Point Cook P-9 College: Words with Wings

In 2019. Point Cook College received Creative Victoria Creative Learning Partnerships funding.

‘Words with Wings’ was the program developed, a partnership with artist Kate Gorringe-Smith and Point Cook College, a culturally diverse school community where sixty-one different languages are spoken.

‘Words with Wings’ wove together the many stories of migration of the school community and the migration of migratory shorebirds that share the Point Cook habitat.

Students visited the Western Treatment Plant in Werribee to observe the migratory birds. They heard stories of bird migration from scientists at Bird LIfe Australia and local story-teller Jackie Kerrin. They worked with their teacher Robyn and artist Kate Gorringe-Smith to create a story, images and performance.

This story is called Rosie Wonders.

The purpose of this project was to increase student connections beyond school to allow for the development of a broader social conscience and intercultural capabilities through authentic engagement practices; nurturing empathy in children for those who have faced the challenges of migrating from other countries. In a largely digital world, we hope children will learn to look up and read the sky, read the birds and have more empathy for the world in which they live.