Think ELTHAM

On Saturday 26 May, ELTHAM College will be hosting a full day of learning, sharing and fun called Think ELTHAM. On the day, we will offer young people from across Melbourne in Grade 4, 5, 6, and through to Year 7 and 8, the opportunity to come to ELTHAM and learn a new skill from our Senior School students for free.

ELTHAM students from Years 7 – 12 will be teaching a wide variety of fun and interesting workshops between the hours of 10.00am and 3.30pm. Workshops will cover topics as wide-ranging as film and TV writing, creating cupcakes, solving a Rubik’s Cube, 3D design and printing, swimming, landscape painting, Photoshop, skateboarding and many more.

The inspiration behind the concept, which was developed by ELTHAM’s principal, Simon Le Plastrier, came from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the USA. MIT runs a series of workshops covering science, technology, engineering and art, for students in Years 6 – 12.

Le Plastrier’s willingness to adapt this concept demonstrates his belief that ELTHAM should encourage students to be independent thinkers across a range of academic disciplines. “Society is moving much faster than the education system is adapting to it,” says Le Plastrier. “We need to prepare our young people for a journey that’s not focused so much on ATARs and VCE results. The system is there but kids are moving faster than the system and looking for ways to bypass it.”

The benefits of a learning program such as Think ELTHAM, for the student facilitators and the participating children, are many. Encouraging young people to explore new areas of learning – and the diverse career possibilities that can result from this exploration – is part of helping them to adapt to the changing future of work.

In Le Plastrier’s words, “It gives our students the chance to teach an idea or passion they have, it gives back to the community, and it’s a way of donating our skill sets to others.”

Please view a full list of workshops on offer at Think ELTHAM by clicking here. Registrations close on Wednesday 23 May.