Hands on Learning

It’s been another positive and productive month in Hands on Learning. Students have taken great pride in refreshing picnic tables around the school by sanding them back and giving them a fresh coat of stain. Their hard work has made a real difference to the outdoor spaces.

Students have also been busy designing and building a mud kitchen for the children at Lilydale North Preschool to enjoy. Using recycled pallet timber and parts from an old BBQ, students have created an amazing play opportunity from repurposed materials. Recently, the Thursday Hands on Learning group had the exciting opportunity to deliver the completed mud kitchen to Lilydale North Preschool. Seeing the children engage with and enjoy the mud kitchen was a rewarding experience for everyone involved and students were proud to contribute something meaningful to the local community.

Student Reflection

On 11th June, the Thursday Hands on Learning group had the amazing opportunity to deliver the mud kitchen that the three groups had spent about the last seven weeks working on, to Lilydale North Pre-School. We built the mud kitchen completely out of recycled things we had laying around the shed. When we delivered it, the pre-school kids started off a bit shy, but then they started to warm up to us, and by the end they didn’t want to stop playing with the mud kitchen and interacting with us. When it was time to go, we were all a bit sad but so happy that we got to help our community and see all their smiling faces and enjoyment playing with our creation.   We all feel super proud, and we hope they love it.

Charlie B

Hands on Learning – Thursday Group

As the weather gets colder, students have been enjoying cooking delicious hearty meals such as spaghetti bolognese, curried sausages, sausage rolls and chicken parmas together in the shed. These shared meals have provided a wonderful opportunity for students to connect, develop their cooking skills and enjoy time together. The Principals have also joined us for these meals, including Mr Kruger, Mrs Gaudion, Mr Wright and Mr Donald, whose presence has added to the strong sense of community and enjoyment.

Get to Know the Teacher

We’d love for students and families to get to know the people behind the Hands on Learning Program. In each newsletter, we’ll introduce a team member and share a little about who they are and how they support our students.

Meet Erin Rackham

I’m Erin, I started at LHC in 2009 as a Phys Ed teacher and after a decade of teaching, I took maternity leave and have spent the last five years back at the College part-time. I am so excited to be entering my third year with Hands on Learning. Thursdays in the shed are a real highlight of my week, thanks to our amazing team and the rapport I get to build with our smaller group of students. It’s great building our own projects from scratch, seeing the end product all together and the pride that it brings. I enjoy watching the students develop throughout the program, with both practical, hands on skills and significant personal growth and confidence. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity I get working with this team; staff and students alike.