Community Engagement and Involvement @ Pender’s Grove Primary School

At Penders' we pride ourselves on being a school with fantastic links to our local community.  We love being a small school that knows everyone in our community well and looks for ways in which to involve and include students, families and friends of the school.  We have listed some examples below:
  • Inquiry program - our classroom inquiry curriculum is based around student investigations and these are often developed around questions about the local community or where the community can connect with us to provide information or an answer eg. Parents coming into school as an expert to answer questions, and to provide a real life context for learning
  • Utilising the local area resources for curriculum based excursion eg. Ceres, Darebin Creek, local parks and businesses
  • Involvement in community projects eg. Development of a local area Playspace map with Darebin Council, feedback on the Pender’s Park redevelopment
  • Local kinder visits - our local kinders (including the bush kinder group) often share our facilities eg. Hall, music room, garden, Library, playground or our students may visit there eg. choir or instrumental group performance, transition actinides
  • High school programs - our local high school assists us by providing resources we may not have eg. Brass teacher and instruments for a student program, or run a program that our students attend eg. Student leadership training, participation in the Thornbury High musical
  • We often hire our facilities to outside organise after hours  eg. soccer, basketball, karate clubs
  • Yearly Italian Day run off site as a whole school activity at the Furlan or Venuti Italian Clubs with assistance from their members
  • Indigenous Education at the school is often supported and facilitated by our Indigenous parents 
  • Open afternoons eg. family maths day or book week activities where parents and families attend to participate
  • Parent helpers eg. library, classroom reading, attending excursions or camps to assist school staff, assistance with sports teams and coaching
  • Yearly Art Show - student art pieces and performances on display for community to visit over an Arts Week
  • Winter Solstice and Community Markets - organised by our Community Events Group and connected back to the classroom via performances, stalls, art work, student writing etc.
  • Sister school - school has a sister school in Hanoi. Students and staff have visited Pender’s a number of times over the last 4 years.
  • Community Events group runs as a subcommittee of School Council and facilitates  fundraising activities as well as parent and family activities after hours eg. park get together, quiz night, Solstice evening
  • Parent Garden Club - members invited to work on the school gardens both as individuals, small groups, after school social get together and organised via working bees