Shannon Farrugia was grinning from ear to ear on Friday when Aboriginal elders conducted a smoking ceremony for Albion Park High School’s new living classroom.
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‘’We are turning the soil on a site that we want to use for educational purposes and the longevity of this project, it must have a spiritual foundation for it to work,’’ he said.
‘’The projects that last have a spiritual foundation and have the blessing from our Aboriginal elders.’’
Mr Farrugia coordinates the Skills 21 class, an alternative pedagogy class that targets disengaged or Albion Park High School students who do not respond to mainstream classes.
We want to challenge the archaic tradition of teaching in four walls.
- Shannon Farrugia
‘’As a teacher watching children connect their learning through project-based activities such as our living classroom, this is really special,’’ he said.
‘’The change I’ve seen in our students over the last three terms is brilliant. They’ve gone from attendance rates from 20 per cent to now 90 per cent, so that is showing us that they want to come to school.
‘’And that stems purely through project based learning, getting them to do hands-on activities and learning all the curriculum via project-based learning.’’
The living classroom will feature more than just a garden. It will feature seating circles, art projects and an outdoor whiteboard study area.
‘’Teachers, whether they are teaching maths, English or science, can actually come out here and deliver their content outside amongst the trees, amongst the vegetables,’’ Mr Farrugia said.
‘’It is about getting students out of the four walls.
‘’We want to challenge the archaic tradition of teaching in four walls – that’s the whole idea of the living classroom.’’