Check Out What’s New at Cool Australia!
We totally get it! It can be tricky to come up with new and engaging lesson ideas when time is in short supply.
So, we’ve set up this handy page, filled to the brim with ideas that are quick and easy to incorporate in your planning and are choc-full of action-based learning. You might even like to save this page to your bookmarks; we’ll be updating it every month!
Upcoming Events
We have aligned resources to upcoming events and awareness days. Take a look below!
Breathing Circles
– Early Learning
The activities in this unit use mindful breathing techniques to teach children how to shift emotional states. This is a practice that can be used to settle children and foster calm and focussed attention. These practices can also be incorporated into everyday life as a way to lessen anxiety and relieve stress amongst children, educators and families. There’s also a great package for Learning at home for Years Foundation to Year 2
Regenerating Australia
– Years 5-10
Regenerating Australia is a 17-minute short film based on a four-month interview process with a diverse group of Australians who shared their hopes and dreams for the country’s future.
The lessons have been designed to empower and inspire students – inviting them to ignite their imagination and dream up a positive and regenerative future for Australia. These education resources are further complemented by the 2040 package of lessons.
Social Enterprise
– Years 5 & 6, Year 9
The full Social Enterprise Schools program is a practical, student-led experience that develops citizenship and enterprise capabilities. It brings students, teachers, local entrepreneurs and the community together to develop skills, build confidence and make a positive social impact. Through the process of setting up their own social enterprise, students develop the skills, mindsets and behaviours they will need as they move beyond the school gates.
Building Resilience To Natural Disasters
– Years 7 & 8
These Year 7 to 8 English lessons will encourage students to explore the true meaning of hope and leadership and apply empathy to those affected by fires and floods. Students will analyse and write texts that explore how society can address hazards and natural disasters to create a resilient Australia.
IPCC – Climate Change Resources
In 2021-22, the IPCC released Part 1 of the Sixth Assessment Report. This is the most up-to-date physical understanding of the climate system and climate change. In response to this report, Cool has created a range of resources to contextualise the report for Australian Primary and Secondary students, and use our Hope and Optimism framework to provide an approach to social actions involving students’ families and broader communities in tackling the challenge of climate change.
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
– Years 5 to 10
Students evaluate the social, moral and ethical positions represented in the text The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula Le Guin, which asks whether you would be comfortable living in a utopia if all the world’s burdens were placed on a single child, and reflect on its impact on their personal understanding of the world.
Stop the Coward’s Punch Campaign
– Years 7 to 10
The STOP the Coward Punch Campaign is on a mission to eliminate the coward punch from society and save lives by educating people – including young people – about the risks and ramifications of the coward punch.
Covering multiple curriculum areas, this package highlights the impacts of unnecessary and cowardly acts of violence and helps bring about a positive mindset and behaviour change by supporting young people with strategies and age-appropriate information in engaging and creative ways.
Professional Development
Teaching Consent to Children
This course will help you explore developments in social views on consent, and understand how consent education is changing and moving into the earlier years of schooling.
Available now for free!
For more information, check out the course today..
Staff Picks!
We’ve selected some projects below that our Education Specialists have loved, and we hope you do too!
MangroveWatch
MangroveWatch is a citizen science program hosted by Earthwatch Australia and James Cook University. The MangroveWatch citizen science program provides tools, methods and training to assist students and the wider community help scientists gather data on the extent and health of Australia’s mangroves and salt marshes, known collectively as tidal wetlands.
SugarByHalf Resources
These great lessons let you integrate health across the curriculum with a focus on the impact of sugar. Developed in partnership with SugarByHalf, this set of lessons aims to empower students to make informed food choices.
Download these free resources here.
New Activity for Schools Tree Day!
Students are instructed in how to view trees as a guide to story structures and how to use trees and wildlife as characters in stories from their local environment to celebrate Schools Tree Day. They use trees as both metaphor and subject for crafting a narrative, using their creativity and their connections to native wildlife.
Check out the activity and all Schools Tree Day resources here
Cool Australia acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to land, water and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, and to Elders past and present. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should be aware that this website may contain images or names of people who have since passed away.