Projects & Challenges

Fun and interactive ways to immerse your students in meaningful learning

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Current Projects & Challenges

New project toolkits coming in 2025!

Past Projects & Challenges

Check out past projects and challenges to view the results, watch highlights, and access resources you can repurpose in your classroom.

'Rethink Waste' Upcycling Challenge

Taking inspiration from National Recycling Week 2022 theme, “Waste Isn’t Waste Until It’s Wasted”, we’re encouraging our young creative minds to “rethink waste” with a fun upcycling challenge!

Our Place, My Story - A Bicentenary Year Storytelling Project

Suggested Grades: All ages Dates: Semester 2, 2021

As a part of Port Macquarie’s Bicentenary year, we invited our children and youth to share stories about what they think makes our region a special place to live. These stories were captured to form part of our future history; a time capsule portfolio of works publication of our young people’s connection to our place in Port Macquarie’s Bicentenary Year. Moving beyond the Bicentenary year, the Teacher Resource Pack remains a wonderful resource to explore past and present and place with your students. You can also view the digital Portfolio of Works on our Library website (click link below, then navigate to ‘Bicentenary’ tab on the page) or borrow a hardcover copy of the book through the Port Macquarie library branch.

Big Battery Blitz Schools Challenge

Suggested Grades: All ages Dates: February – March 2021

13 local schools joined us for our very first Big Battery Blitz battery recycling campaign, collectively distributing over 3650 reusable household battery recycling boxes and driving 152kg of batteries out of our household bins and into our community recycling centres! Check out the results, and download the teaching resource pack for lesson plans and activities you can use to encourage correct and safe battery recycling in your classroom, or even run your own Battery Blitz Challenge!

Think2050 FutureThink Youth Summits

Suggested Grades: Upper Primary and Secondary Schools Dates: 7-8th October, 2020

As a part of our Think2050 Community Strategic Plan engagement, FutureThink Summits were an exciting opportunity for Port Macquarie-Hastings Primary and High School students to engage in conversations and activities based around the future of our region. Students were inspired by local creative change-makers on the topics of Sustainability, Connection, and Creativity, before being invited to design alive their own big ideas for our community vision for 2050.

Think2050 Minecraft Competion

Suggested Grades: Upper Primary and Secondary Schools Dates: 7-8th October, 2020

The Think2050 Minecraft Competition, open to all schools in the Port Macquarie-Hastings region, saw groups of students from Stage 3 and Stage 4 creating their ideal town of the future using design thinking processes, under the driving question, “How are towns planned and designed in a sustainable and liveable way?”. The winning submission from each Stage received $1,000 to go towards technology or STEM resources for their school.

This competition was supported by Charles Sturt University, and with quality teaching and learning resources and expert teacher support by the stem.T4L project of the NSW Department of Education.

Youth Week 2020 Local Legends Series

Suggested Grades: Upper Primary and Secondary Schools Dates: April, 2020

With COVID-19 lockdowns putting a halt on face-to-face Youth Week events, we released a video mini series and accompanying learning resources, celebrating unstoppable dreams, hopes and visions for youth. The 5 part series features stories from local legends about how they weaved their way through life, uncovered their purpose and created their impact in our community and beyond. This is a fantastic resource that can be used in your classroom at any time of year to promote wellbeing, optimism, future skills and personal development.