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The Year 9 Religious Education program on homelessness taught our students more than just how complex this issue is.
Towards the end of Term 3 in Year 9 Religious Education, we explored what it means to be homeless. We discussed homelessness and listened to people's stories and explored the stereotypes that have been placed on them. After learning more, we started to understand some of the problems faced by those who do not have a place to call home. When it comes to homelessness, the problems are complex and it is difficult to know how to address this issue; but as the number of homeless people in Melbourne has increased significantly in the last three years, we need to be creative, open-hearted and open-minded to think about what we can do to help.
In Year 9, all of the Religious Education classes started a project called ‘Making a Change’, the aim being to help make a difference in all issues of homelessness. We all thought about what issues we were most passionate or concerned about, and were placed in a group of three to five others who were also passionate about the same issue. These included specific areas like hygiene, clothing, food and mental health challenges. For the project, my group chose to focus on the issues of disrupted education that many young people face when they are experiencing homelessness. Around a quarter of people experiencing homelessness are youth, so we thought this was an issue we must address.
We wanted to donate a large number of books to give to many children, so we decided to turn to the Junior School for help. We made an announcement at a Junior School Church Service that we were collecting books from Monday to Tuesday in the Junior School Office. On Thursday when we came to collect them, to our complete surprise, there were many piles of books sitting in the corner!
Overall, we counted over 350 books, and we want to thank the Junior School community for their overwhelming contribution, as we couldn't have made such a positive impact without you! Our project was just one of many that will hopefully, have made a difference in the lives of many people who are experiencing homelessness.
Amelie
Year 9
As part of our Year 9 Religious Education program on Homelessness, all students make a trip to the city, to the Salvation Army Centre on Bourke Street. Here they are guided around the city to see the places and hear stories of people sleeping rough. Through some interactive role plays, quizzes and through examining statistics, they learn about the harsh reality of Melbourne’s housing shortage problems, about the shocking number of youths who are experiencing homelessness and about the wide range of issues they may face.
Back in our classes, we continued to grapple with the issues and hear more stories. But, we did not leave it there. Our students want to make a difference.
In class, I had a number of students ask, “Are we actually going to do this, for real?” The project enables them to think about which particular issues they are most concerned about, and then guide them through a process so that they can all achieve their aims – making a difference. All up, there were about 25 groups working on separate projects, all to assist people experiencing homelessness in Melbourne.
Some collected hygiene products or canned goods and made hampers to donate, others did awareness-raising posters to help our whole school community be more compassionate. One group designed colouring in pages and collected pencils so they could create colouring in packs for children who go to the Salvation Army Café.
There was a sense of pride as they then presented their projects to the other classes, and it was so encouraging to see the range and the depth of projects. Each student was given the opportunity to develop some important skills needed for leadership and service.
Mrs Jenny Sonneman
School Chaplain