After emerging from lockdown and our online learning Year 8 decided on a theme of 'Ka mua, ka muri; looking back in order to move forward.'

This whakataukī enabled students to reflect on this once in a lifetime event and made us realise that there were both positive and negative aspects that came with being at home for such a long period of time. We discussed these things in depth and decided that in order to further our well-being that it was essential we try to continue these positive aspects moving forward.

With this newfound understanding we thought that it would be a great opportunity for us to pass on our expertise and knowledge to children our age who were still experiencing living in lockdown conditions. This was when we engaged our overseas clients, students from Markham College in Peru and Sri KDU International School in Malaysia.

We got in touch with them to try and learn about their experience over the last few months and also what kind of things they were interested in. This helped us to think of what we could potentially do to help them.

We decided on creating a website that had a range of different activities based around things that we found important and enjoyable during our lockdown. These fell into the categories of; creativity, mindfulness, physical activity, social connection and cooking.

We then got busy creating and making our chosen activities to engage our clients. This was a busy process with groups working on multiple things at a time. This process enabled us to develop new skills and gave plenty of opportunity for us to reflect on our Balmac Super Skills, particularly our ability to work collaboratively.

After a productive few weeks we are now excited to share our finished product with our overseas audience. We'd also like you to have a look too! https://sites.google.com/balmacewen.school.nz/redgdf/home

Here are a few of our students thoughts regarding our Term 2 PBL:

Very beneficial for not only us but for students overseas. It has opened up learning opportunities for kids in all areas and has allowed us to collaborate on something we wouldn't normally do. It opens up new platforms for us to use during the learning day. It's been great for kids to teach other kids about something they are passionate about. Our learning had a purpose.

Mikko Johnston - Co Project Manager

I was able to extend my strengths in art by having the chance to design multiple different logos and colour schemes for the website. I quite enjoyed working alongside others in this project and using my creative skills to make decisions. It has made me more confident.

Keren Basel - Web Designer 

This has been a great learning experience. It's been a good idea to help other kids who are still in lockdown. There have been great opportunities for leadership and to share our skills. It has been fun and I can't really fault it. 

Jake Knox, Liam Elder - Web Developers