Term 1 Tutor Program reflections

Year 7

“Can I join you?” 

 The aim of this activity was to create a potentially alienating situation that compelled students to behave in ways that trigger their ‘sense of belonging’.

The Tutor Group was split into 5 groups of 4 students. One group was sent outside the classroom. This group, Group 1, were told nothing about the exercise. In the meantime, the other four groups were given specific scenarios to enact. The action card instruction indicated a type of behaviour that they had to exhibit, for example, speaking in a language other than English or ignoring the person who would try to re-join the group. Group 1 was sent back in and they re-joined their group. The interactions took no longer than a minute. We stopped the activity and commenced a reflection discussion.

The results were interesting. Some students were conflicted about the behaviour instructions on the action cards, saying that they felt like it was problematic to deliberately reject a member of their Tutor Group. All in all it was a constructive discussion linking thoughts to behaviour and highlighting how important belonging and acceptance are to positive thoughts and feelings.

Year 8

Today in Tutor period we discussed building positive relationships. We identified positive relationships and negative relationships and used personal examples as practice models to refine the way we interact with our peers. This was then used to learn about online relationships and the problems they pose and the potential risks and benefits of friendships on an online forum. The class enjoyed drawing from personal experiences and working as a team in this activity.

 Year 10

In the Year 10 Rashi Tutor program this term we discussed prevalent social inequality issues that impact our society today. We talked about ways to better the world such as climate action, active social awareness, and working as a cohesive year group when we go to Israel.

We have many interesting discussions, some of which include: how to manage our time, good communication skills and career choices for subjects next year.