If I were to tell you that there’s a land out there where the Arabic letters try and roam free and the job of the letter
spotters is to herd them up and make sure they are in the correct place according to where they are sounded out from the
oral and nasal cavity, you’ll think I’m crazy.
But there is, and if you don’t believe me watch this: https://tinyurl.com/makhrajland
In ordinary circumstances I’d probably agree with you that it is a pretty crazy thought. However 2021 was not a normal school year in metropolitan Melbourne. It was a stop – start year with so much uncertainty as to whether school would be in person or online at any given point in time.
The staff and students at the Fitra Community School started off the 2021 school year planning for a school play. The theme was to be around the sounding out of the Arabic letters. A script was written in collaboration with the children, costumes were sewn and practice began in earnest before Premier Daniel Andrews called a series of lockdowns in metropolitan Melbourne.
At this point the Fitra staff and students had a decision to make. Do they let COVID-19 claim yet another victim in the school play, or do they try something else to get around the virus. They chose to improvise and decided to make the school play into a short film instead. Filming was able to be done in a COVID Safe way once on-site learning restarted and they knew it could be shared with the school community no matter what COVID restrictions were in place at any given point in time.
After much hard work and effort, we are so proud of all the children and staff for the final product of the school’s creative, exciting first short film! .
The production of Makhraj Land is a representation of what we consider true learning at the Fitra Community School. Here’s a list of lessons the children gained through the experience.
They learnt and / or experienced:
- 1. The Arabic letters and how to sound them out properly
- 2. How to represent theoretical concepts, such as Tajweed in fun and creative ways
- 3. The art of communicating and performing
- 4. How to work as a team to execute a fairly ambitious project
- 5. Opportunities to remain resilient in the face of some large obstacles
- 6. The importance of maintaining a “Can-do” attitude at all times
- 7. Problem solving in real life circumstances
To us, these lessons and experiences are the true wonders of Makhraj Land. Where the teaching and learning happened in the context of an ambitious project and the shared experiences it produced. A true example of real world learning beyond just classrooms and text books. Well done to all at the Fitra Community School for rising above the negativity that was COVID-19 and producing something as wondrous as Makhraj Land.
You can watch the short film from this link, in case you missed it above: https://tinyurl.com/makhrajland.
Saadia Amanulla
Principal
Fitra Community School
