Children’s University Tasmania has had its biggest year yet.
Last November 742 young people graduated across nine ceremonies in Hobart, Launceston, Burnie and Devonport. Over 1,300 active Children’s University Tasmania members at 52 schools around the state collectively achieved over 45,000 hours of learning beyond the classroom.
These students followed their curiosity at school, on campus, in the community and online to learn about topics of their interest.
The University of Tasmania has offered activities for members ranging from developing science communication and presentation skills with IMAS and the Media school, nature storytelling, and creating art.
Year 4 student Violet gave the graduation speech at the Launceston ceremony.
Violet also took part in the Peter Underwood Centre’s Limitless Learning project at the Launceston Tramway Museum, supported by the Tasmanian Community Fund, Jetty Foundation and the Cuthill Family Foundation.
Read her speech below.
Welcome, everyone, and thank you for joining us to celebrate Children's University Tasmania graduations for 2023.
My name is Violet and I'm in Grade 4 at Invermay Primary school.
This has been my first year of Children's University and so today I am super excited to be graduating with a Silver Award for 78 hours of learning. This makes me feel very happy and proud to be able to share my achievement along with the other members at this special ceremony.
As part of this program I have had the opportunity to be involved in many different experiences. Some of my favourites included learning about dog safety, seeing some crazy things at Mona, painting gumboots for the Inveresk Community Gumboot Gala, and participating in Sing Fest.
But the most memorable thing I did was take part in the Limitless Learning workshops run by the Tramway Museum. It ran for a couple of months, and we had to find better ways for children to learn about the history of my suburb, Invermay, and the tram system it used to have in the olden days.
I really enjoyed getting the chance to have my point of view heard and my ideas put into action so that other kids can have a better learning experience. This made me feel special.
I love being in Children's University because you get to do so many different activities and as a bonus you get recognised for all your hard work.
I've been able to get creative, have fun, and even had the chance to make new friends, but none of this would have been possible without the special educators of Children's University who spend so much of their time organising cool stuff for us to do and helping us and supporting us to achieve our learning goals. This was extra important for me because being my first year, my family and I were not sure how it all worked.
So, on behalf of all Members, I want to say thank you very much to all of those people who made this program a success. Congratulations to all of this year's graduates and thank you for coming to celebrate with us.
See you next year.
Find out more about the Peter Underwood Centre.