Health And Human Development 

Baby Project 

In year 11 Health the year 11HHD students looked after their new babies for an entire week as part of our AOS1 Developmental Transitions topic.

They were required to look after their babies at all times for this week, including having their babies with them in class by either holding them, having them in the baby carrier (the backpack), or in a pram (settled on a chair). It teaches the physical, emotional, and social demands of infant care and forms part of coursework portfolios. Some of the care tasks included feeding, burping, changing nappies and learning about the importance of a good support network. 

Students found the project to be a fun, engaging, and eye-opening project that gave them a deeper empathy for what their own parents went through.

Kieran Albanese 

As part of the Year 11 Health and Human Development, Unit 2  Developmental Transitions topic, we took part in a ‘baby project’.

This topic is strongly centred around the human lifespan, healthy and respectful relationships and parenting & prenatal & early childhood development.

As part of the baby project, we are all given our own baby with the goal for us all to be responsible mothers/fathers and look after our baby in the same way we would if it was real.

This meant caring for our baby every day for a week (not leaving it in our lockers or at home to be babysat by grandparents!) This included taking our baby with us to every class, excursions, lunch and recess, as well as any after school activities like sports.

Throughout this project we also completed a Baby Portfolio. This included information about us as parents, our family history, costs of having a baby, a parent/caregiver interview, but most importantly, our baby caregiving skills. We practiced and learnt skills included holding, feeding, bathing, swaddling, dressing, burping and putting our babies to sleep.

The aim of this project was to learn what a huge commitment it is to look after a newborn to 6-month child. We learnt so much information about the costs of babies, the responsibilities and skills that come with being a parent and all the aspects we should consider before starting a family so we are ready and prepared if we want children in the future.

Overall, I think this baby project was a great learning opportunity, and I hope the rest of the future year 11 health classes will have as much fun as we did.

Written by Layla Wright – Year 11