Main Objective
Across Terms 2 and 3, students engaged in two rich, inquiry-led creative learning projects.
In Term 2, the class designed and built their own Moon station, imagining what life might look like in a new society beyond Earth.
In Term 3, students shifted into songwriting, using Alison Lester’s Are We There Yet? as inspiration to create original lyrics and movement sequences that explored Australia’s states and territories.
Term 2: Build a Moon Station
Students explored what it means to design a functioning community in an unfamiliar environment. They researched the Moon’s conditions, investigated what humans need to survive, and imagined how social structures, habitats, and daily life might look in a new settlement. This work culminated in the construction of model Moon homes and community structures, each reflecting students’ deepening knowledge and imaginative problem-solving.
Term 3: Write a Song Based on Alison Lester’s Are We There Yet?
In Term 3, students became songwriters. Each week, they revisited a section of Alison Lester’s iconic picture book and used it as inspiration for writing a class song. Working in groups, students brainstormed key details from the story, drafted verse lyrics, refined rhyme and rhythm, and choreographed movement to accompany their performance.
Project Overview
Across both projects, students used creativity, inquiry, and collaboration to explore big ideas about how humans design sustainable communities, how stories, music, and movement express our connection to place, and what decisions shape the societies we build—on Earth or beyond it. Through hands-on making, warm-ups, research, and rich group discussions, students were supported to think deeply, stretch their imaginations, and take meaningful ownership of their learning.
How did we make the 5 Habits of Learning come alive?
Collaborative
Students worked in teams to plan, build, and construct their Moon station. Research tasks were shared, and decisions were made collectively as groups considered how their individual buildings would contribute to a functioning society. Collaboration continued as students co-wrote lyrics, experimented with poetic ideas, and participated in warm-ups that required teamwork and responsiveness. Movement-making for the final performance was entirely student-led and highly cooperative.
Imaginative
Students created an entire world from scratch. They imagined what a Moon community might need, what it might look like, and which aspects of Earth’s society they would bring—or intentionally leave behind. Warm-ups encouraged expressive risk-taking and playful imagery. Writing lyrical content required students to translate narrative moments into poetry, shaping words into rhythm and rhyme.
Persistent
Warm-ups using only a single sheet of paper challenged students to think critically and persist through multiple attempts. As they refined their Moon structures, ongoing research prompted further redesigns to meet the needs of their community. Fitting student-generated ideas into the melody’s structure required perseverance. The songwriting format provided just enough challenge to push their thinking while still allowing for creativity and fun.
Disciplined
Students continually revisited and refined their architectural ideas, improving both the structure and function of their Moon community models. The repeated weekly process—read, recall, write, refine, perform—supported students to develop stronger musical, organisational, and literacy skills.
How did we activate student voice and learner agency?
Term 2
Although the outcome—building a society on the Moon—provided a clear framework, the inquiry was entirely student-led, with their questions shaping each lesson and one line of inquiry naturally leading to the next. Warm-ups, outdoor “moon walks,” and hands-on investigations sparked curiosities about how humans might move on the Moon, what the surface might feel like, and how to design for safety, comfort, and survival. These student-generated questions drove the research, informed design decisions, and guided collaborative learning throughout the project.
Term 3
Students listened to a section of Are We There Yet? and, in groups, captured key details about the region featured in the story. Using their notes, they drafted verse lyrics, which were then refined and woven together by the practitioners into a unified class verse. To complete the creative process, students choreographed their own movement sequences to accompany the song.
Students’ ideas shaped the lyrics, actions, and tone of the final performance, strengthening their confidence as creators and storytellers.
How did we develop creative and critical thinking skills in the students?
Term 2: Moon Habitat
Designing a lunar society required sustained creative and critical thinking as students applied their understanding of life on Earth to an entirely new environment. They explored how a Moon community might source air, water, food, and supplies, how to keep its population healthy, how to organise governance and shared spaces, and which elements of Earth’s society were essential—or could be adapted or left behind. Alongside this conceptual work, students also tackled practical construction challenges, such as representing beds, gardens, and solar panels, joining structures, and arranging buildings within their Moon station.
Term 3: Songwriting
Creativity was central as students transformed narrative moments into rhyme and rhythm. Critical thinking came into play when working with syllabic patterns, rhyme schemes, and the constraints of the melody.
Warm-ups involved quick collective decision-making, often through timed whole-class tableaux of Australian places—requiring fast thinking, communication, and imaginative risk-taking.
How did you link your project to the UN Sustainability Goals?
Across the year, students engaged deeply with sustainability themes through the lens of the UN Sustainability Goals. In Term 2, building a new colony on the Moon prompted discussions about resource use and the environmental and ethical impact of human expansion, encouraging students to consider which habits from Earth they might change or leave behind when designing a future society—echoing goals related to responsible consumption and sustainable communities. In Term 3, their exploration of Australia’s diverse landscapes emphasised education, respect, and care for natural environments, directly connecting to goals focused on quality education and responsible stewardship of ecosystems.
Students taking part in Creative Schools had a joyful, memorable learning experience that blended making, creativity, inquiry, and performance. They developed deep knowledge about both the Moon and Australia, and their song-based learning strengthened retention through melody and movement.
Importantly, students also connected with older community members, sharing stories and recognising the value of intergenerational knowledge. Their curiosity, collaboration, and confidence grew across both projects, leaving a lasting imprint on their understanding of place, creativity, and community.
Quotes:
"Creative Schools has once again been a fantastic project. It’s been wonderful watching the children express their creativity, learn about the five Habits of Learning, and apply them not just in creative activities with our Creative Practitioner, but also in their everyday learning. That’s really what our school is all about—bringing creativity into everything they do, helping them stay engaged, and giving them a deeper understanding of what they’re learning and why. The teachers have really taken it on. For many, it was a very new approach—something not necessarily covered in teacher training, but it’s something that really should be. At first, some teachers were a little nervous, wondering if this was just an “extra thing” on top of an already full curriculum. But once they realised it’s not extra, it’s simply a different way of approaching what they’re already doing, it clicked. They’ve seen how much more engaged the students are when these creative habits are integrated, and that has made the transition much easier. It just makes sense. Everything within the Creative Schools program ties beautifully into our Teaching for Impact strategy, which is all about student engagement. The program helps us meet students where they’re at, harness their individual creativity, and let them express their learning in ways that suit them. That’s exactly what Teaching for Impact is aiming for—streamlining teaching and learning to get the best out of every student. In our school, we already pride ourselves on being a creative school with an integrated curriculum, but Creative Schools has allowed us to go deeper. We’re now able to weave the language of the Creative Habits of Learning right through our strategic plan and across the entire curriculum—not just in the arts, but in all learning areas." (Sarah Baden Powell, Principal)
"I’ve found Creative Schools to be a really powerful and growing process—one that marries the curriculum with teaching and learning. I don’t think I could teach any other way now. It brings so much more life into the school, into classroom learning, and even beyond when we take things outside. I would recommend everyone attend a Creative Schools professional development session with FORM. That’s where I really began to understand what it’s all about. It’s not just about creating fun activities—there’s a reasoning behind it, a theory that supports why we do what we do. It was very informative and really good for developing critical thinking as well. Working with my creative practitioner has been a great experience. We collaborate really well—we’re on the same wavelength and bounce ideas off each other. I’ll come up with something, then she builds on it, and vice versa. It’s been a strong partnership." (Patricia Di Camillo, Teacher)
"I like learning about space and imagining what it would be like to live on the moon. It’s helping me think in new ways, especially about the moon. We’re thinking about values, and we’re practising creativity." (Student)
"Every Creative Schools lesson is made really fun. I’m really enjoying it. Normal lessons can be a bit fun too, but we usually learn in the same way every time." (Student)
"Every time I do creative schools I am delighted at how much it adds to my own learning of what a healthy and vibrant classroom needs to look like and sometimes how far away other schools are from this method of learning." (Felicity Groom, Creative Practitioner)
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