Kangaroo Island school wins major award

- published, August 2010

Indonesian language teacher Kris Hondow – who works in South Australia’s multi-campus Kangaroo Island Community Education School  – can hardly contain her excitement when she tells John Watts about how she and her students have managed to scoop a major Education Department media award for their BALGS video project.

Two rivers, two islands, ONE FUTURE -  is a short documentary that highlights the increasing environmental pressures on rivers in Kangaroo Island and Sumatra.

The documentary is presented in Indonesian by years 8 to 10 students at the Kingscote campus of the Kangaroo Island School.

It incorporates interviews with local Kangaroo Islanders, as well as feedback from their Indonesian counterparts via email, powerpoint presentations and a visit to the school by Indonesian environmental activist Pak Jumaadi.

Watch (embedded from Youtube):

‘We were able to bring to the island Jumaadi, an Indonesian performer and environmental activist, who portrayed his story about his river in Java, which has been engulfed by poisonous mud due to a mining disaster,’ Ms Hondow says.

The film compares the declining stocks of juvenile Black Bream fish in South Australia’s Cygnet River, with the plight of the Patin fish in the Musi River, which flows through Palembang, the capital city of South Sumatra.

The video won the South Australian Department of Education and Children’s Services ‘New Media Award’ at a recent ceremony and viewing in Adelaide.

The award was presented by the CEO of the SA Department of Education and Children’s Services Chris Robinson, as part of the ‘Think global – act local’ competition.

'Outstanding'

Panel judges said the film was ‘outstanding’, and that the students had ‘expertly fused their language learning, science, technology and environmental-studies skills in producing the documentary’.

When asked about her reaction to winning the award, Ms Hondow said she and the students were ‘elated and over the moon’.

‘It felt fantastic!  It was a huge learning curve to achieve the making of the documentary and we felt really excited that we had successfully created a winning entry.

‘The project had taken over our curriculum work for one-and-a-half terms, and we felt rewarded for our efforts, hard work and commitment.

‘The students were audibly ecstatic when they rose from their seats to take the award – which came in the form of a big cheque!’

Ms Hondow said the BALGS funding was critical to the success of the project and the eventual winning of the award.

‘It allowed for the employment of experts and consultants in filming and editing, and for teacher release to work with small groups of students in editing and compilation – precious time which we don’t normally get to complete tasks with professionalism.’

A BRIDGE school

The South Australian school is also a participant in the AEF’s BRIDGE program. Its sister school is based in Palembang.

When asked about the BRIDGE program’s impact on the project, Ms Hondow says it was an ‘absolutely essential element for our success’.

‘We had an authentic text for the students to choose from for the language in the film. The information was direct from student to student, from the source, not just the internet. There was deeper questioning, and more in-depth research.’

And what does Ms Hondow and the school intend doing with the award’s $1,500 prize money?

‘There will be a discussion with students and our principal about use of the funds,’ she says.

‘There is the possibility of purchasing additional computer software to further enhance our connection with our partner school.’

The project also won a ‘Best Practice Award’ for area schools in South Australia, which recognised the ‘development of a curriculum project that supports student learning … and promotes an initiative involving the whole school and community’.

The Kangaroo Island Community Education School includes the Parndana, Penneshaw and Kingscote campuses.

Read more:

• The Asia Education Foundation provided support for this project through its NALSSP Becoming Asia Literate: Grants to Schools  to Kangaroo Island Community Education. KICE is linked to its Indonesian counterpart via the AEF’s BRIDGE program.

• View the KICE's website.