Search Results

Ascot Vale West Primary School Students Battle It Out In NBA Math Hoops! < Back NBA Math Hoops in Action at Ascot Vale West PS! 22 Aug 2024 Ascot Vale West Primary School Students Battle It Out In NBA Math Hoops! Ascot Vale West Primary School students gave it their best on the NBA Math Hoops courts to secure a spot at the NBA Math Hoops Victorian State Championships in September this year. Students from grades 5 and 6 played three rounds of NBA Math Hoops, where they put their maths skills to the test and showed honourable sportsmanship towards their teammates and opponents. NBA Math Hoops is a comprehensive learning program featuring a board game and curriculum that motivates students to learn fundamental maths skills through the game of basketball. The program is free for all school teachers thanks to our friends @nbamathhoops and @learn_fresh - learn more about how you can access the board game here. Previous Next

Riley's Game Changers Story < Back Leaping Into Employment Emily Maiorana 20 July 2023 Riley's Game Changers Story Feeling job ready and understanding career opportunities can be both an overwhelming and difficult concept to grasp for those in the early stages of their job seeking journey. Young people within our community consistently face barriers to employment and are often not exposed to available support services. This leads to challenges in obtaining meaningful employment and affects their confidence to apply for roles. Young people are told their lack of experience is a main reason for not being successful when applying for roles. We also know young people struggle to find meaningful opportunities to gain relevant work experience. Game Changers fills the experience gap by providing real world opportunities for young people to develop experience and transferable skills through our workshops, Pitch Event and Employment Experiences. Fostering a hands on and problem-solving based learning approach, Game Changers creates an environment where all people feel they can belong and are able to develop skills essential to successfully obtaining sustainable employment. Empowered to reflect and identify their own strengths, Game Changers provides participants with the chance to create and pitch their ideas and solutions to a social issue to a panel of industry experts. Successful program participants can also take part in a paid Employment Experience working on a project at The Huddle. Riley is a 17-year-old male born and raised in Wyndham. Riley has been a participant in The Huddle’s Huddle Up! And Huddle Holidays programs since 2022. His commitment and enthusiastic character led staff to encourage Riley to register for Game Changers in Wyndham. “They told me I would be a perfect fit and after completing the course and Pitch Event I can say that everyone who had suggested the program was correct. I had a blast.” Riley attended four days of workshops, learning about ideation frameworks, problem solving and transferable skills and was able to meaningfully connect with his peers, displaying excellent leadership qualities in the process. Posed with the question “How can we create an engaging and sustainable event for young people in Wyndham which leverages the power of sport to promote social inclusion? ” Riley worked in a collaborative partnership with other participants to create a presentation highlighting their lived experiences in struggling to access sport when growing up. They also provided insights into how they didn’t feel accepted in many organised sports clubs and competitions because of their cultural identity. Their idea to help young people facing similar challenges was to hold a series of free sports clinics and events, which also celebrated the cultural diversity of the participants involved. Riley’s passion and ideas captivated staff at The Huddle, leading to him being offered a paid Employment Experience, working on the implementation of the Spring Huddle Slam, a basketball tournament for young people within his local community. “Game Changers has provided me with an amazing position in helping design the next Huddle basketball tournament and I am looking forward to being able to work surrounded by intelligent and fun people who share my love of sports and creating an inclusive environment.” By participating in Game Changers, Riley was able to improve his transferable skills, gain experience and be more confident within himself. “The Game Changers program has helped me be more aware of the career opportunities available, I will definitely be suggesting any future programs like this one to friends, as a lesson I have learned from participating in Game Changers is that everyone deserves a chance to be able to showcase their talent, and have it be seen and put to use with the help of experts in the field”. Riley will begin his paid Employment Experience in July 2023 and hopes to work casually within other sports programs at The Huddle. The Huddle would like to thank program partner Equal Ed and funding partner Wyndham City Council for their support of Game Changers in Wyndham. If you are interested in participating in Game Changers or would like tailored 1-on-1 career support* from The Huddle, please contact: Emily Maiorana - Careers Coordinator (The Huddle) Email: Emily.Maiorana@nmfc.com.au Phone: 0478 756 418 * 1-on-1 Game Changers sessions by appointment Previous Next

< Back Victorian Math Hoops Championship The first ever Victorian Math Hoops Championship was held at The Huddle this month. Previous Next

A fun and memorable way to engage the whole class in mathematical learning < Back A reflection on NBA Math Hoops Thomas O’Halloran – 5/6 Teacher at Moreland Primary School 5 Sept 2022 A fun and memorable way to engage the whole class in mathematical learning As a teacher, I have no doubt that effective teaching has the most significant impact on student learning outside influences in the home. However, effective teaching takes time and investment. The 2021 Grattan survey reports that 92% of teachers frequently feel that they do not have enough time to prepare for effective teaching. I am one of those teachers, spending endless unpaid hours planning each week to ensure I am delivering effective and engaging lessons. I am always on the hunt for fun and memorable learning resources, especially the lessons that capture the minds and hearts of the students. They must be easy to implement and enable me to work smarter - not harder. So, when I saw the Huddle promoting NBA Math Hoops, a board game that promised to leverage sport in the classroom to maximise student engagement, I was open to giving it a go. As a sports and maths fan, I immediately recognised the power of a board game that leverages basketball to engage students in mathematics. After completing the teacher training (thankfully, a painless, super-informative online 90-minute workshop), I was impressed by the game's potential to shift the mindset of students who consider themselves to be 'bad at maths'. While initially excited, it wasn't until I received the FREE class set that I was blown away by the high quality of the board game. The game was fun, colourful, and the player cards were attention-grabbing. I also recently found out that Hasbro, the creators of Monopoly, are also the creators of NBA Math Hoops. The NBA Math Hoops game formula is simple in its utilisation of “the four C’s”. Students must collaborate, communicate, think critically and creatively to win. The in-school NBA Math Hoops draft was pure chaotic bliss. Students were scrambling to review player cards, deciphering statistics, using multiplicative thinking, debating player selection with peers, and justifying their decisions. It is always wonderful to watch students practising the skills that will equip them to navigate and thrive in our ever-changing world. I love how the game establishes intrinsic motivation in students to build upon and use their mathematical knowledge. The associated lesson plans effectively scaffold students to practice the relevant mathematical skill while gradually layering the game rules. This means that I didn’t have to be the game expert, and what's more, I liked that I could adapt the rules to support or challenge every student in my class. To sum up my experience, NBA Math Hoops was a series of wonderful surprises. While compiling the semester reports, I was astonished by how many students referenced NBA Math Hoops in their reflective comments, many describing the game as a fun way to learn maths - even students who declare themselves as ‘bad at maths’. Like sneaking vegetables into a pasta sauce, NBA Math Hoops is stealth learning! I would highly recommend the board game and accompanying resources to any educator looking for a way to engage their whole class in mathematical learning, whilst offering a fun and memorable experience that will be a highlight of the school year. To find out more about NBA Math Hoops, please click here Previous Next

< Back 2023 Autumn Huddle Holidays Rock Climbing, Reptile Encounter, Multisport Superclinic, Barista Course Previous Next

OOPS! There’s Nothing Here. The page you’re looking for can’t be found. Check the URL, or go back to the homepage. Back to Homepage

How The Huddle’s free tutoring program in Werribee is flourishing in 2022 < Back Strength to strength Josh Raymer 11 Nov 2022 How The Huddle’s free tutoring program in Werribee is flourishing in 2022 Study Squad Wyndham has seen strong growth as we return to an uninterrupted year of tutoring and study support. Attendance has grown steadily each term due to strong relationships with community groups such as the Oromo Women’s Networking Group, and an initiative with St Andrews Primary School in which The Huddle allowed Year 6’s to attend from Term 3. This led to a strong uptake in the program, which has generally only been available to Year 7’s and up. Post COVID, a challenge for Study Squad was building attendance after interruptions for most of 2020 & 2021. The transition from the online component of Study Squad and schooling to face-to-face delivery in 2022 proved to be a challenge for program organisers and volunteers alike. In 2022, we set out to reinvigorate relationships with schools in Wyndham, meet with community groups to provide more information on the program, and leverage The Huddle’s expertise in assisting families and young people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. The Huddle met with Rahima Ahmed from Oromo Women’s Networking Group to establish ways we could work together to support young people from the group with their study. Through this relationship, young people from Oromo backgrounds began to attend the program in a face-to-face capacity. The Huddle also worked with families from Somali backgrounds, including mothers involved in Iskufilan and Women’s Workout. Families and young people from these communities were encouraged to attend the program and Huddle staff assisted with the registration process. Further steps were also taken to make the space more inclusive for young people of Muslim faith, such as the addition of a prayer space for students and parents. The Huddle’s long standing and strong relationship with St. Andrews PS saw Year 6’s able to attend the program throughout Term 3 & Term 4. The Huddle has long delivered True North & Voice Your Voice programs at St. Andrews PS, and at the conclusion of these activities, The Huddle opened the program to students so that they can prepare for secondary schooling and to assist with the transition from Year 6 to Year 7, establishing excellent study habits in advance. With a large amount of support from St. Andrews PS teaching staff, the initiative has proven to be extremely successful. St. Andrews students have also started attending other Huddle programs such as Huddle Holidays, further highlighting the strong relationship between The Huddle and St. Andrews PS community. The Huddle’s relationships with schools in Wyndham allowed promotion of the Study Squad program through other programs, such as Huddle Holidays, Huddle Up!, True North, Voice Your Voice, Game Changers and more. With an increase in visibility of the program in the Wyndham community, there was also an increased demand for Study Support as young people returned to face-to-face learning. The past few years have been extremely difficult for many students, as they tried to navigate COVID interruptions and a lack of connection with others during this time. Parents and young people attend Study Squad to connect with Huddle staff, volunteer tutors and fellow students, all while receiving study support. Throughout 2022, we have seen several success stories and study achievements, including the story of Dasy Osman, who is a Study Squad participant currently undertaking Year 11 VCE study. Dasy first started attending Study Squad online during the peak of the COVID lockdowns in 2021, and consistently attended the program while we were unable to run face to face. Young people were often fatigued with online learning, but Dasy made the effort to attend the program on a regular basis regardless. Dasy displayed great resilience during this time, engaged with our tutors and continued to study well. Dasy was finally able to attend Study Squad face-to-face at the start of Term 1, 2022. Throughout 2022, Dasy hardly missed a session and even attended Study Squad when she had ‘pupil-free’ days. Importantly, Dasy lives in Tarneit and travels around 20-30 minutes to attend the program. Dasy has two younger sisters that also attend Study Squad, and she sets a great example for them in the way that she engages with her education. Dasy has been a role model for not only her sisters, but also other students at Study Squad, particularly the young women in attendance. Dasy demonstrates great discipline and leadership amongst the cohort, and this resulted in her being nominated for the ‘Most Outstanding Secondary Student’ award at the MY Education Awards Ceremony. Dasy was crowned ‘Most Outstanding Secondary Student – Runner Up’ due to her fantastic work at Study Squad. We’ve also seen former participants become casual program support officers, now delivering the program that they once attended as a participant. Betty Tegegne & Ekram Hassan-Ali have been supporting the delivery of the program throughout Term 4. It’s been incredible to watch the program grow throughout the year, with young people attending from so many different schools and backgrounds. I’ve been so impressed by students’ commitment to learning and study. - Josh Raymer, Education Coordinator at The Huddle As Study Squad – Wyndham continues to go from strength to strength, there is an increased demand for tutors. Without volunteer tutors, the program simply could not run. As we look ahead to 2023, we plan to have more volunteer tutors to support students as the program grows. Previous Next

< Back Community Camp 2025 Highlights Snapshot of Community Camp in Wyndham Previous Next

An 8-year Surfing Adventure with Anglesea Surf Life Saving Club and Go Ride a Wave, Anglesea < Back Making Waves in Anglesea Ruth Game 19 Feb 2024 An 8-year Surfing Adventure with Anglesea Surf Life Saving Club and Go Ride a Wave, Anglesea The collaborative effort between Anglesea Surf Life Saving Club (ASLSC), Go Ride a Wave, Anglesea (GRAW) and The Huddle created another joyous beach experience for young participants and their parents this January. The generous provision of wetsuits and surf lessons from GRAW, coupled with the dedication of ASLSC volunteers, has each year become one of the major highlights of The Huddle calendar. This initiative, beginning in 2016 and now funded by The Department of Education and Bendigo Bank Seddon introduces first-timers to the beach, teaches skills for water competency and provides a quintessential Australian experience all by the generosity of the Anglesea community. Since the beginning of this partnership, over 150 wetsuits and 8 surf lessons provided by GRAW, there has been enthusiastic participation of ASLSC volunteers and the wider club over 9 visits to their venue, and overwhelming positive feedback from 300+ participants. "I was so impressed with the patience and enthusiasm that the young water safety volunteers displayed. They genuinely made the days of so many young people." – Huddle Staff Member In 2016, families living in Flemington, Kensington, North Melbourne and Ascot Vale were invited to brainstorm ideas for a Huddle school holiday program to keep youth engaged over the break. The concept of a Surf Trip began to form, and The Huddle reached out to Go Ride A Wave and Anglesea was quickly suggested as a suitable location for beginners. From there, a relationship with Anglesea Surf Life Saving Club was established and has strengthened year on year. ASLSC’s Nippers, volunteers, and young people have been keeping other young people and their families safe in the water and have shared in the joy of many participants’ first time at the beach. Three themes have emerged from this partnership over the years; the importance of water competency, social inclusion, and providing what is a quintessential Australian experience; a day at the beach with a snag. "I was so excited, and a bit nervous. I got dumped by a wave but I will definitely come back next year!” - Participant The generous contribution of wetsuits and surf lessons by GRAW has been a game-changer. Paired with the dedication of ASLSC volunteers and their newly renovated venue, the event has been meticulously organised every year. Partnering with GRAW and ASLSC has ensured the sustainability of such a well-loved program. “I was so impressed with the patience and enthusiasm that the young water safety volunteers displayed. They genuinely made the days of so many young people." – Huddle Staff Member “I can’t emphasise enough how loved this day is by the families we work with and that’s in huge part to the warmth and generosity of the Anglesea Surf Life Saving Club.” – Huddle staff member The success of this place-based partnerships initiative funded by the Department of Education and Bendigo Bank Seddon paves the way for future collaborations with ASLSC and Go Ride a Wave Anglesea. The Huddle is committed to expanding this program, ensuring more young people can experience the joy of the ocean in a safe and supportive environment. “The waves are kinda hard and I was like oh my god, I was really scared... I had a try and then it was really fun!” – Huddle participant To support initiatives like these and make a lasting impact on young lives, consider contributing to The Huddle's mission. Your support can help create more memorable experiences and positive transformations for the community. Previous Next

Youth Advisory Group builds stronger connections between young people and key decision makers < Back Young Voices Shaping North Melbourne Community Centre Zakaria Farah 5 Mar 2025 Youth Advisory Group builds stronger connections between young people and key decision makers The North Melbourne Community Centre (NMCC) Youth Advisory Group provided young people with a platform to shape their community centre while developing leadership and advocacy skills. In partnership with YMCA and the City of Melbourne , the program empowered participants to refine their communication and problem-solving abilities while contributing ideas to improve the North Melbourne Community Centre. Throughout the 10-week program across July-November, 12 young people worked collaboratively to identify opportunities for enhancing the centre’s inclusivity and engagement. They explored the question: What would you do with $10,000 to ensure the North Melbourne Community Centre is more welcoming, fun, inclusive, and usable? Through lively brainstorming sessions, passionate debates, and a few wild ideas thrown into the mix, they developed two key proposals: A Maker’s Space - A creative hub for arts and crafts A Games Room Revamp - improving equipment to make the space more engaging. The program culminated in a final presentation, where participants pitched their ideas to YMCA and City of Melbourne staff. This process not only encouraged youth-driven innovation but also helped strengthen relationships between young people, and key decision makers, ensuring their voices remain central to facilities future planning. “This process gave young people the opportunity to be heard and have a say in how their community centre serves them.” – YMCA Staff Moving forward, the advisory group will continue working with YMCA to refine and implement their proposals. This initiative has demonstrated the power of youth engagement in shaping community spaces , and we look forward to seeing these ideas take shape. Previous Next

Welcome To AFL Welcome to AFL is a free event for newly arrived, multicultural and international student communities to learn the basics of AFL! You'll experience the unique and memorable opportunity of being front and centre at one of Australia's most exciting stages for sport; Marvel Stadium. We'll teach you the ins and outs of footy, from rules to the skills, and cap it all off by watching a live game of footy from the mighty North Melbourne Kangaroos. EVENT DETAILS Date: Sunday 23rd March Time: 11:30 am - 5:30 pm Location: Marvel Stadium Cost: Free event (however registration is required) Food: Lunch and snacks provided Transport: We encourage you to use public transport OR park at Marvel Stadium. FREE SIGN UP

Aligned to the Victorian Curriculum, GOAL! uses the power of sport to engage students in Levels 3 to 6 in STEM. Fun and innovative basketball-themed STEM lessons, aligned with Curriculum. Filter by State Select State Filter by Learning Topics Select Learning Topics VICTORIAN CURRICULUM A Day In The Life Can your students present what a day in their life looks like using 12- and 24-hour time? VIEW LESSON VICTORIAN CURRICULUM Road Trip Can your students organise the travel plans for a basketball team pre-season competition? VIEW LESSON AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM A Day In The Life Can your students present what a day in their life looks like using 12- and 24-hour time? VIEW LESSON AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM Road Trip Can your students organise the travel plans for a basketball team pre-season competition? VIEW LESSON VICTORIAN CURRICULUM Final Minute Can your students utilise data to win the Grand Final in the final minute of the game? VIEW LESSON VICTORIAN CURRICULUM Rookie Card Can your students create their own player card identifying their physical and personal strengths? VIEW LESSON AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM Final Minute Can your students utilise data to win the Grand Final in the final minute of the game? VIEW LESSON AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM Rookie Card Can your students create their own player card identifying their physical and personal strengths? VIEW LESSON VICTORIAN CURRICULUM NBL Trophy Challenge Can your students design a new Championship Trophy using technology and mathematics? VIEW LESSON VICTORIAN CURRICULUM Shot Challenge Can your students improve the functionality and accuracy of a basketball catapult? VIEW LESSON AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM NBL Trophy Challenge Can your students design a new Championship Trophy using technology and mathematics? VIEW LESSON AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM Shot Challenge Can your students improve the functionality and accuracy of a basketball catapult? VIEW LESSON Play Video Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tumblr Copy Link Link Copied It was high student engagement - peers communicating, using mathematical language, comparing, reasoning, measuring, justifying, analysing… Jane - Learning Specialist, Eagle Point Primary School In partnership with