Informed by student interest, Grimwade House’s community engagement programs aim to build students’ knowledge of, and connections with, the communities around them.
A child-focused approach
Reflecting our inquiry-based model in the classroom, we introduce community issues using a student-led approach. From our first incursions to interstate excursions, we begin each community interaction from a child-focused point of view, talking about ideas such as sustainability, leadership and responsibility to develop students’ understanding of their place in the wider world.
Service learning program
We first introduce the idea of responsibility to the community to our Prep students through simple classroom responsibility roles. Service learning becomes more formal in Year 2 through our Class Captain program, giving each class their own representative to express ideas and concerns.
By Year 6 our students can take on more opportunities for self-development by participating in activities such as peer support in the playground, peer reading, or assisting with music, Chapel and eLearning programs.
Classroom concepts in action
Through both incursions and excursions, our students start to see how classroom concepts and ideas operate in the world beyond Grimwade House. These expand on classroom learning while building students’ knowledge of their roles and responsibilities in the community.
Recent experiences include:
- meeting with fire fighters
- discussing philosophical ideas with religious practitioners
- examining the way St Kilda has changed over time
- spending time inside Parliament House in Canberra