There’s no better way to end the term than by breaking out of the classroom and connecting learning to life. That’s exactly what the Year 7s have done this week.

SEEK7 is part of Santa Maria College’s Enhanced Learning Program. It is all about curiosity and questioning and providing all students with the opportunity to really extend themselves with real-life learning.

The theme of SEEK7 was Sustainability, the importance of caring for our planet and the resources we rely on. The girls worked within Homerooms in a group of four. Each group chose a question to research and presented findings of this research in a creative way.

Throughout the week, the Year 7s developed their collaboration, questioning and research skills. By working outside the normal classroom environment, they had greater freedom to develop their curiosity and problem-solving skills. They also utilised initiative, collaboration and creativity to communicate their learning.

As you can see, SEEK7 privileged all of those so-called ‘soft skills’. The ones that we know the girls are going to use throughout their lives and will make all the difference to their cognitive and social development.

We asked a couple of the girls some questions about their experiences this week.

What was the best thing about SEEK7?

The best thing about SEEK7 was making our presentation of our project. Our group made a video game and an ad for our video game, and it was really fun creating the levels and graphics for the game. SEEK7 provided my group with lots of time so it wasn’t stressful because we weren’t worried about running out of time to finish the project.

What new skills did you learn?

A new skill I learnt was note taking with a speaker. I had never taken notes when someone was talking before, and it was a little challenging because you couldn’t scroll up or rewind the speaking. Sometimes I would forget what they were saying or wouldn’t hear what they were saying because I was taking notes. This has improved my multitasking and note-taking skills.

Tayla Tasovac

What is something surprising that you learnt about sustainability?

I learnt how much natural disasters can affect the environment. In the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, 15 – 20 % of the coral reefs in the area were affected which in turn altered the whole marine environment.

Also, did you know that to make one takeaway hamburger uses the same amount of water as having a 19-minute shower?

Evie Seed

The guest speakers were really interesting. I learnt that even though I don’t think I waste much water, I’m having a big impact on the environment. It was an eye-opener!

The water corporation treats 432,000,000 litres of water each day.

Every day in Perth we use enough water to fill Optus Stadium to the top.

The average Perth person uses 300 litres of water a day. In third world countries, the average person uses 10 litres.

Ava Forrest