Explore8 Launches for 2022
"Go ahead and change your world for the better!"
Year 8 students have just been introduced to the Explore8 program, one of our exciting emPOWER Learning Projects at Santa Maria College. These projects are strongly aligned with our College values and our vision to enact social change and positively impact people and our planet.
Explore8 provides the opportunity for Year 8 students to be immersed in their own learning to research, ideate and innovate towards making a positive change in the world. The program will run each day for one week and culminate in a showcase of each student’s project work.
During this period, the usual timetable will be suspended and students will attend presentations and workshops to develop their problem solving and innovation skills. They will work both individually and collaboratively to solve a real-world problem of their choice, guided and mentored by staff who are passionate about innovation and nurturing our future change-makers.
Students will soon begin preparing for their Explore8 project. This will include conducting an interview with a member of their extended family or the community. Following this interview students will use their findings to commence project work to generate a solution to a problem experienced by people, or our planet.
Today during our Pastoral Care Time, the girls focused on the importance of empathy in listening to others, as in order to innovate and generate solutions, we need to walk in another’s shoes and truly understand what they need. The aim of this session was to help students understand that empathy is listening to understand, allowing them to accept new and different ideas, making themselves vulnerable, seeing others as equals and focusing on the needs of the other.
Explore8 is about the learning journey, not about the final product. Students are encouraged to have an open mind so they may wholeheartedly immerse themselves in the creative process.
Talking to the girls at the launch, Simone Sawiris, Deputy Principal, Teaching & Learning said, “I hope you enjoy this chance to explore your world and make a positive impact where it is needed most. Go ahead and change your world for the better!”
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- Featured, Learning4Life, SocialInnovation
Author: Santa Maria College
Santa Maria College is a vibrant girls school with a growing local presence and reputation. Our Mission is to educate young Mercy women who act with courage and compassion to enrich our world. Santa Maria College is located in Attadale in Western Australia, 16 km from the Perth CBD. We offer a Catholic education for girls in Years 5 – 12 and have 1300 students, including 152 boarders.
