Flaxmill School students share fresh ideas on homelessness and health

From bring­ing essen­tial ser­vices togeth­er to reimag­in­ing where and how hous­ing is pro­vid­ed, Year 6 stu­dents at Flaxmill School have pitched cre­ative ideas to help peo­ple expe­ri­enc­ing home­less­ness access sup­port after leav­ing hospital.

The stu­dents pre­sent­ed their ideas to the Com­mis­sion on Excel­lence and Inno­va­tion in Health (CEIH) at the end of a 10-week challenge.

Their ideas included:

• a com­mu­ni­ty hub bring­ing health­care, men­tal health, hous­ing, social ser­vices and peer sup­port togeth­er in one place
• a coastal hous­ing devel­op­ment out­side met­ro­pol­i­tan Ade­laide, com­bin­ing accom­mo­da­tion with wrap­around sup­port and oppor­tu­ni­ties to grow food
• cre­ative fundrais­ing activ­i­ties to bring the com­mu­ni­ty togeth­er and sup­port peo­ple expe­ri­enc­ing homelessness.

Ear­li­er this year, Flaxmill School part­nered with the CEIH through the Depart­ment for Education’s Prob­lem-Based Learn­ing pro­gram. The pro­gram helps stu­dents explore real-world issues and devel­op their crit­i­cal and cre­ative think­ing skills.

The stu­dents con­sid­ered how we can help peo­ple expe­ri­enc­ing home­less­ness access the sup­port they need after leav­ing hos­pi­tal, so they don’t need to return.

They also took their learn­ing beyond the class­room by par­tic­i­pat­ing in Hutt St Centre’s annu­al Walk a Mile in My Boots fundrais­er to sup­port peo­ple expe­ri­enc­ing homelessness.

The teach­ers wel­comed the oppor­tu­ni­ty for stu­dents to con­nect their learn­ing with real-world action, hop­ing the expe­ri­ence would stay with the stu­dents and inspire them to con­sid­er future careers in health or help­ing others.

The chal­lenge forms part of the CEIH’s broad­er Home­less­ness to Health project, which aims to improve health­care expe­ri­ences and out­comes for peo­ple expe­ri­enc­ing homelessness. 

By apply­ing their curios­i­ty and cre­ativ­i­ty to a com­plex health and social issue, the stu­dents helped the CEIH con­sid­er the chal­lenge from a fresh perspective.

Thank you to the stu­dents and teach­ers at Flaxmill School for embrac­ing the chal­lenge with curios­i­ty, cre­ativ­i­ty and care.