Thanks for your interest in our 'WISH YOU WERE HERE! Postcards from future Queensland' project, and for empowering your students to imagine a better future beyond the COVID-19 crisis. View the latest lesson information here.
Welcome teachers!
We've put together some handy FAQs which we hope you find useful.
What age group can enter?
We will take submissions from anyone at any year level, from primary school upwards, though of course the older students may have an advantage of being selected for publication on the website or in the anthology. The project is aimed at young people, because we want to hear their optimistic visions of what the world can look like, and they are not so wedded to traditional ideas as older people.
What if my students want to write outlandish things?
As long as they remain optimistic, that’s fine! The visions of the future can be realistic or totally fantastical. Even the most wild imaginings can help us set a course for the future. For example, if they imagine we all mind meld and become one living organism, that’s actually a vision for better social cohesion. That’s a goal, and it’s worth expressing.
Does this connect with the Australian curriculum?
While Wish You Were Here is not an official activity, it connects with the Australian curriculum in many ways. Click here for a table of year 7-10 curriculum links.
For senior years, the project can help with the Year 11 English Narrative unit, and Year 11 Literature formative Creative Writing unit. While Year 12 creative writing in English and Literature may not be proceeding, teachers can still use this activity to enrich those students’ general writing skills and for interest and hope in this unprecedented time.
What other ways can I use Wish You Were Here in the classroom?
- Weekly activities for extracurricular writing groups, via OneNote or Blackboard (eLearn) discussion boards
- A well-being activity (e.g. Positive Emotions from PERMAH model, delivered as a morning form/pastoral care/check-in activity), encouraging students to focus on a hopeful future and identify what they are grateful for in the everyday.
- Quick writes as an opening activity to the lesson
- Incorporated in a cross-curricular study e.g. English and HASS (possible geography and/or civics and citizenship links in 7-10 curriculum)
- Incorporated in a creative writing unit, short story or novel unit, focusing on elements of narrative, especially literary style.
Have another question?
If you have a question you need answered, please email k.wilkins@uq.edu.au and check back here as the list of FAQs grows.