question; “How can we make people feel welcome at St Francis Xavier?”
This inquiry question enabled all students to undertake an unexpected learning journey that included literacy, numeracy, health, digital technologies, arts and religious education to name a few. Children initially brainstormed what opportunities they could explore when discussing the question, how we can make people feel welcome? Student ideas were created in a range of audio and visual presentations and uploaded to our digital learning platform, SeeSaw.
After reading the text, All are Welcome (Literacy) and listing potential options, students arrived at an idea of creating a natural environment where all people could come and be part of the St Francis Xavier community. This involved the revitalisation of a garden bed to include stepping stones, planting of additional trees and screening off of air-conditioning units. The finishing touch was the creation of the buddy bench. This presented students with a completely new set of learning opportunities.
To ensure sustainability, students researched materials in which the Buddy Bench could be made from. Students learnt that a company located in Victoria (HASS) created benches from recycled milk lids. After months of collecting and sorting lids, the buddy bench could finally be made… almost.
From here students had to create rules that were fair and promoted equality (Health), survey students and graph the results (Numeracy) to choose the most popular colour and finally, design the Buddy Bench (Arts). Once this had been completed the bench was finally ordered. Not withstanding delays, the garden and bench have recently been completed.
Students in Year Two are now constructing posters (Literacy and Arts) to communicate the purpose and rules around the revitalised space. This journey highlights the importance of providing authentic, real world learning experiences to students. We know that by providing an engaging curriculum, deep learning will occur as evidenced in this unit.
Just one example of the rich learning experiences students are exposed to at St Francis Xavier.
To learn more about St Francis Xavier’s vibrant learning experiences or organise your obligation free tour contact our friendly reception on 9923 5800 or visit https://sfx.wa.edu.au/enrolments/
