Principal Melissa Gould invited students to design and collaboratively create the mural in response to and promotion of the values of the school.
“We are building a culture at Rochester Secondary College to empower all students to grow academically, socially and emotionally and that's why we wanted them to work on a project like this, to capture these values,” she said.
Students designed original pictographs to represent each of the school’s values: Growth, Respect, Optimism, Wellbeing and Support.
They then hand cut stencils and spray-painted the pictographs in bright, mostly warm colours on top of a cool coloured, hand-painted background. The letters ‘RSC GROWS’ were then stencilled over the top in the school’s navy blue.
While the project started taking shape during term one, COVID-19 put the project on hold until the students were able to learn on campus again.
“The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted our work and, ironically, we had to rely on our school values more than ever to push through remote learning and get back to school to finish off our project,” design student Isabella Miriklis said.
“The mural now displays not only our school values but the strengths we used through isolation and remote learning.”
As they undertook the collaborative painting project, each of the students got a chance to reflect on their remote learning experiences and how the school values helped them through such unexpected and new circumstances.
“I’m incredibly proud of the student’s achievements; the way they worked together to create this celebration of our school values and the end result, which is spectacular,” design adventures teacher Meg Doller said.
Mrs Gould believes the visual of the mural will be a great asset to the school.
“We provide a respectful and nurturing environment with strong community links to produce collaborative learners who think deeply. As you examine the mural you get to understand the thoughts and strengths of the many contributors,” she said.
The mural has been installed, high and proud, on an exterior wall of one of the classrooms.
Staff and students will be able to enjoy it immediately, and as restrictions ease, future visitors to Rochester Secondary College will be encouraged to view it for themselves.
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