School Workshops

Since launching The Big Issue Classroom in 2009, over 30,000 students have taken part in an interactive one hour workshop.

Offered to primary and secondary students, the sessions are led by skilled facilitators, with age-appropriate content presented to maximise participant outcomes. All secondary workshops include a personal account from someone who has experienced the hardships of homelessness.

The Big Issue Classroom can also be a very powerful tool to encourage students to think about the decisions and choices they make in life, and importantly the resulting consequences.

Content and workshops materials are linked to relevant curriculum areas at each year level.

School workshops are delivered face-to-face in Melbourne and Sydney and online to schools around the country through The Big Issue eClassroom

The following 1 hour workshops are currently offered to school groups:

Click on the below links to learn more.

Workshop	Year Level	Curriculum relevance
Learning about homelessness, marginalisation and disadvantage	Suitable for: Grade 1, 2 and 3 students	VIC Primary HSIE 1 AUS Critical and Creative Thinking AUS Ethical Behaviour AUS Personal and Social Capability
Thinking about homelessness, marginalisation and disadvantage	Suitable for: Grade 4, 5 and 6 students	VIC Primary HSIE 3 PDHPE 3 AUS Critical and Creative Thinking AUS Ethical Behaviour AUS Personal and Social Capability
Discussions about homelessness, marginalisation and disadvantage	Suitable for: All secondary level students	VIC Advance VELS VCAL VCE Sociology PDHPE Stage4/5 HSC Community & Family Studies HSC Legal Studies HSC Society and Culture AUS Critical and Creative Thinking AUS Ethical Behaviour AUS Information and Communications Technology Capability AUS Personal and Social Capability QLD Studies of Society
Homelessness and Health Impacts	Suitable for: Health and PDHPE students (mid/upper secondary)	VCE Health and Human Development PDHPE Stage4/5 PDHPE Stage6 QLD Health and Physical Education Year 9 QLD Health and Physical Education Year 10 QLD Health Education VCE Psychology
A case for Social Enterprise in Australian Society	Suitable for: Economics and Business students (mid/upper secondary)	VCE Business Studies VCE Economics HSC Business Studies QLD Business and Communications Technology QLD Business Year 10 QLD Economics Senior

Learning about homelessness, marginalisation and disadvantage

Suitable for: Grade 1, 2 and 3 students
Facilitated by a specialist presenter of The Big Issue Classroom (no guest speaker) Can be run onsite at schools, or at The Big Issue Classroom's locations
(central Melbourne and Sydney).

Workshop summary:

Students undertake an activity that explores the causes and effects of disadvantage
Storybook reading of Josh’s Story, a book about how Josh found himself homeless, but by making positive choices, was able to get back on his feet.
Discussion about how The Big Issue's enterprises help people help themselves
Q & A with students
Includes teacher and student packs with follow up information, and access to online resources

Learning about homelessness, marginalisation and disadvantage

Suitable for: Grade 4, 5 and 6 students
Facilitated by a specialist presenter of The Big Issue Classroom (no guest speaker) Can be run onsite at schools, or at The Big Issue Classroom's locations
(central Melbourne and Sydney).

Workshop summary:

Students explore causes of homelessness and disadvantage in James’s Story
Activity that encourages students to think about life choices
Discussion about how The Big Issue’s enterprises help people help themselves
Q & A session with students
Includes teacher and student packs with follow up information, and access to online resources

Discussions about homelessness, marginalisation and disadvantage

Suitable for: All secondary level students
Facilitated by a specialist presenter of The Big Issue Classroom, and features a guest speaker. Workshops are held at The Big Issue Classroom (in central Melbourne and Sydney) or online.

Workshop summary:

Activity followed by a discussion that explores the causes and effects of disadvantage
Discussion about facts, figures and causes of homelessness
Discussion about how The Big Issue's enterprises help people help themselves
Students hear a personal account from a ‘guest speaker’ about their experience of homelessnesss
Q & A session with students
Includes teacher and student packs with follow up information, and access to online resources

Homelessness and Health Impacts

Suitable for: Health and Human Development students (mid/upper secondary)
Facilitated by a specialist presenter of The Big Issue Classroom, and features a guest speaker. Workshops are held at The Big Issue Classroom (in central Melbourne and Sydney) or online.

Workshop summary:

Discussion about the impacts of homelessness on physical, social, mental dimensions of health and their interrelationships.
Explores the issues facing Australia's health systems, including the demands homeless people make on the system.
Features a personal account from a 'guest speaker' about the impact of disadvantage on their health and their connection with their community.

A case for Social Enterprise in Australian Society

Suitable for: Economics and Business students (mid/upper secondary)
Facilitated by a specialist presenter of The Big Issue Classroom, and features a guest speaker. Workshops are held at The Big Issue Classroom (in central Melbourne and Sydney) or online.

Workshop summary:

Discussion about social enterprise as a form of business
Discussion about the case for social enterprise as a solution to demographic and economic factors in Australian society
Discussion about how The Big Issue's social enterprises help people help themselves
Features a personal account from a 'guest speaker' about the impact of disadvantage on their ability to find employment, and be part of their community.

Contact classroom@bigissue.org.au for more information.

Why book a classroom workshop?

To provide students with a greater awareness of homelessness, marginalisation and disadvantage in Australia
To encourage students to challenge their perceptions and stereotypes relating to homelessness.
To encourage students to think about the impact of positive and negative choices they make in their lives
To encourage students to think critically about social justice issues and practical solutions to reduce Australia’s rate of homelessness
All workshops contain links to Essential Learning across Key Learning Areas in all states – click here for details
Gain access to The Big Issue Classroom online portal (and downloadable student and teacher resources, including lesson plans) to extend the learning back into the classroom.