Democracy in Action
Primary students at Plenty Campus have been enjoying learning all about democracy and government in Australia by getting hands-on experience of political parties, creating good policy and campaigning. As part of the project, they were invited to role-play the concepts of civics and citizenship by forming their own political parties.
Six political parties were formed and each party spearheaded a campaign to improve an aspect of school life at Plenty Campus. Part of the campaign involved researching topics and ideas and then presenting to each class of primary students, aiming to persuade Foundation to Year 5 students to vote for their project.
All votes will be counted based on the preferential voting system. We look forward to discovering which political party can progress to the next level of the democratic process, which will involve presenting to Mr Brown and Mr Gibson.
Year 6 Student Reflections
Saif
During HASS this term, we have been campaigning for something we would like to add or change in our school community that would benefit everyone. We had to develop a policy and then plan a campaign. Six political parties are now competing against each other to win the most votes during our school election. The winning party will get to present their idea to Mr. Gibson and Mr. Brown. All political parties have presented their ideas to each class. After conveying our plans, we have also been campaigning with posters and how to vote cards. Students now have to vote for the political party they think will benefit our school the most. All political parties have unique ideas; it’s now up to the voters. May the best policy win! This experience gave us all an insight into government and how laws are made in Parliament. This was an enjoyable experience and I would relish the opportunity to do it again!
Jacqueline
This term, we studied Parliament. To help with our understanding of Parliament, we formed political parties and worked together in groups to develop a policy, research ideas and prepare a presentation. We have all done an excellent job and we are almost ready to count the votes. I also enjoyed learning about the House of Representatives through different role-playing lessons. I am looking forward to counting the votes and I think Mr. Fleming is very proud of us.
Kevan
This Term, we learned about the Australian Government. We learned about this topic through role-playing and assignments that Mr Fleming set us through both the home-based learning period and back at school. This term, we started our political parties. We came up with concepts, joined groups, promoted our parties and held elections for the whole primary school. We used the preferential voting system and the winner would be able to pitch their idea to Mr Brown and Mr Gibson and hopefully get it implemented.
