City School

Inquiry-based learning on the streets of Melbourne

Last week, some year 9 Northcote High Students went on an excursion to Melbourne's CBD for city school.  We arrived in the city at 8:45 and gathered at Scots Church, ready to spend 3 school days in the city, exploring, researching and gathering answers to our surveys; which were about various topics, such as public transport, animal testing and street art. 

As well as our own individual work, we also had fun activities and various workshops during the day. These included the amazing race, a scavenger hunt around the CBD, which drove us to explore parts of the city we were unfamiliar with. Photos were taken of various parts of the city, such as Flinders Street Station and Banksy street art. The winners were rewarded with a free pizza lunch.

At the Big Issue workshop, we learnt about the impacts of homelessness, and what prompted The Big Issue to be created. We were told how the magazine works, and the amazing lifelong effects it has on those struggling with homelessness. We visited an RMIT campus, where SYN radio is recorded. We had a workshop where we learnt about the do’s and don’ts of radio, and how SYN is a great platform, as it’s created by young people for young people. We even got to create our own radio segment as a class. 

The rest of our time was spent asking people to complete our surveys about topics relating to Melbourne. It was really fun, and even though some people didn’t want to answer, it was a really cool experience and very character building. Overall, city school was a great experience, helping us learn more about the CBD and its culture.

Matilda Casamento and Aoife Harper, Year 9