Expanding learning through partnerships at Larrakeyah Primary
Understanding other cultures, contexts, languages and the wider world has led to a number of fruitful collaborations and partnerships between Larrakeyah Primary School and other recognised institutions both at home and abroad.
Today, we’d like to take a moment to highlight current projects with our partners at Repton International School (formerly Excelsior), Malaysia and The Bay Academy, Shenzhen, China.
Both projects focus on developing a deeper intercultural understanding between the students of each school. In speaking to, sharing ideas with, and working with others our students come to appreciate how identities and cultures are shaped and understand the lives of others in genuine and meaningful ways.
Making links across time and space with Repton International School
Every culture expresses identity, stories, and learning through art. Furthering the strong cooperative partnership between Repton International and Larrakeyah Primary, students from both schools will engage to collaborate in street art projects.
Meeting via video conferencing, students from both schools will meet and work together to establish what they’d like to achieve on their joint project, establish deeper connections to create a shared experience, and put forward a proposal for a Street Art in Malaysia and Darwin project.
Practically, students will:
- Share profiles to help everyone get to know each other
- Visit street art locations in each of their locations
- Collaborate and publish work from both schools
- Help to design and paint a mural wall that reflects the partnership between the schools.
We’re thrilled that local artists will collaborate with our students to help guide the process.
Collaborative learning with The Bay Academy
Learning and engaging with other cultures is vital to helping students become successful global citizens who can actively participate and thrive in an interconnected world.
With Asia playing a major role in Australia’s economic development, this collaboration aims to provide shared learning opportunities between our students and those at The Bay Academy in China.
The collaboration centres on students from each school learning more about one and other.
Students will answer key questions about the other school by researching and discovering how students in the other school live and learn, and share insights and answers with each other live over video conferencing.
Over the whole of Term 4, students and teachers will answer questions and share findings about key initiatives at each school; the 4Cs (Creativity, Communication, Collaboration and Critical Thinking) of 21st century learning at Larrakeyah Primary and The Bay Academy’s school-wide learning goals on Negotiation, Collaboration, Inquiry and Complex Thinking.
Just two examples of cultural learning at Larrakeyah Primary
The projects and collaborations with Repton International and The Bay Academy highlight the extended focus of our school to achieve excellence in the Australian Curriculum expectations of Intercultural Understanding and Personal and Social Capability.
Beyond these examples, our students are able to access and participate in cultural development through initiatives such as Chinese Language classes, specific activities within the Extracurricular Activities Program, and our ongoing partnership with the Confucius Institute.
In addition to the clear learning benefits and opportunities offered to students, partnerships also allow our teachers to access knowledge and resources that enable better teaching practices, planning, and programs. Identifying and creating both formal and informal partnerships has been a priority of the school leadership since Larrakeyah Primary became an Independent Public School in 2014.
