DESPITE an 11th-hour change due to weather, Grant High School’s student-driven Sound Bites event has been hailed a success, being held shortly before strict COVID-19 social distancing restrictions came into effect.
Originally scheduled to take place at the Mount Gambier Railway Lands, Friday’s festival was relocated to the school grounds due to forecast high winds.
Organised and controlled by the student body, the event brought together the collective talents of youths from different year levels and curriculum areas to produce the festival.
“The initial idea came from wanting to plan new meaningful assessment tasks for the Year 12 students with the idea their learning should be more about real life experiences,” school hospitality teacher Pariya Ziakas said.
“This then presented an opportunity for community engagement with a focus on students having more control of their learning experiences as well as having more responsibility about final decisions making processes and allowing them to problem solve real world scenarios.”
Ms Ziakas said the idea had trickled down into other year levels with many more students becoming involved across learning areas.
“Students were given a chance to work on an open and safe platform, presenting their skills and talents to the wider community,” she said.
“Sound Bites provided the perfect background for collaboration to occur with students in charge of running street food stalls, art and craft stalls and performing live music.”
The teacher said students showed their ability to adapt to a high-pressured situation following the sudden change of venue.
“Students experienced authentic learning in regards to event planning and are commended for their hard work and dedication to Sound Bites,” she said.
“Even though students were understandably upset (by the change), we must also be aware of how extremely fortunate we are to have been able to continue with the event.”
