Scott Buckle is thriving and enjoying learning at Carinity Education Glendyne – but it’s an activity outside the classroom that gets him really excited about going to school.
Scott is one of the keen participants of the school’s new RC Rock Crawlers project. RC crawlers are remotely controlled vehicles designed to scale steep inclines and climb over rocks.
After a handful of students tried the activity, a local rock crawler club donated a track to the school. Students and staff commenced building their own track components, including a replica of the Glendyne workshop and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Scott’s mother, Paula Buckle, said participating in RC Rock Crawler activities has given her son a “personal feeling of self-worth he has never had before”.
“Scott’s attitude to school has completely changed for the better since being at Glendyne and the RC activity on a Friday is his absolute favourite. He feels valued in that he is able to bring his creativity to life and continue to plan and work on new additions,” Paula said.
“He has always had issues with fine motor tasks but seeing how he manoeuvres the cars round the track is just incredible. It is helping him so much in terms of his confidence.”
Supervising teacher Philip Reymers said the RC Rock Crawlers project has been a “good activity to help students manage their behaviours”.
“As the vehicle drivers need to move more slowly, concentrate and are away from triggers, this helps to de-escalate and regulate behaviours,” Philip said.
RC Rock Crawlers is developing into an important part of Glendyne’s curriculum, with hopes students could soon compete in inter-school competitions.
“It lends itself to create learning opportunities in integrated curriculum areas which include science, technology, engineering, art, English and mathematics,” Dale said.
“My longer-term goal is to have public competitions with state and interstate teams. Expanding the project to involve local community members supports our school’s model of service of creating a ‘sense of belonging’.”
