Children’s artwork brings the Mooroopna community together
An on site art exhibition showcasing the talented work of the children from Mooroopna Primary School and Mooroopna Children and Families Centre (MCFC) provided opportunities for connection.
After a tough few years of social isolation and restricted access for parents and carers within school grounds and early learning centres due to COVID-19 and the recent stress of the floods, Our Place Mooroopna felt it was important to provide the community with something that would help to lift their spirits.
Our Place has always admired the incredible artwork that early learning and primary school children create and felt these creations were very worthy of their own exhibition. Putting together the desire to lift the community’s spirits and the amazing artwork available, Our Place team members Caroline, Sally and Sophie decided to host an on site art exhibition.
Once this was decided, the team got busy working with Acting School Principal Ms May, Mrs Grieve the art teacher, Terrianne Miller the MCFC Service Leader, and Kindergarten teachers Toni and Rachel to help make this a possibility. All were excited about the idea and were more than happy to provide artwork to the Our Place team to have on display.
The timing of the exhibition ensured that the majority of families would have an opportunity to attend. By arranging the exhibition from 3 pm – 5 pm it allowed parents to fit this in during school and early learning pick-up times. This timing also ensured that some working families could attend where possible.
After lots of planning, setting up and promotion of the event to families via handing out flyers and the school and early learning centre’s social media channels, the day finally arrived. The community space was filled with over 200 children’s artwork. The foundation children displayed their digital art projects that they had been working on throughout the year, and grades 1 – 6 showed off their amazing digital photography skills. Some students also displayed their book-themed art and the school’s recently installed kiln provided a new art medium of beautiful ceramic pots. The kindergarten children also created a turtle diorama for the exhibition and displayed their charcoal family and self-portraits.
The site was a hive of activity, with over 50 families attending. Children enjoyed seeing their artwork on display and especially felt proud to be able to point out their very own artwork to parents, carers, siblings, and the Our Place team. A free sausage sizzle was also provided by the Kiwanis Club of Mooroopna and Jam Packed provided their coffee van. As the Foodbank van had attended the site that day and the leftover farm fresh produce was shared with families who could not attend earlier, to take home.
The Our Place team also spent time meeting and greeting families and building relationships. Hosting the exhibition in the community space also assisted families to gain familiarisation with the space and learn about on site services and opportunities that they may not have been aware of. These interactions also led to parents and carers asking questions about on site offerings, such as playgroup, and also expressing interest in upcoming opportunities being planned for 2023.
Aligning with the Our Place Approach
This is one example of Our Place’s role in engaging the community by providing activities and opportunities for connection. This also demonstrates how we partner with our on site education providers to assist in supporting parents to be engaged with their children’s learning. To learn more about the Our Place Approach Click Here