Over the next two weeks, all of Year 7 will be involved in a Challenge Based Learning Project on the topic of ‘sustainability’. Challenge Based Learning allows students to explore a real world issue in their local community (sustainability at Newington) and work collaboratively to develop a solution that they can then put into action. This is the third year we have run this project with Year 7s and we cannot wait to see what innovations they come up with this year!

The project kicked off on Monday 16 November with Ruben Meerman from the ABC doing a presentation on the science behind climate change. Students will begin the project in earnest later this week by rotating through two days of practical and developmental lessons in Geography, Maths and Science to gain some foundational understanding of the issues surrounding sustainability and developing some of the skills they will be using later in their projects.

For the next week students will work through a “Learning Matrix” of activities drawing on a range of subjects and concentrating on the eight focus areas of sustainability. These activities will further develop students’ skills and knowledge and allow them to explore the issues around sustainability in a self-directed way in preparation for the actual Challenge Based Learning task.

In the final week of the program, students will work in groups to identify an issue, problem or challenge around sustainability at Newington College. They will use guiding questions to focus in on the issues of their challenge before exploring guiding resources and activities which will lead them to develop an authentic solution that they will present publicly to students, teachers and parents on Thursday, 3 December and Friday, 4 December.

One of the changes to the Challenge Based Learning project this year is that the best solution or solutions will be put into action next year by the student-run Sustainability Group. This will allow the boys to see how they can make a tangible difference in their local community. We look forward to this new initiative.

The Challenge Based Learning task allows Year 7 students to be self-directed, collaborative and inquisitive learners – key core values of the Newington Learning Framework – as they engage in a fun and authentic project to finish the year.

Good luck boys! We can’t wait to see what you come up with.

Mr Sean Corcoran
Head of Learning and Teaching