Perseverance

This week we saw the result of great perseverance. In 2002, I was lucky enough to teach the Year 5/6 L.E.A.P. class (Learning Enrichment Activities Program). It involved a small group of students and the exciting brief to challenge and enrich their learning with whatever projects we wanted to work on.

Our 鈥楶layground Project鈥� was an authentic learning experience with different groups of students running various aspects of the project. For example, some children measured and mapped the areas under consideration; others wrote formal letters and emails to organise visits and visitors including companies they had researched who specialised in playground design. The students organised an excursion to visit various parks and playgrounds around Perth, including booking the bus and a suitable driver and completing the necessary paperwork and risk assessment matrix. They carried out surveys, analysed the results and made a huge display of all our learning on the classroom wall. Various students practised writing formal emails, making business telephone calls (some in front of the class 鈥� you might be surprised to know that for some it was the first time they had made a formal phone call!) and inviting speakers in from different companies.

We sought fundraising advice from Mr Wight, an American fundraiser who urged the children to 鈥渁ppeal to the hearts and memories鈥� of our community and remind them of their own playground days, which launched our fundraising campaign, and included a video for which the storyboard and script were entirely led and written by the students.

The most challenging aspect of the whole project was, in fact, the sourcing of a company which had the staff and time to make the dream a reality. Believe it or not, it took two years to successfully have the playground installed and some of the original student group came down to the Primary School to 鈥榗ut the ribbon鈥� and let in the many children who wanted to come and admire the product of their work. I talked briefly about perseverance and the need to never give up 鈥� there were times when we had wondered whether we would ever see the fruits of their labour, but the lesson learnt was hopefully that perseverance pays off. And watching the children playing on the obstacle course at recess today showed how worthwhile the L.E.A.P. class鈥檚 work had been.

听

Julie Harris

Principal