Living Harmoniously in Morisset

Morisset Public School, New South Wales

By Lucie Vandeven, Teacher

Background

The title of our school activity was ‘Living Harmoniously in Morisset’. Our school participated in Celebrating Democracy Week by conducting events around the following aims:

• To understand and value how democracy shapes our harmonious way of life
• To understand and value the local Aboriginal culture in our community
• To gain an appreciation of how democratic processes have helped to preserve Australia’s environment
• To reflect and value the volunteers in our community
• To gain an appreciation of Australia’s system of government and civic life through a whole school parliament activity.

Event preparation

We organised for an Aboriginal educator to visit our school and share the local Aboriginal culture with our K–6 students, as well as discuss the importance of living harmoniously within the local community. We also arranged for an environmental speaker to visit our school and discuss the importance of looking after our local waters. Teachers and students then organised the school parliament campaign, which was both time consuming and rewarding.

Implementation and student outcomes

The students enjoyed listening to the Aboriginal educator and the environmental speaker. All the students contributed to the school’s ‘Aboriginal Wall’ and nominated areas for the planting of trees and location of benches. 

The parliament campaign was extremely successful. The students involved in Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet had to campaign on how they would spend $250.00 in our community if they won the right to decide. They were extremely excited but found it to be hard work, and they gained an appreciation of what it would be like to organise a political campaign. The education portfolio won the vote, with their campaign that the money be spent on educational computer software.

This project has allowed the students at our school to participate in a project which extends the syllabus. Every student has now printed their hand on our Aboriginal wall and it looks fantastic. The students are very proud of their achievements and people from the community who have come to visit our school have only positive comments about our mural.

Conclusion

Celebrating Democracy Week at Morisset Public School has proven to be a worthwhile event. Students, teachers and the community came together to participate in Celebrating Democracy Week 2006. The students have had the opportunity to listen to an Aboriginal educator and an environmental speaker about the importance of living harmoniously in Morisset. The students’ hand prints on the ‘Aboriginal Wall’ will serve as a constant reminder of the visitors they received during Celebrating Democracy Week, and how hard they worked in their parliament campaign.