Two local small schools – Durrumbul Public School and Willsons Creek Public School – came together last Thursday to treat their students to a fun and exciting day of learning.
Combining the Byron Writers Festival StoryBoard with a peer teaching experience, students were able to enjoy a range of activities and experiences together.
‘I had two students that I was teaching to code,’ said ten year old Felix from Durrumbul Public School.
‘I would teach them things and then there were things that they knew and taught me. It was really fun,’ he continued reflecting on the peer tutoring.
Senior students from Durrumbul tutored the students from Wilson’s Creek in robotics’ coding as part of their Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) programs.
‘The day was an opportunity to implement the proven teaching strategy of peer tutoring,’ said Head Teacher at Durrumbul, Brev Belleville.
‘This was a chance for small schools to work together to maximise their learning experiences. These lessons are highly engaging and require students to extend their understanding and knowledge of not only coding but important life skills such as communication and problem solving.’
Tristan Bancks
On the same day children and teen book author Tristan Bancks and the StoryBoard crew came to Durrumbul to give a talk and do interactive work shops with the students from both schools.
‘The best part was you got to see all the Durrumbul kids and Tristan Bancks,’ said Riley, from Wilsons Creek Public School.
‘I thought it was pretty good to learn coding, it was interesting for other kids to teach you things you didn’t know a thing about.’
Holding the writing session outside was a highlight as the kids got to enjoy the fresh air and freedom.
‘Tristan Bancks and the Storyboard representatives noted the highly creative flare that the students displayed during the writing workshops,’ continued Mr Belleville.
With a chance to win a free copy of the next book by Tristan the kids enthusiastically contributed a range of possible names for his next book.
‘It was a fun experience because we got to contribute to the creation of Tristan’s books, like My Life,’ said Durrumbul student, Tom excitedly.
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