Melbourne's school children win internationally
Posted on 19/06/2008
A team of four Melbourne primary school students has finished third in a prestigious international community problem solving competition with their project to assist players in the Melbourne 2008 Homeless World Cup.
The year six students from Melbourne Grammar’s coeducational primary school, Grimwade House, took out third place at the finals held in June in Michigan, USA, with their presentation on homelessness, including welcome kits which they will supply to around 500 players from around the world arriving in Melbourne for the Homeless World Cup on December 1-7.
The welcome kits will contain free passes to Melbourne attractions such as the MCG, playing cards, sunscreen, information about Melbourne and the city’s public transport system, motivational books, hats, water bottles, snacks, footballs, Australian pens and stickers, postcards and koala clip-on souvenirs.
The International Future Problem Solving Program is regarded as one of the most prestigious and challenging thinking skills programs offered to students. It teaches team-work and problem solving skills and encourages students to become involved in social issue of today and the future.
The team of James Little, Marine Gutton, Michael Zeng, all 11 years old, and Lachlan Fong, 12, received 100 per cent marks for their interview with two judges, with the judges reportedly “blown away” with the children’s knowledge, confidence and passion for their project on homelessness.
They also received a perfect score for their folio of documentation on the project.
“Our project really was a global project and so we had a lot of interest from people from all around the world, many of whom had never heard of the Homeless World Cup,” said James Little.
“But once they did, they were genuinely interested in the welcome packs we were making and the problems we had to solve to make this happen.”
“The feedback we got from people was that they really liked the project and thought it was a good way for younger children to make a difference in the world,” said Lachlan Fong.
“We hoped that our project would raise awareness about homelessness."
The students won the right to represent Australia after beating over 400 top problem-solvers from all Australian states, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore at the regional finals in Perth in October last year.
The team of then five Year 5 students from won the Junior Division of Community Problem Solving for their project supporting the Aussie Street Socceroos in the lead-up to the 2007 Homeless World Cup in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The International Future Problem Solving Program has been running for more than 30 years with approximately 250,000 students from around the world participating annually. In Australia, the program attracts 5,000 participants each year.
