How reading and mathematics inspired our students to take action

Stepping up to their responsibility as global citizens in promoting equal opportunities, the Elsternwick Year 6 students have successfully donned their research hats by inquiring into access to resources in different countries.

As part of our English program, the students read the novel ‘A Long Walk to Water’ a touching and true story of a young refugee in South Sudan and his struggles to survive during the civil war. This story inspired our students to learn about different countries around the world and about how living standards can be measured and compared.

The students collected data in areas they were particularly interested in such as literacy rates, life expectancy, Human Development Index, GDP per capita and represented their data using graphs made in Excel. They were startled at their findings as they discovered, people in developing countries had significantly lower literacy rates, life expectancy and access to resources.

This ignited a desire for our learners to take action and make a difference.

The Year 6 students worked together to organise a fund raiser, and they came up with the idea of hosting a Multicultural Food Day. Each student in Year 6 celebrated diversity with an eclectic food feast featuring cuisines from different countries and contributed a small donation towards an organisation called Water for South Sudan. Through their dedication, commitment and action, our students managed to raise funds for a family of four to have access to clean water for years to come.

We couldn’t be prouder of our students. They have demonstrated what it means to be global citizens.

Emily Watson is the PYP Head of Learning - Science, Technology and Social Studies and a Year 6 teacher at the Elsternwick Campus, Wesley College.