The teachers of Hopetown School in Wyong on the NSW Central Coast chose the S.E.A.T Project for their students to support their social and emotional learning program. Hopetown School caters for primary and secondary students who have difficulties coping in mainstream settings. Their programs emphasise social and emotional learning as well as academic, living and vocational skills which are developed in a therapeutic environment.
2019
Hopetown’s second year of S.E.A.T has them finding their own creative twist on our education program. After completing their SEAT build, a group of Year 5 & 6 students have investigated bamboo as a sustainable resource and considered the benefits of building homes with bamboo. They are now in the process of building their own model bamboo homes in their classroom and they look great!
Next, research – the primary student’s carried out their own research into the Solomon Islands. Students were shocked at the way many people live and the lack of schooling due to the poor living conditions. The students are very interested in helping families and schools. They also had a visit from a teacher in the Solomon Islands to give them first hand insights on life in the Solomons. The BEA plan was a little overwhelming for these students, so their teacher adapted and modified the lessons. The students brainstormed their ideas and collated their responses onto this chart.
And finally, the most exciting part of the project, students fund-raised for their new Solomon Island friends including the sale of their decorated SEATs. Money raised was used to send directly to the school (as freight can be expensive) where basic needs for the students could be purchased on home ground.
These are photos of the children sitting on the chairs bought with your second donation. This is for the first time these children are sitting on chairs. Some of these kids not even have chairs in their homes. This is a great life changing for them. These children are very happy and ask many questions about Hopetown School. The donations bring a lot of new life experiences for these children. The children, mum and the community send their big thank you to you, your students and Hopetown School for your donations. The children and mum were saying they have nothing to give you return, however, they feel they are connected with you through the beautiful heart your school have for them. May God’s blessing be upon you all. ”
Sharon Frank – teacher/daughter of founder Grace Kirimaoma, Grace Divine School, Malaita Province, Solomon Islands
2017
Prior to starting the project with our Year 7 to 9 students, we discovered that they had very little knowledge of Vietnam. We decided to implement a unit of work about Vietnam during Term 1 in order to prepare students for the commencement of the Project in Term 2.
The students worked very well when constructing the SEATs in small groups and have enjoyed participating in lessons that have followed. Some students have shown a lot of interest in researching the contributors to the project and responded really well to the Two Pots story. They thought very carefully about their end designs and how they were going to have a positive impact on others.
The students proudly exhibited their SEATs at their end year school presentation. All the SEATs were gifted to the community. It was a very worthwhile project – it had a positive impact on the attitude of our students.”
Rebekkah Grounsell – classroom teacher
Pokemon
Inspired by Nature
Minecraft
Man’s Best Friend
