Getting together highlight of OneSchool calendar
Thursday 4th May, 2017
One
issue that sets OneSchool apart from other educational institutes is that its state
campuses are some distance apart. This means teachers and students in
leadership positions have to help coordinate activities between the different
campuses.
Glenvale’s
Mary Baxter is a teacher who helps make sure that activities are running on
track, not just within a site itself, but within the state, too. The students
are on board, too.
“For
many students, the highlight of their Semester is the Cluster Days and any
excursions run with other sites,” says Mary. “For example, last year our
students attended a full day of camping style activities with two other sites.
They had a great time meeting other students and participating in a variety of
physical and at times challenging activities. Cluster Sports days are also a
highlight. Each site takes turns at organising either a day of team sports or a
mini athletics carnival and all the students meet up from the different sites,
are allocated to their House Teams and spend the day playing together for a
House win.”
Although distance is an issue, students who help organise events show a lot of
generosity by giving up their time.
“The
geographical location of each site often determines how restricted one is with
the types of activities run,” says Mary. “The students are expected to run
activities during non-teaching times at our site so they utilise their lunch
times and Sports afternoons really well. We also have a fabulous school band
and choir and our students regularly visit hospitals/nursing homes to perform.
I believe this is an activity shared by several sites in Victoria.
“The
types of activities vary from site to site. Student activities include
sporting, leadership, fund raising and house team/team building types of
activities. Our student leadership team is very proactive in organising
student-focused activities whereby they have a financial goal in mind and a
special purchase and each year level gets to arrange an in-house activity to
raise funds for that project.
What are some of the benefits and challenges of these professional working groups? There are several barriers to overcome, but the outcomes make it worth the effort, says Mary.
“From a student’s perspective, the who are at small sites enjoy the noise and the hustle and bustle of other friends,” she says. “The really sporty types like the challenge of playing against sporty types. The students learn to be resilient and to very quickly communicate with new friends and work in teams.
“The greatest challenge is travel – the distances often mean the day starts very early and finishes late. The State timetable is a good initiative but also has curbed the ability to introduce in-house pastoral programs or other activities that may be a priority at one’s site.”
“The One School newsletter showcases school based activities/student bands etc. This made managers at the different sites more accountable and so they are being more proactive at the organisation of student centered activities. The introduction of RPs has also been beneficial in the push for consistency of student experiences.”
