FORM Partnership

"Good stories surprise us. They make us think and feel. They stick in our minds and help us remember ideas and concepts in a way that a PowerPoint crammed with bar graphs never can."   Joe Lazauskas and Shane Snow, The Storytelling Edge

The Scribblers Festival was once again brought to life by FORM and hosted by Scotch College for the purpose of inspiring our younger generation to read, be creative, imagine new possibilities and explore the world through a new lens. Our boys, Years 1 to 9, had the opportunity to hear from an impressive line-up of renowned local, national and international authors and TV personalities, along with 4000 primary students from across Perth. To be able to host such a major event using our incredible facilities, and have the boys inspired by authors, illustrators, famous Mathematics teachers and Scientists, certainly makes Scotch College an exciting community to be a part of.

There was no doubt that illustrator Matt Stanton, author of the Funny Kid, was a favourite with the boys and had them in fits of laughter as he shared how Max, the main character, was created through his own experience of being the class clown. Or perhaps for some, their favourite was the effervescent, Megan McDonald who shared her stories of pretending to be a pencil sharpener and how she uses the ordinary tales of her childhood to imagine the extraordinary adventures of the characters in her books.

For those youngsters whose imagination is ignited by the sciences, I have no doubt that Eddie Woo, Mathematics teacher and Woo-tube sensation, created a sense of excitement about the magic of Mathematics and its everyday occurrence in nature. From fractals, to knots and flowers, Eddie explained how trees, rivers, water molecules, DNA and flowers are just geometry in disguise.  Dr Karl Kruszelnicki backed Eddie up, providing further insight into scientific phenomena, explained so simply, to our Year 5 and 6 boys. His ability to make science engaging and real, will no doubt leave them curious, noticing and inquiring about science more often.

At Scotch, the partnership with FORM extends beyond the Festival with our further involvement in the Creative Schools Programme.  This learning programme, aims to enhance outcomes for our boys by activating creative learning strategies through the establishment of partnerships between teachers and creative (arts) practitioners. The next iteration of the programme will expand into Year 2 French through music and Year 10 Language and Culture through performance.

Creative Schools is designed to provide an intense arts-rich programme, using arts as a pedagogical tool for learning which cultivates a unique set of academic, social and personal skills. The defining characteristic of the programme is the collaborative partnership between artists, classroom staff and learners, and the ways in which this partnership helps to bring the curriculum to life. It is about providing new ways for learners to engage with a subject.

Mrs Cara Fugill
Director of Teaching and Learning