Hands on Learning

Fond memories came flooding back to me during this week’s Hands-on Learning as we welcomed a new crew to the start of their 10-week journey. 

I remembered back to a similar age when all I did was play golf. talk golf, read golf, watch gold, dream golf… well you get the gist. I experienced this again over the past week as the new crew did the same, what a moving time this was.

It was all I could do for the first hour or so, to let the students boil over with excitement before I could get down to the nitty gritty of Hands-on Learning. They chatted eagerly about their day ahead, what they were going to eat, the projects they were going to do and fun they were going to have. I wish we could bottle this elixir. 

Once the dust had settled, we began the morning ritual of the safety discussions, daily tasks and the menu. We began by getting to know the tools such as the carpenters square, measuring tape, clamps, drills plus bits and the hand saw. We spent the day playing, failing, learning, trialling and eventually succeeding. Lunch was a hit, camp over roast chook and gravy rolls (always seems to taste better cooked on fire). There was no time to wipe chins as they ate.

By my reconning it was a successful day. The students were excited, tried, failed, triumphed, and ultimately returned home with a full belly and all their fingers and toes.

In their words.

“The first Hands-on Learning lesson was amazing! I was doing it with Jonty, Billy and Lucas. I learnt how to use tools like a saw and a square with the different angles like 90* and 45*”. - Aiden

“Aiden, Billy, Jonty and I were so excited for our first session of Hands-on Learning. At 10 o’clock we ran down to the enviro garden and first things we saw was the fire. We were pumped. Next, Brett had a talk to us about our goals, safety and what we were going to do through our time in Hands-on Learning and that day.

First, we started playing around with the tools and using them correctly and learnt what they are used for. Then we cooked lunch on the fire which was roast chicken and gravy rolls. After that we had another little talk and finished off”. – Lucas

“It was a hot day, Billy, Lucas, Aiden and I (Jonty) on Wednesday did our first Hands-on Learning, we were shown where we put our bags and had a big talk about safety, how we could get hurt and were also told we were having roast chicken rolls, We learnt how to use the measuring tape, carpenters square (which is used most often) and the saw. We put the chicken in a pot and started digging a hole for the coals. Later, I lifted the lid, but the chicken was not done. Brett put some more coals on top. Later again Billy lifted the lid, and it was done. We put it in gravy and onto rolls. There was nothing left”. – Jonty

“For my first experience I got to learn a square and measuring tape. I learnt a bit about how to saw, starting with the little nick and work your way up. It was very interesting to talk safety. We had a chat about how to hold the tools. We got to make roast chicken and gravy rolls. We learnt a bit about each other. I did a bit of plumbing too and where we put all our stuff”. - Billy