Swag Family Adventure Learning
Donation protected
Overview
Hello, we’re the Swag Family (AKA Nicola, Andrew, Hope and Wilfy Hughes) and we’re tackling the biggest Adventure Learning project Australia has ever seen. This primary school education project will bring up to 15,000 students from across Australia into a 10 month, real-life journey to explore the deep cultural histories and extraordinary stories from the people and environment of this vast continent.
Students participating in the journey in their classrooms will use specially written workbooks that align with the Australian Curriculum and turbo-charge motivation to learn. There will be a moderated forum that links adventurers, students, scientists and teachers all together. Students will not just feel like they are part of the adventure; they will be an important part of it.
We'll also be undertaking a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) as part of our journey, and showing how schools can take this step towards reconciliation themselves. We need your help to develop the curriculum, build the education website and capture the content when the project rolls out next year.
What we will do
There’s method to this madness! Our family will ride around the country on two tandem bicycles to visit remarkable and everyday Australians to document their stories of place, culture and environment through student-centered short videos, photos and written reports.
Respected Tasmanian Aboriginal, Aunty Patsy Cameron will be setting the challenge and direction of our journey as we leave Tasmanian shores early in 2019. She will task us with reaching Lake Mungo and exploring the 50,000+ years of human occupation of Australia along the way. Instead of sailing across Bass Strait and heading straight there, Aunty Patsy will send us to meet another inspirational Australian to learn from. We will continue to be sent onwards from person to person for 11 months, connecting them all by a grand bicycle adventure before finally finishing at Lake Mungo.
Students participating in the journey in their classrooms will also use specially written workbooks that align with the Australian Curriculum and turbo-charge motivation to learn. There will be a moderated forum that links adventurers, students, scientists and teachers all together.
Teachers can fill out an EOI to stay informed >>
Why we are doing this
As teachers we want every child to love going to school, and to love learning about the real world around them. Unlocking a sense of exploration and wonder is critical to this—and that’s exactly what our model of Adventure Learning does. For more than ten years we’ve been doing it with the Bookend Trust through Expedition Class—and it really does work. Students start to see the world through an adventurous lens, where all questions are valued, making mistakes is okay, taking on difficult challenges is celebrated and starting something with an unknown outcome is downright expected!
The Bookend Trust is a not-for-profit education initiative that seeks to inspire students and their communities with positive science and environmental engagement that helps make the world a better place.
With your help, we’ll be part of sowing the seeds for thousands of new and adventurous ideas. That means we’re taking the education of children across the country a step in the right direction.
We need your help (updated)
Website maintenance: $5 000
We need to keep the educational heart of this project is top running order throughout 2019. Despite wonderful support from our website developer Webmistress, and graphic designer Patrick Badger Design (who are both working on it for a cut price), it will cost about $5,000 over the 12 months we're away to keep it running smoothly.
Field communication: $5 000
One of the biggest education related field expenses in getting the reports online reliably and staying connected to classrooms through the discussion boards. That means about $500/ month for cellular and satellite data.
The other substantial costs of this project will be covered personally (renting our house and extending the mortgage!), by $275 subscriptions from schools that can afford it and by major sponsors coming on board when they see students across the country LOVING adventure in their classroom, LOVING exploring their own backyards, LOVING learning about this great country. We'll worry about feeding ourselves when we hit the road!
Giving it straight back
Your donations will also support schools directly. Every dollar you donate we will be giving back directly to participating schools. We have a growing list of schools in remote and regional areas, and with special circumstances, who have requested a full subsidy for the $275 Classroom Subscription during 2019. This subscription gives the class a special Skype or school visit from the Swag Family (awesome for student engagement), the downloadable workbooks and teacher guides and access to the moderated discussion boards where we connect directly and daily to the classrooms. When you donate you can add a comment if you want to nominate a particular classroom or region that should benefit from your support.
Other ways to support us
1. Tell your teacher friends about it. They will love it; we will love them.
2. Sign up to our regular e-newsletter .
3. Follow it on Facebook , YouTube and Instagram .
4. Don’t run us over.
Hello, we’re the Swag Family (AKA Nicola, Andrew, Hope and Wilfy Hughes) and we’re tackling the biggest Adventure Learning project Australia has ever seen. This primary school education project will bring up to 15,000 students from across Australia into a 10 month, real-life journey to explore the deep cultural histories and extraordinary stories from the people and environment of this vast continent.
Students participating in the journey in their classrooms will use specially written workbooks that align with the Australian Curriculum and turbo-charge motivation to learn. There will be a moderated forum that links adventurers, students, scientists and teachers all together. Students will not just feel like they are part of the adventure; they will be an important part of it.
We'll also be undertaking a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) as part of our journey, and showing how schools can take this step towards reconciliation themselves. We need your help to develop the curriculum, build the education website and capture the content when the project rolls out next year.
What we will do
There’s method to this madness! Our family will ride around the country on two tandem bicycles to visit remarkable and everyday Australians to document their stories of place, culture and environment through student-centered short videos, photos and written reports.
Respected Tasmanian Aboriginal, Aunty Patsy Cameron will be setting the challenge and direction of our journey as we leave Tasmanian shores early in 2019. She will task us with reaching Lake Mungo and exploring the 50,000+ years of human occupation of Australia along the way. Instead of sailing across Bass Strait and heading straight there, Aunty Patsy will send us to meet another inspirational Australian to learn from. We will continue to be sent onwards from person to person for 11 months, connecting them all by a grand bicycle adventure before finally finishing at Lake Mungo.
Students participating in the journey in their classrooms will also use specially written workbooks that align with the Australian Curriculum and turbo-charge motivation to learn. There will be a moderated forum that links adventurers, students, scientists and teachers all together.
Teachers can fill out an EOI to stay informed >>
Why we are doing this
As teachers we want every child to love going to school, and to love learning about the real world around them. Unlocking a sense of exploration and wonder is critical to this—and that’s exactly what our model of Adventure Learning does. For more than ten years we’ve been doing it with the Bookend Trust through Expedition Class—and it really does work. Students start to see the world through an adventurous lens, where all questions are valued, making mistakes is okay, taking on difficult challenges is celebrated and starting something with an unknown outcome is downright expected!
The Bookend Trust is a not-for-profit education initiative that seeks to inspire students and their communities with positive science and environmental engagement that helps make the world a better place.
With your help, we’ll be part of sowing the seeds for thousands of new and adventurous ideas. That means we’re taking the education of children across the country a step in the right direction.
We need your help (updated)
Website maintenance: $5 000
We need to keep the educational heart of this project is top running order throughout 2019. Despite wonderful support from our website developer Webmistress, and graphic designer Patrick Badger Design (who are both working on it for a cut price), it will cost about $5,000 over the 12 months we're away to keep it running smoothly.
Field communication: $5 000
One of the biggest education related field expenses in getting the reports online reliably and staying connected to classrooms through the discussion boards. That means about $500/ month for cellular and satellite data.
The other substantial costs of this project will be covered personally (renting our house and extending the mortgage!), by $275 subscriptions from schools that can afford it and by major sponsors coming on board when they see students across the country LOVING adventure in their classroom, LOVING exploring their own backyards, LOVING learning about this great country. We'll worry about feeding ourselves when we hit the road!
Giving it straight back
Your donations will also support schools directly. Every dollar you donate we will be giving back directly to participating schools. We have a growing list of schools in remote and regional areas, and with special circumstances, who have requested a full subsidy for the $275 Classroom Subscription during 2019. This subscription gives the class a special Skype or school visit from the Swag Family (awesome for student engagement), the downloadable workbooks and teacher guides and access to the moderated discussion boards where we connect directly and daily to the classrooms. When you donate you can add a comment if you want to nominate a particular classroom or region that should benefit from your support.
Other ways to support us
1. Tell your teacher friends about it. They will love it; we will love them.
2. Sign up to our regular e-newsletter .
3. Follow it on Facebook , YouTube and Instagram .
4. Don’t run us over.
Fundraising team: Swag Family (2)
Andrew Hughes
Organizer
Middleton TAS
Nicola Hughes
Team member
