At Grimwade House, our community engagement activities aim to build students’ knowledge of, and connections with, the communities around them. We invite the world around us into the classroom, and regularly take students out to explore it firsthand.
The activities we offer are informed by student interest, reflecting the inquiry-based approach that underpins our curriculum.
Connecting classroom concepts to the world
Through both incursions and excursions, our students are gradually introduced to the ways in which classroom concepts and ideas operate in the world beyond Grimwade. These expand on classroom learning and increase students’ knowledge of their roles and responsibilities in the community.
In addition to outdoor education activities, recent excursions have included places as diverse as Werribee Open Range Zoo, the Shrine of Remembrance, Sovereign Hill, Scienceworks and the Ian Potter Gallery just to name a few.
We also regularly have educational visits to the School from, for example, Olympic athletes and AFL/AFLW stars, adventurers and explorers, business people and, during Book Week, authors and illustrators.
Year 6 students also travel to Canberra to build on their learning about democracy and increase their understanding of how our government operates. This end-of-primary excursion is a further opportunity to strengthen relationships with peers and teachers and to refine skills in negotiation, teamwork, and leadership.
Service learning
Building an understanding about the importance of providing service to our community is a fundamental tenet at Melbourne Grammar School.
“Anyone can lead because anyone can serve, and I think this sums up the way we understand student leadership across our campuses.” – Ben Hanisch, Deputy Headmaster and Head of Senior School. Read more.
In the early years, we introduce the idea of community responsibility by asking students to provide service to their immediate community – their classmates and teachers. For Prep students this translates to assigning simple classroom ‘helping’ roles. In Year 2, service learning becomes more formal through our Class Captain program, which gives each class their own representative to express ideas and concerns.
By Year 6, students are ready to take on larger internally focused service roles by participating in activities supporting younger students such as participating in a buddy program, providing support in the Loer Primary playground areas, and assisting with reading, music, Chapel and eLearning activities.
Each year the students democratically select one or more charities they would like to support for the year on a whole campus basis. Most recently, this has included the Royal Children's Hospital. The campus also regularly supports the Anglicare Christmas appeal.
More broadly, other recent student activities have included:
- Organising the collection of essential food items for families facing financial hardship in the Port Phillip Community together with creating cards with heartfelt messages for the families.
- Presenting concerts at aged care facilities
- Writing notes of thanks to our neighbours and dropping them in their mailboxes
- Actively participating in R U OK? Day
- Making blankets for RSPCA animals
- Picking up rubbish in a local park
“One of the things I learned at Melbourne Grammar was that it’s really important to do something with the good fortune we have, and to share that with others.” - Joe Hewett (OM 1993), Principal of a remote First Nations school Read more.
Sustainability
Across Grimwade House, students are encouraged to engage in sustainable practices as part of their everyday routine. Small actions such as composting food scraps, recycling, and turning lights off when not in the room all build a greater awareness of sustainability.
Through our outdoor education program, students have further opportunities to understand their impact on the natural world and the actions they can take to protect it. For example, Year 6 students recently visited ‘The Cape’ sustainable housing and community garden project during their expedition to Camp Dowd.
“The Year 6 students met with Gardener Adrian and helped out with planting, feeding worms, and harvesting. Some of the foods currently growing include pomegranates, pumpkin, basil, apples, lettuce, and beetroot, and they are available for the whole community to enjoy.”—Julia Lin and Will Day, Year 6. Read more.
Broader perspectives on sustainable practices are an inherent component of the curriculum at Grimwade House. For example, in Year 5 Year students undertake self-directed inquiries to find and deliver creative solutions to food, fashion and e- waste.
In Year 6, and with a $20 ‘start-up’ allowance, students are challenged to use recycled and/or sustainable materials to create products they can sell at a School stall with any profit being donated to charity.
Students also recently worked with staff from the Royal Botanic Gardens and played an active role in the Raising Rarity program. This program intends to help conserve endangered plant species in Victoria.
“The opportunity is a great way for collaboration with other people both at school and outside the classroom. It is enjoyable to know I have been able to help make a difference in the conservation of endangered plants.” - Ethan Fok, Year 6 Read more.
Beyond this, students regularly participate in bespoke activities which support environmental awareness and stewardship.
For example, they organised the collection of blister packs (often used to package medication) from the Grimwade House community for specialist recycling. Read more.