Elim Visit

On Wednesday Renee Hogg and I had the opportunity to visit Elim Christian College in Botany Downs. The school is a full primary and secondary school located on separate sites.  We were taken on a tour of both campuses. The purpose of our tour was to investigate how Elim are using team teaching and shared space.

The first area we looked at was the Year 7 block which was designed with the teacher’s input. This space has 3 teachers and approx. 75 students. In the unit there is space to accommodate whole group sessions, group teaching and independent work (based on a cave, waterhole and campfire scenario). One aspect that impressed me was how much ownership the students had over this space, and their learning. The names and expectations about the 3 ‘learning areas’ were all discussed and generated with the students. There are times when the students are directed into a learning area and at other times they select it (using a sign to dictate what ‘space’ they are in).

While at the senior campus we also had an opportunity to see how a team of Yr8 teachers had used a pre-existing building (the old library) and had turned it in to a shared teaching space. 

Following this we were taken to the junior campus which is a more modern build. This campus is going through further development. The spaces have again been designed to be flexible and open to accommodate team teaching/shared space. There are large glass sliding doors, a range of furniture (including desks, kneelers, circle couches and beanbags) and breakout areas.

Overall I think this was a really useful experience as it allowed us to see both designed and ‘improvised’ spaces. It was helpful to be able to ask questions and hear from Wendy’s first-hand experience.