Main Curriculum Focus
Term 2: Civics and Citizenship - Democracy, decision-making, and community
Term 3: English and HaSS - Colonial Australia through creative storytelling
General Capabilities
● Critical and Creative Thinking
● Personal and Social Capability
● Ethical Understanding
Cross Curriculum Priorities
● Sustainability
● Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
Main Objective
How can creativity help students understand democracy, citizenship, and community?
The aim across both terms was to develop students’ ability to think creatively, work collaboratively, and see themselves as active contributors to society. Each project encouraged decision-making, problem-solving, and storytelling, empowering students to explore civic ideas through hands-on creative processes.
The approach focused on teaching for creativity, not just creatively: fostering curiosity, risk-taking, and reflection through art, design, and story.
Project Overview
TERM 2 — BOARD GAMES: DEMOCRACY AND DECISION-MAKING
In Term 2, students explored the foundations of democracy and community through the design of original board games. Linking Civics and Citizenship with creative problem-solving, they examined early Australian history, decision-making, and the values that underpin fair systems.
Each group designed, built, and play-tested a functioning board game made from recycled materials sourced from ReMida. The process involved deep collaboration, from theme and gameplay design to rule writing, visual branding, and game testing. Through laughter, experimentation, and negotiation, students came to understand how civic principles — fairness, participation, and responsibility, could literally “play out” through design.
TERM 3 — ZINES: COMMUNITY AND VOICE
In Term 3, the project shifted from systems of governance to systems of storytelling. Students became creators, editors, and publishers of their own zines, self-made mini-magazines exploring identity, emotion, and community.
Using themes from The Night They Stormed Eureka as inspiration, students wrote, illustrated, and produced zines that connected history with self-expression. They experimented with collage, colour, and texture, using only simple, affordable materials to explore complex ideas.
Each group then took their work public, producing multiple zines and hosting a school-wide zine sale. The event raised over $300 for chosen charities (Breast Cancer WA and the World Food Fund). The energy was electric, with students proudly sharing their work and seeing the real-world impact of their creativity.
How did we make the curriculum come alive?
Structured creative warm-ups and group challenges helped students engage deeply with abstract concepts like democracy and community. From “Wrong Answers Only” games to collaborative drawing and design challenges, creativity was used to unlock confidence, curiosity, and connection.
Students didn’t just learn about democracy, they experienced it. They debated rules, negotiated designs, voted on decisions, and reflected on fairness and inclusion. Later, through zines, they learned how personal voice and creativity can shape community narratives and create change.
How did we make the 5 Habits of Learning come alive?
Every session began with short, joyful activities that encouraged the 5 Habits - Collaborative, Disciplined, Imaginative, Persistent, and Inquisitive.
● Collaboration came through shared creative decisions.
● Discipline happened as students reviewed, reflected and playtested their work.
● Imagination thrived in their visual storytelling.
● Persistence showed in their commitment to complete playable games and publishable zines.
● Inquisitive skills were developed in their research of charities and community causes.
By the end, the students were confidently identifying which habits they were using, proudly adding coloured 5 Habits flags to their Parliament House wall chart each week.
How did we activate student voice and learner agency?
Both projects were fully student-driven. Students chose their game mechanics, zine topics, and charities. They learned to plan, compromise, and make creative choices that reflected their own ideas and values. The zine sale in particular showcased genuine agency, from branding and marketing to pricing and sales, turning creative learning into authentic entrepreneurship and civic engagement.
How did we link your project to the UN Sustainability goals?
The project had a strong civic and democratic focus, directly aligning with UN Sustainability goal 16. In Term 2, students explored democratic systems, fairness, participation, and responsibility through the collaborative design and play-testing of board games. Students practiced real democratic processes: debating rules, negotiating decisions, voting, and resolving conflict. In Term 3, zine-making provided a platform for student voice, allowing learners to explore identity, history, and community narratives. The charity-focused zine sale demonstrated how civic participation and collective action can lead to meaningful social impact. By experiencing democracy rather than simply learning about it, students developed a sense of themselves as active citizens capable of shaping communities and contributing to positive change.
What was the impact?
Students became more confident, expressive, and collaborative. They learned to value both process and product, understanding that ideas evolve through play, revision, and teamwork.
Groups that were once hesitant to speak up were leading discussions by the end. The classroom became a lively space where creativity, community, and citizenship met.
“We’re seeing an incredible response to Creative Schools. Our students are highly engaged — they’re loving it, and it’s really bringing the joy back into learning. I think the flexibility to pivot and change direction during the process — or even shift where a project is heading — has been really evident. That can be a big shift in practice, just letting things evolve. But teachers have really embraced and enjoyed that part of the process. There are certain things — core concepts and skills — that students absolutely need to be taught explicitly and have time to practise. But equally, they need time and space to think creatively and to work out who they are and what interests them. Prioritising both, in an age-appropriate and engaging way, is essential if we want thriving students. We have a strong improvement agenda that we’re actively progressing, and Megan leads a team called Future Focused Learning. As part of that, she’s using the learnings from Creative Schools within one of our key focus teams, and then skilling up the rest of the staff. Working closely with Lynleigh (the other Creative Schools teacher) in this space has been important — they’ve built a cohesive understanding of what this approach could look like now, and what it could evolve into for our wider school. That’s a big part of shaping our future direction.” (Michelle Nash - Principal)
“I love Creative Schools. The children are so engaged in the activities. It really invites their imagination and collaboration. All of the Five Habits of Learning are shown every week. They look forward to it. It’s because we now have a real focus, and while there’s lots of explicit teaching happening in the week, Creative Schools provides a nice break for them. I think explicit teaching and the Creative Schools approach are complementary. You need the learning that comes through explicit teaching to get the most benefit out of a program like Creative Schools. For example, when we made board games on democracy — if the kids hadn’t had a solid understanding of those concepts, it would’ve been really difficult for them to create a meaningful board game. It’s that knowledge from explicit teaching that allows them to deepen their understanding by applying it in a Creative Schools project.Our next challenge is to expand that understanding and knowledge to the whole school. I’m the leader of Future Focused Learning at our school, and one of our key objectives for next year is creative and critical thinking.” (Megan O’Rourke - Teacher)
“Megan is great. She’s laid-back and open to trying different things, so that’s been really good. I’ve also had a lot more input from the teacher with the curriculum this time. Megan’s been great at saying, “We have to hit this part,” or “Can we leave this out?” I think the collaboration with the teacher has been much stronger — it’s felt like a true partnership. I’m noticing a lot of the kids having those “aha” moments — like, “Oh, I get it now.” They’re realising there’s no one telling them exactly how to do things, and they’re starting to discover their autonomy. That’s been really great to see.” (Kelly Canby - Creative Practitioner)
“Creative Schools is exciting. There’s fun ways to do everything—it’s surprising. You never know what's coming next in a warm‑up, and when it happens, it’s so much fun. It makes me feel happy and excited to make new things with my friends—like designing board games or books. We are not just sitting at a desk writing. We walk around, generate ideas, and build things instead of staying at our desks all day. I’m stronger at generating ideas when given a prompt. I used to struggle during the planning phase of writing, but Creative Schools helps me plan ideas before I start writing—so the writing process gets easier. Creating the board game was tricky—figuring out how the game would work, testing the rules, fitting everything into a box. It took a lot of trial and error to make it work. In Creative Schools, you do a lot more group work and talking together. In regular lessons, it’s more like working by yourself. But in Creative Schools, it’s more about sharing ideas, thinking together, and doing things as a team.” (Student)
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