Above: Health Campaign – Fatigue (Felicia Ho & Alia Salgado, 2023)
It was intended to be viewed as an Instagram story which is easy for people to see, and access again if you ‘highlight’ it on your profile, and is a format that can quickly and cheaply reach many people. It is also useful if people want extra information, as, in theory, they could message the profile posting it. You may view it as a PDF format – above, or as a HTML embed below.
The RAC bstreetsmart excursion featured a crash scene re-enactment attended by emergency services, as well as testimonials from those directly impacted by road trauma; a man who had lost his legs as they lay twenty metres away, someone who became wheelchair bound, and someone whose group of high school friends had all died. Pupils were also given the opportunity to talk with the emergency service personnels. The excursion demonstrated the consequences of distracted driving, speeding, and drink and drug driving.
For me, this excursion highlighted the far-reaching effects of ‘personal’ decisions, such as drink driving, carelessness, and fatigue. Additionally, it emphasised the potential ramifications for yourself, and those around you; one could end up as a quadriplegic, with no further opportunity to play sport or walk, as well as a loss of independence, dignity, and freedom. Overall, this excursion served as a reminder of the importance of vigilance and care to ensure the safety of ourselves, and those in our circles.
Hence, young drivers should always err on the side of caution if unsure. This is crucial in preventing regrettable consequences, which could range from large amounts of debt to the loss of a friend. By critically considering the potential effects of actions, individuals can be kept safe, and the loss of independence, dignity and freedom can be prevented.
When I begin driving, I pledge to only drive when I am alert and not tired, and when I am not distracted. I will stick to these commitments by making effort to get adequate amounts of sleep each night, especially when driving the next day. This is instrumental in preventing fatigue, which would serve to keep myself and others safe; when energised, I will be able to respond quickly to any dangers around me, and make informed decisions; this could be the external surroundings, other drivers and passengers, and people who may make risky decisions. By committing to this pledge, this will help keep myself and others safe; this is crucial to preserving the quality of life for each person, as well as preventing regrettable consequences.
Earlier this year, as part of OLP, the Year 9 Cohort journeyed to Kalbarri. We went in two separate rotations and completed a variety of activities together. This ranged from hiking & exploring cliffs to more mellow activities, like journalling & self-reflection. Unlike our previous camps, this year had more flexibility; students could explore the area and complete various activities as the weather and our moods permitted.
The climax of the camp was hiking downwards to the 4 Ways Campsite. We explored the gorge, a majestic towering of patterned rocks and foliage. Some of us bravely fared the frigid water, and some even went rock jumping. From here, we were all faintly relieved to bushwalk to Z Bend. This was a welcome reprieve from the harsher conditions of the gorge, where the larvae had landed on our tents and buzzed at night. After quickly touching base at Z Bend, we canyoned, descending into the valley once more. At one point, the group abseiled, rock-climbed and gaped in awe at the spectacular view.
We sat near to our equipment so we could fulfil our roles. I was cooking in this photo.
Besides allowing us to become immersed in nature, this camp provided a valuable opportunity for teamwork and leadership. Although there were many instances when this was applied, the main component was when my teammates and I were cooking. This involved gathering utensils, preparing ingredients, the actual cooking, and cleaning and packing up. To distribute work evenly, we delegated roles, ensuring that we played to our strengths and were able to offer feedback & receive assistance as necessary.
Overall, our teamwork, communication and leadership led to an enjoyable OLP experience. Year 9 OLP proved to be an enlightening and challenging experience. Thank you to the Head of Outdoor Learning, Mr Zaurs, Mr J (Year 9/10 Co-ordinator), and to the staff that organized the trip & accompanied us.
This is my Oscar Performance for Semester One Screen Acting. I will be exploring the process as well as my thoughts on the final product. We were to work in a pair or small groups to present a notable and engaging scene that we had to film, selecting shots that most effectively presented the story. This scene was to showcase our range as an actor, challenging us in the process. Prior to the filming, we had to plan our vision for the scene. This included the shot types, technical requirements and context. We also had to rehearse and annotate the script to note down our choices. My partner and I chose to do a scene from Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets, where Harry Potter first meets Dobby the House Elf, due to our shared interest in the series. We discussed our idea with some peers, and they liked the idea of doing a Harry Potter scene.
Leading to the final production, we first had to familiarize ourselves with the context of our scene, so we could make informed and creative choices about how we play our characters. The Chamber of Secrets begins with a dreadful start to the summer holidays, with the Dursley’s characteristically mean behaviour making Harry yearn to go back to school more than ever.
Harry stops stunned as he sees Dobby.
Unexpectedly, Harry finds himself face to face with Dobby the house-elf, who tells him that if he goes back to Hogwarts, disaster will strike. My objective is to find out why Dobby is present, but his urgent and insistent pleas for me to not go back to school present an obstacle. My super-objective is to protect myself and those I love & care for.
I prepared for this performance through research (about the context and technical requirements) and rehearsal to put my knowledge into action. My partner and I could have rehearsed in a more practical way so we could utilize muscle memory to a fuller extent, however, this was difficult for both of us as we tend to prepare in our heads and then approach the practical task. Nonetheless, we each made several choices about how to play the character and the final technical design. We used Stanislavski’s techniques to develop performance.
Emotional memory involves the actor drawing on their own experiences to show what they would do if they were placed in the scenario, which was used through out. For example, in the line ” See why I’ve got to go back? I don’t belong here. I belong in your world — at Hogwarts. It’s the only place I’ve got .. friends.” showed emotions through voice.
Harry in a defensive position when meeting Dobby.
I used the beats/units to show when Harry’s train of thought changed, for example, when he says ” I see. Not to be rude of anything…” I used the given circumstances to understand the wider context of the scene in the whole story line and then to make informed choices. For example, to design the set effectively, the fundamental question of Where am I shows us that the scene takes place in a bedroom, so the set was a bed and small table. I also frequently used beats to develop the performance by showing the audience what the shifts in thought were.
Harry gestures to Dobby
However, I think I need to work on pauses and using longer beats to lengthen the moments of silence to show the emotion and make it seem more natural. (I think that this was somewhat of a problem/something not done very right because the moments of silence feel longer when you are performing it, rather than watching your performance back or from an audience perspective.) For example, when tell Dobby that “it’s the only place I’ve got friends.”, there should be a longer beat between that and ” I belong in your world — at Hogwarts.” This is to show the extent of the embarrassment I am feeling in having to admit something so personal to someone I’ve only just met, in order to persuade them and to clarify the situation to Dobby.
Harry is desperately quieting Dobby.
Throughout the scene, I made vocal and physical choices to play my character. I spoke in a natural voice at a normal speaking volume with no significant change to pitch. Upon entering, I halt my walking, stumbling on each of the first words (“what.. who are you?”, “I see, Why don’t you sit down?) to show that I am still struggling to comprehend the absurdity of the situation at hand, and how I am connecting the dots; that I have seen Dobby before, through the hedge when I was unwittingly being spied on (but did not give further thought to, as I think it irrational). This use of voice and movement also draws light to the surprise at the strange creature in my room, no less, on my bed. I also slowly stage move backwards as I am approached, revealing my apprehension and caution: he is a foreign creature, and I might want to keep my distance from him.
Harry using his kind and empathetic nature to care for Dobby
When Dobby tells me “It is difficult, sir, Dobby doesn’t know where to begin”, I scratch my head, gesturing to my bed as I suggest that he take a seat. When he bursts into noisy tears, I run over to him with outstretched arms, showing the desperation I feel about this pathetic, sobbing creature and the noise level. I think I may have slightly overdone this. To me, this looked slightly unnatural because if a stranger started bawling, you wouldn’t rush over that fast or shush them that loudly (this conflicts even more because Harry is kind). When I quiet him, I slightly back away from him, never touching. I did not use emphasis a lot, although at the start, I say “house elf” as if I do not know how to say it, as Dobby is the first of the foreign species I’ve met. The first half of the scene is meant to show my unsureness and the fact that while I want to find out what Dobby has to say, I do not want to offend him and I also need to keep it quiet enough for the Dursley’s downstairs.
Harry and Dobby mid-conversation.
In the second half, after Vernon comes, my voice is faster and thicker with emotion, as I have gotten to a desperate point where I want to convince Dobby, and myself, by admitting to intimate facts: that I only have friends at Hogwarts and not anywhere else. It shows the vulnerability Harry is feeling at this point. I was somewhat pleased with my use of voice in the second half, as it showed the spectrum of emotions that Harry feels, including vulnerability and isolation. When told I must not go back to Hogwarts, I look around, visualizing life with the Dursleys, and then turn to face Dobby.
Harry’s voice is thick with emotion as he admits he has no friends outside of school.
The horror I feel just by visualizing what dreadful things would happen shows in my voice. Leading up to this, when Uncle Vernon leaves the room, I step back and gesture to Dobby that “I don’t belong here”, emphasizing how I don’t fit in with the muggle life, with the Dursleys. It is to show him that I belong in Hogwarts and that it’s the only place I have friends – friends, as Dobby slyly suggests, that don’t even write to me. To this, I reply that my friends have probably been busy, which is why they haven’t written to me. I am faced away from him as if answering my own insecurities – I need to persuade myself as much as Dobby. I think that to say this line more effectively, to portray the character, I need to say this slowly as if I am unsure but am trying to sound confident.
On filming day, my partner and I were prepared, with our props and costumes ready. I think that this went relatively well, as we were prepared and we did several takes to get different shot types.
Harry grabbing his letters from Dobby
This semester in Screen Acting, I learnt how to be more subtle and more natural with mannerisms, movement and voice as the audience is (technically because of the camera) much closer. We also learnt how to use voice to convey the character’s thoughts and emotions through pace, pitch, emphasis, tone and intonation (how the voice moves). I also learnt how the objective and super-objective influence the choices that the actor makes so that they can develop character better. We also learnt how to use Adobe Premiere Rush to edit the scenes we did by cutting them and altering the audio.
Supported by our experience in previous markets and driven by the ambition to further improve, our group had a clear vision of what we wanted.
Previously, our group had sold soy candles, and while we agreed that it was successful, there would be increased competition with the onset of other candle groups as well as little creative freedom due to a rigid structure to follow when one made the candles.
In line with the upcoming Christmas season, we decided to produce laser cut Christmas cards under the name “GreetYourself”, a memorable play on the notable words “treat yourself.” At the market itself, we produced a large amount of revenue, more than four of our previous, selling out in the first 45 minutes. We were also much more organized and creative in the process and had a highly successful outcome. Something that was quite intriguing was that unlike candles and notebooks (our previous products), the cards were not overly labour intensive, as the laser cutter was tasked with the most laborious work of carving the designs that we had previously transferred to Adobe. With this, we all gained valuable skills, most significant were our newly polished Adobe skills and our ability to work the laser-cutter.
This terms journey was an intentional one, with organization, problem-solving and innovation being the backbone of it all.
Our table set up. To improve, I would perhaps prepare some sort of mount before, so as to appear polished and professional.
As per our unofficial goal, we were certainly more organized, slotting in specific bookings with the school’s laser cutter to carve our cards and most importantly, formatting the designs for the cutter before then.
Once our cards were carved, we had to problem-solve to find a way to incorporate colour and a clean writing spot. The method shall not be disclosed, however, they did make for a sleek, unique, innovative finished design, that, when displayed upon our well-set table, attracted many eager buyers, with one even buying up to 10+ cards.
A thought-provoking aspect of GreetYourself was the price. Our products had to meet an equilibrium, not too low for the sake of profits and not too high for the customer. Curiously enough, our initial price was said by a/the facilitator to be too low, as “crafty” cards like ours sold up to double, even triple our proposed price. Heeding their advice, we did increase our price, however, next time, we should research the market and not involve our self-deprecating thoughts that “no one would want to pay ” et cetera.
The All Saints’ print ad.
Even though we used the markup formula, in retrospect, this shouldn’t have been the primary way for settling on the final price. It would have been more effectively used in conjunction with other methods, such as surveying our target audience for what they would pay vs what we would take as a profit, the equilibrium formula, cost-plus pricing and the one that we should have been less careless to overlook, market comparison.
Our product idea was innovative, timely and filled in a gap in our market. To improve, I would consider other unseen aspects and research thoroughly before making a decision. The process was fun, rewarding and gave us a plethora of new skills to add to our ever-growing collection, as well as an exciting profit.
$20Boss is an innovation and entrepreneurship program that was one of the Semester One options for InnovatED. I chose to do $20Boss as it seemed similar to the Christmas Market from year seven where we were also tasked with creating a business that sold a good or service. It started with a revisitation to the familiar Design Thinking Framework which included brainstorming words associated with Design Thinking and doing a Design Sprint with the assistance of other group members and a year nine student from the Leadership and Innovation elective. I and my group members earned a Design Sprint Certificate as seen HERE.
We were also introduced to the concept of a “scrum”, a physical to-do list following the To Do In Progress Done framework. We were also required to write a pitch with our chosen group and potential product, in order to gain a loan so that we might acquire $20 each to produce our product and sell it at the Runway Market Market, which took place on the 16th of June. My group decided on notebooks, and the idea was approved by our Facilitator after we pitched. Initially, this was because we wanted to customize stationery to make it personal to the user and more appealing for school-aged children to use during lessons; however, it was not just limited to school use, but also in leisure time for journalling etc. As we worked through the process of designing the notebooks, some aspects changed, such as the cover material and the method of binding them. Our final product was a notebook the size of half an A4 page, bound together with thread with a hard black cover, which could then be customised with a patterned paper of choice and, if desired, a word/ name written with a chosen font on the front.
ASC Capabilities
Throughout the process of the project, the ASC Capabilities were certainly all utilized, though in varying degrees for each group member.
Effective Communication
Effective communication is the method of human interaction where one does not merely exchange information, but develop meaning through symbols and emotions.
Following our Design Sprint, we had to form the groups that we would be with for the rest of the process. In my humble opinion, therein could have lay our potential pitfall. In retrospect, this could have been not entirely beneficial to our group because it could have made the group too large for comfortable discussion and effective decision making. However, despite our unnaturally large-sized group, I think that I generally exercised effective communication skills as we were able to discuss decisions and ideas in a civil manner, despite the fact that there was four of us. We first divided up the labour, assigning various tasks to each member so each human could meaningfully contribute. We were able to understand each other’s individual perspectives by speaking in turn, although this proved quite challenging due to our group size and the fact that there were four creative humans. To counter this, we also occasionally split the group into pairs to allow for further discussion within a more intimate setting. This was so each human’s ideas were heard and could be easily relayed back to the whole group. Out of hours, we utilized Microsoft Teams which proved to be advantageous as we could easily interact when the person(s) were needed.
Problem Solving
The process of uncovering and piecing together a relevant solution to an underlying, often complex problem.
As mentioned above, we had decided to produce notebooks. However, after research and examination of traditional bookbinding methods, we realized that they were complicated, requiring many materials and time-consuming. I used creativity to develop the method for producing our product with a fellow group member who understood sewing techniques and we also had to use problem-solving to figure out how to most effectively produce it. This included the binding of the individual leaves (of paper) and the attaching of the covers. This involved resilience when some of our concepts and strategies were not entirely suitable — finding a new way to do it. This was part of the “testing” part of the Design Process. This also required organization as there were only 2 of us that were proficient with the needle, and we had to be self-aware ( — knowing when we had enough/too little to do) to make sure that we were dividing the labour equally between the whole group — so that we all contributed to the overall work ethic and productivity.
Organization
The arrangement and systematic planning of a process, or part of, to most efficiently and effectively complete it.
Throughout the project, the organization of the group was of utmost importance for ensuring deadlines are met. Our group utilized this. We consistently ensured that each member was on the same line of communication so they knew what to do to balance the workload. This process was assisted by our scrum which was updated frequently. I would say that it would have been even better if we more rigidly plan our InnovatED time with very clearly defined tasks.
The stage of the design process that I think we did the best at was the prototype stage, as we produced a product with good quality to be our test. I would say that there is room for improvement for the Empathise stage as we needed a better understanding of what people wanted for the design of the notebooks– by being more thorough on this stage, we could have learnt more about what people would want, and we would have created notebooks to be immediately bought instead of focusing on the customisation of the notebooks as pre-orders were not as successful as we had anticipated.
In conclusion, the $20 boss project was good for further improving Capabilities and working on the Design process, as it was utilized through our Semester One, and it helped significantly with the production of the product. $20Boss was extremely enjoyable, informative that challenged us in many ways. While our group did not produce the most profit; we produced enough revenue to cover costs, plus surplus, this experience has offered me valuable learning points that I can use to further improve myself.
Feedback
Thank you so much for the lovely notebook, I really like it and think you guys have done a really good job.
Three year sevens’ and three year eights’ were chosen to compete in a math competition that took place at John Curtin in a quiz-night format, with four rounds of eight questions and tie-breakers. As stated above in the caption, we won first place, and received a trophy. This was an improvement from last year in 2020, when we won 2nd place and got a pen.
The Synergy Solar Car Challenge is a program that is designed for year six and eight students to apply STEM skills in an engaging, real-life application. As the name suggests, I and several others in our team of 4 had to build a solar car out of a corflute (a type of corrugated plastic), axles, wheels, a motor, a switch and a solar panel which was attached to the circuit with various wires. We were provided 45 minutes to do this, which included testing time.
Skills needed:
Collaboration and Teamwork:
Because we were under time pressure to build a functional car, we had to collaborate so as to build it quickly and efficiently by dividing the labour.
Problem Solving:
As mentioned above, the 45 minutes we were given was inclusive of building and testing time. During one of our trial times, the switch came apart, and through usage of problem solving skills, our team managed to solve the problem and use a working switch.
Creativity:
The track that we were to use to race on was simply a wooden pole lain horizontally on the ground. We were given a mere two pins that we could use to align the car with the pole. This proved challenging due to the shape and height of the pins.
Overall, my team (All Saints’ One) finished third place.
We are researching the opinions on Maths/ STEM of students who are doing year 9 mathematics. We chose this as STEM is a field growing in size, and mathematics and STEM are now seen as more than a subject in school. The categorical question we had was “The topic in Maths I find the most enjoyable and interesting is…” and the numerical question was “In your life beyond school, how many days per week do you foresee yourself using mathematics (for work or life)?”. Some of the extra avenues for parallel data analysis that we use include by gender and by class. These results are needed to investigate what the students doing year 9 mathematics think/ do/ need/ want.
Validity and Reliability:
The non-probability sampling method used in this project was a convenience sample (non-probability sample method) which is everyone learning year nine mathematics.
This sampling method is prone to bias because the participants don’t represent a cross section of the population as all the participants are of the same/similar age group. The sample size was the 141 people, and there was sampling bias as the only people sampled were students learning year nine math. The generalization that is made is that because we only surveyed people learning year nine mathematics, this means that we can only draw conclusions and make statements about this type of people (the certain age bracket of 12-14)
The non response bias in the survey:
Question Order Bias:
People would have become tired and bored by the end of the survey (as it was very long and contained many questions)
The owner of the survey tried to avoid the problem of the questions affecting each other, but there was not anything to do to minimize/limit boredom.
Social Desirability Bias:
This wasn’t really avoided as there wasn’t anonymity of the responses and the students wanted to give the socially acceptable answer. There was apparent anonymity as names were not shared with the students, however, it was easy to see who was who, and this is obvious when viewing the results ( as the results all lined up to show a nameless profile of each student learning year nine maths. This would not be able to be avoided because in the event that the results were randomized so it didn’t show up in order for each person, we wouldn’t be able to have parallel data analysis.
There wasn’t any Yes-man phenomenon as the students didn’t know what the owner of the form would have wanted.
Ways Bias was avoided:
There were no double negatives
There was no/ limited jargon and technical language
None of the questions were leading to a specific reply
Ways Bias was included, and how to not be biased:
“What is your favourite topic in maths?” – The list of topics which could be chosen was long, and people might get bored and stop reading. This can be fixed by ordering it into rows so there would be multiple options on the same row.
There is no option for people who do not like mathematics or have another favourite do not have an option, and will therefore need a ‘other’ or/and ‘none’ option.
Sampling bias – only using year 9 mathematics students. This could have been avoided by surveying a larger range of people, such as sending the survey to the whole school. It probably could not be avoided that we only surveyed students from All Saints’ College as it would be hard to get people out of the All Saints’ community to take part in the survey.
Sample size – to get more accurate results, a larger sample size would be beneficial. This would be especially important in some places, such as when using parallel data analysis with gender, as there were not many people who were non-binary, and therefore, their views could not be represented properly.
Favourite Maths Topic
Algebra and equations
56
Functions and graphs
5
Geometry
17
Measurement
22
Probability
23
Rates, ratios and percentages
6
Statistics
12
MODE
Algebra and Equations (56)
Days of Math beyond School
MEAN
3.709219858
MEDIAN
3
MODE
7
RANGE
7
Quartile 1 – 25%
2
Quartile 2 – 50%
3
Quartile 3 – 75%
6
Quartile 4 – 100%
7
INTER-QUARTILE RANGE
4
Days of Math beyond school according to gender
FEMALE
MALE
NON- BINARY
Mean
3.01515152
4.30555556
4.666667
Mode
1 and 2
7
all
Range
7
7
6
Quartile 1- 25%
1
2
3.5
Quartile 2- 50%
2.5
5
4
Quartile 3-75%
5
7
5.5
Quartile 4-100%
7
7
7
Interquartile range
4
5
2
CATEGORICAL
For the categorical question “Which topic in mathematics do you enjoy the most?”, 56 people chose algebra and equations; 23 people chose probability; 22 people chose measurement; 17 people chose geometry; 12 people chose statistics; 6 people chose rates, ratios and percentages and a mere 5 people chose functions and graphs. The mean was algebra and equations, which was 39.72% of the students who took the survey. Topics such as Functions and Graphs, Measurement, Probability, Rates, ratios and percentages and statistics are less challenging, and therefore it will be more enjoyable for the less mathematically inclined students that take Applications. Methods students find more challenging topics such as Algebra and Geometry (which are Methods students modal topics) more stimulating and exciting, therefore these are their most common favourite topics.
By Course:
Algebra: 50 Methods students and 5 Applications students chose Algebra. Not surprisingly, those in the Methods course most commonly chose Algebra as their favourite topic.
Functions and Graphs: 4 Applications and 1 Methods students chose Functions and Graphs. This could indicate that this topic is less challenging.
Geometry: 4 Applications and 13 Methods students chose Geometry as their favourite.
The Methods students seem to gravitate towards Algebra and Geometry, which may indicate that these topics are more stimulating for them, as it is more challenging.
Measurement: 11 Applications and 10 Methods students chose Measurement as their favourite. Measurement is challenging for some, but easy and enjoyable for others as seen in the results, where nearly an equal number of applications and methods students chose Measurement.
Probability:13 Applications and 10 Methods students chose Probability.
Rates, ratios and percentages: 2 Applications students and 4 Methods students.
Statistics: 6 Applications and Methods students chose Statistics. Statistics is equally popular between the 2 courses. This means that perhaps it involves less complex math, as it understandig and comprehending the data.
Topic in contrast to gender:
Algebra: 27 females, 28 males and 1 non binary.
Functions and Graphs: 2 females, 3 male and 0 non binary.
Geometry:4 female, 13 males, 0 non binary.
Measurement: 11 females, 11 males, 0 non binary.
Probability: 14 females, 9 males
Rates, ratios and percentages:3 female, 3 male, 0 non binary
Statistics: 5 females, 5 males, 2 non binary
NUMERICAL
For our numerical question “In your life beyond school, how many days per week do you foresee yourself using mathematics (for work or life)?”, 11 people said 0 days a week, 21 people said 1 day a week, 22 people said 2 days a week, 17 people said 3 days a week, 13 people said 4 days a week, 20 people said 5 days a week, 4 people said 6 days a week and 33 people said 7 days a week. The shape of the distribution was irregular – there wasn’t much of a pattern. However, when looked at with parallel data analysis using gender, we can see that females tended to choose less days a week then males. This may be because of their ideas for what they would like as a future career. A surprising feature of the results was that only 4 people chose 6 days.
The data we had from the survey allowed us to relate and understand many things about the results. Some limitations of the work, however, include the bias, especially the sampling bias as we could only find out the results from students doing year 9 mathematics at All Saints’ College. For future research in this area, it would be beneficial to survey a wider range of students, and assess the survey questions more thoroughly for bias. Overall, I enjoyed this task because I was able to learn about the opinions of students on STEM and mathematics as well as using mathematics in the research.
While technology is a part of our education and lives, this is not the reality for many people such as the elderly at Amana Living.
Felicia Ho
While technology is a part of our education and lives, this is not the reality for many people such as the elderly at Amana Living. I take part in an activity called GenConnect which involves teaching the elderly how to use and understand technology. It allows me to give back to the community, improve my communication skills and develop empathy. GenConnect makes me realise how fortunate I am to be able to be able to have access to, and use technology.
What exactly is GenConnect?
The GenConnect program is designed for us students to teach the elderly about technology and how to use it through one on one engagement.
In 2020, Covid19 Restrictions have seen us take our teaching into a booklet filled with a glossary, images and concise, sharp instruction. As of 2021, GenConnect has resumed as per normal; and in term 2 we are visiting the RAAFA residents.
Above: The All Saints’ College Design Thinking Process
Introduction:
The Christmas Market was a real life experience that connected what we learnt in various subjects to make what was a very valuable learning experience, a real-life market where we had the opportunity to sell our products to the wider college community. Each group started their own business which aimed to provide a product or service that would fulfil the needs and wants of the people at the Christmas Market and make the most profit. The Christmas Market allowed us to expand and use the College Capabilities to help us expand our comfort zones through team work and a shared goal of having something to sell at the Market.
Empathize:
During the Empathize stage of the Christmas Market, we had to interview various people, including some classmates and family and friends. This was so we could use these interviews as insight into what would make a good gift and the various traditions people had about Christmas. I learnt that is was important to be organized as there was a dead line that we had to have the interviews completed by and we couldn’t interview specific people, such as classmates, but we had to find a time to interview the person in a time that was suitable for both parties.
Define:
Next, in class, we spent time observing our 3 interviews to figure out what would make a good product by observing trends and making connections between the interviews.
Ideate:
During this time, we had to weight up all of our options and work together to improve on, or create a product that aligned with the trends we had previously observed. We worked in groups, and after much deliberation, we finally settled on making small, portable pouches. I think I improved my creativity, as in the beginning our group didn’t really have any ideas worthy of writing a pitch for. This taught me that it was important to have resilience as the majority of our ideas were incompetent as they already existed or weren’t extremely creative or innovative.
Left: The final product, which was a fully closable, hand and machine sewn pouch
Prototype:
We had to write a pitch which would persuade our potential investor (our Humanities teacher from All Saints’) to “invest” $30 in our product. This $30 was also our startup loan which we were to use to purchase any materials, which, for us consisted of fabric and press studs. Our pitch had to fully cover all aspects of out potential product. This included why the product was innovative, why people would want to buy it, the budgeting, our proposed selling price and whether or not we were actually capable of creating our product. This taught me organization as we had to find a suitable date to go and buy our materials that would suit both parties. The Prototype process also involved collaboration so both members of our group would be on the same page. An example of this is when we were sewing studs on and we had to make sure that each person was consistently putting the studs on in the right place.
Print Ad
In English, we had to carefully construct and then later analyse our product ad. This started with going through a powerpoint that taught us how to identify different types of ads, including product, lifestyle and not for profit ads, and the various aspects of what made a successful product ad.
Project Utopia was an integrated task that involved application of knowledge gained in Humanities, English and Science. The project started with a novel study of the book Giver, learning the liveability factors and researching and making our sustainable houses. The UN Global Goals for Sustainable development brought this project to life. They gave us perspective into the real world and tied the liveability factors, the geography concepts, the civics and citizenship concepts and the sustainability and put them into a realistic context. Further along Project Utopia, we learnt about the importance of the Constitution, and we later wrote our own Constitution for our utopian societies, which we could name. Project Utopia put us all out of our comfort zones, and by applying the ASC capabilities and skills we already had, we were able to present our work over the 2 terms at an exhibition held after school for the teachers, parents and guests such as Mr Anthony Spagnolo ( Liberal Candidate for Riverton).
Right: The All Saints’ Capabilities Wheel that shows the various skills used in our world, our community and in our selves.
ASC Capabilities: Effective Communication and Organization.
Effective Communication
During Project Utopia, we had to apply our ASC capabilities. Particularly, we had to develop effective communication skills as we were working with partners for the entire span of the project. I feel that my communication skills were not as effective in the beginning as our group was functioning as 2 people working on the same topic, but this later changed. An example of this is that in the beginning we were working at different rates at different times and since some decisions were group decisions, we would wait until our next lesson to discuss it, which decreased our overall productivity. Knowing that lack of communication was hindering our productivity, we started communicating out of hours via teams. Our group improved our communication skills by creating a Microsoft team. This taught me that communication is a vital part of being a functional team so all our group members were on the same page and knew what they had to do.
Organization
Through out this project, our group kept a detailed to do list that had the task, the due date, the person completing the task and any extra details to remember. During InnovatED when we were three quarters through the project, our group Onenote and all it’s pages was shown on the large wall in the Year 5/6 building for the whole year group to look at. Apparently we were the most organized group and the teacher proceeded to show everyone our pages. I learnt that it is important to note down what you want to do otherwise you could forget and therefore not complete it. We also shared the workload and assigned various tasks to each member.
Right: Going through the slides as a year group in the Occupied Stairs
UN Global Goals
As part of Project Utopia, we learnt about the United Nations Global Goals and had to research creative, innovative solutions to the problems such as Zero Hunger or No Poverty. The solutions were called accreditations and had to be approved by the facilitators. We were required to gain at least 2, but a lot of groups aspired to gained more. This linked to a well-known saying: Quality over quantity. It showed me that the quality of the solution, including the effectiveness of the research and how original the idea was, was more critical than the amount of accreditations gained. This changed our mindsets and allowed us to focus on our progress rather than how many we gained compared to others. Having this in mind, our group was able to round out our concepts with research and present thoroughly though out ideas such as compostable toilets and a hybrid No Currency system for managing needs and wants.
A quick overview of the toilets and No Currency System
Toilets
The compostable toilet system in our Utopia are considered an innovative solution to Global Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation. We define Clean water and sanitation as having access to clean, affordable drinking water for all and a sanitary system for sewerage that is available to everyone. This means having a proper pipe/toilet and water recycling system. Currently, all the water shares the same pipe. They are treated if it’s grey water or pumped into the ocean if it’s black water. Black water is waste water and sewage from toilets. An open sewer looks like a bridge, but instead has pipes coming out of the bridge where sewerage comes out and then travels along the open pipe to be dumped in the ocean. Human waste production obviously isn’t something that you can eliminate or reduce the amount of so one must come up with something that doesn’t just involve dumping our waste where it apparently won’t affect us: the ocean. Instead of just pumping the waste into the ocean, which is harmful to the environment, compostable toilets “treat” the water onsite by turning your waste into compost which then can be used as normal compost. As we are a vegan society, our waste will have many good nutrients to help the plants thrive. This is because you can’t compost meat matter, but only organic plant matter. We won’t be able to manage the waste in an effective, eco manner. This eliminates pollutions, aids the life below waters and is over all a more eco option then dumping waste into oceans and rivers. Many diseases such as cholera will be eliminated.
This is a basic diagram of our Compostable Toilets and how they work to process human waste.
No Currency System
This No Currency System (more formally known as Managing Needs and Wants) is aimed at Global Goal 12: Responsible Production and Consumption. Responsible Production and Consumption is finding a way to satisfy human needs and wants without destroying the planet in the process. With natural resources decreasing and more environments being destroyed for our wants and needs, responsible production and consumption is finding a solution to these problems. It is finding a way to reduce waste, a more environmentally friendly food production that everyone has access to, limiting resources used in production of human wants and needs and other things to do with responsible consumption. In our Utopia we have decided to have no currency, a decision made to stop poverty, promote helping the community and to ensure responsible consumption. With this in place one can not simply go to the shop and buy things they do not really need. Although this may seem great it does mean that people only get their needs, not wants. To stop this but still have no currency, we have a system in place. This system is that when someone decides that they want something that they do not have, a meeting is called. The meeting consists of a representative (of around 5-10 families that they all select). Before the meeting, families are welcome to come up to a person and tell them their opinion which the representative must bring up in the meeting. The meeting discusses whether the object of choice is needed, will make things easier in the community or fulfilling certain desires. If it passes (majority of representatives think it should be in the community) the object is given to everyone in the community. This means that citizens (unlike us) are not just getting things for the sake of getting things, wasting precious resources. Instead, to get something they want they go through a process to see if they need it or not, limiting the number of products unnecessarily produced. A downside to this may be the fact that the one produce is produced for everyone, using a lot more resources then if just one person got it.
Constitution
As part of civics and citizenships, we were required to write our own Constitution for our utopias. The Constitution was required to establish a government outlining our reasoning behind our rights and responsibilities for elected officials and community members, participation, decision making process and how rules/policies can be amended. To do better next time, I would note down my research and list where I got my ideas as there was a part of the rubric that was about supporting evidence. The problem was not that I didn’t research it was that we didn’t note it down on our planning document. For example, for our No Currency system, it was a combination of communism and a representative democracy. We discussed this with each other and we agreed that while communism eliminates poverty, it doesn’t allow for satisfaction of one’s individual greed. However, this relies on the people not moving a toe out of the line, and is very restrictive. It leads to eventual chaos, as the wealth is redistributed to make the rulers rich, and the people poor. So we fused the two government systems together, so that the terms rich and poor were eliminated, and people were still satisfying their greed; although we aimed to change their mindsets about spending on a whim. We also tied in separation of powers as we wanted the people to have the power, and to have everyone’s views heard. However, we didn’t just focus on the majority, but also on the minority.
Conclusion
By applying knowledge from various subjects and our ASC Capabilities, I was able to complete Project Utopia to the best of my ability. The main thing I learned about myself while completing Project Utopia was that I need to be more proactive. This means not responding to something after something has happened but trying to take charge of the situation while it is happening. If I was to complete Project Utopia again, I would try to improve my communication and collaboration skills so our group is all on the same page and we are not just communicating in class. What I liked about this project was that it integrated English, Humanities and Science. This is because I felt that it all linked together and it allowed us to apply our knowledge from different school subjects outside a test/exam environment. It was also very enjoyable and informative to share and present our knowledge to a different audience, which wasn’t just our peers or teachers.
Presenting to some adults of the year group during the Project Utopia exhibition
