Achieving Together (2020), film still

Achieving Together

2020 • School Documentaries
Filmmaker: Riverton Primary Campus

About this Short Film

#Achievement #Buddy #Child #Cognitive Processing Disability #Congenital Disability #Friends #Group #Inclusion #Intellectual Disability #Perception, Viewpoint #Physical Disability #School #Support #Teachers #Teenager Child #Working Together

We are pleased to present Achieving Together by Riverton Primary Campus (Australia, 2020). This short film sits comfortably within the Focus on Ability programme, offering a thoughtful look at inclusion, friendship and teamwork in a school setting. Rather than offering a single viewpoint, it invites audiences to consider different perceptions of ability, and the role of peers and teachers in supporting one another. Themes include cognitive, intellectual and physical disability, companionship and collective effort. Warm and sincere in tone, the film celebrates small achievements and the everyday ways communities work together to include young people with disability. Ideal for audiences seeking hopeful, relatable stories.

Film Details

Country: Australia
State: Western Australia
Category: School Documentaries
Genre: interview
Festival Year: 2020
Filmmaker: Riverton Primary Campus

Film Transcript

It blows me out every day when I walk around the school and I see our kids that when they first came here would sit in a corner rocking, would not have the skills to socialise, would not have the skills to be appropriate in any shape, way or form, and anything that I've done to try and assist them hasn't really worked. But if you get a mainstream child to come and interact with one of our kids and just sit and talk, and once they develop those relationships, it just is astonishing what they do. I've got a really good video of a little boy playing table tennis that last year sat in the corner and rocked. So the tolerance and acceptance of a group of girls—well, of all the kids but a particular group of children—it's just astonishing. It just amazes me every day.

I think— I think of the school as like a really nice environment for kids. So a few students and I, we got to really like help them make circuits and like these play ones that would light up, and it really was really, really amazing just to like show, show and support, and they would really understand. It was really fun.

If you focus on ability, in my opinion, then you bring out the strengths of that child and then it opens opportunities that are possible. It encourages them, supports them, and abilities—just once you've got an end it provides so many other avenues that possibly they hadn't thought of before. So focusing on the positive as opposed to the negative part of our values is also about being kind to themselves and being kind to others, and understanding who they are and building that self-esteem within them, because everybody in our campus and our school community has got something to give and has got a little trait that's very useful for all of us. And if they can help others who may not necessarily be as good in that trade, that's fantastic, and that's what we want them to do and be proud of who they are and never forgetting, of course, who they are and where they've come from.

We learn a lot from that support, and the support teach us some things and we teach them, so we're equally sharing the work and working together really well. Good boy. Everything—they are really close. Where do we live? Joshua, is yours? Fantastic. Who are your friends? Yeah. You're always friends. Well, I look fine. Do you love science? Great. But don't watch them. Yes, I don't know, but I know I like my body right.

If you focus on their ability then they keep learning that and they get better and better, and if they try other stuff they get better at that too. If you're just learning about—if you're just focusing on their disability, they don't—they don't get the chance to learn that much. He knows most of his multiplication table and he knows a lot more. What do you love about maths? Um, let's try. I think things—so 36 plus 36, course 72, 72 plus 72 equals 124, I think.

Because we are a campus we've got two schools on site and we have an amazing range of students. So we have students that are gifted and talented and we have students that need additional support not just from the education support centre but from the mainstream. And I think that we give each child the opportunity to be the best they can at whatever they can be, whether that be music, whether that be sport, whether that be interacting with other people, whether that be drama—we give them those opportunities. We also give our kids the opportunities to work with those range of children within any setting, and I think that gives them the skills and understandings.

If you focus on the disability of some people you just push them down to like not do very well—they'll get like sad. But with the things that they like they'll get happy and then good at the things that they actually like to do more. It's amazing the kids here. I think their resilience, their opportunities to work with different people and patience both from both sides for teachers as well—the relationships are amazing that they're building, and again I think that's an important life skill. When I walk in here I don't see ed support kids and mainstream kids; I see Xavier, or I see Kobe, or I see Michelle from the mainstream. It doesn't matter who the kids are—we just know each other. We know everybody else, you.

Filmmaker

Riverton Primary Campus is the filmmaker behind this entry. See every Focus on Ability entry from Riverton Primary Campus.

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5 comments
R
Rand Pallock 7/09/2020

Riverton is clearly a wonderfully nurturing environment. The filmimmediately draws you into its world through the lens of the students and staffs expressing their heart-felt connection.

A
Annie Duncan 2/09/2020

What a lovely school with so much love being shared. The filming captures the essence of the kids and the sharing and friendships. Amazing.

S
Sandra Harper 2/09/2020

Im sooo proud of my star colleagues and the beautiful ed support children who are always eager to give us a smile big hug and acceptance of their individual differences and how we all can work together in harmony. It is a real pleasure to be apart of this diversity and see how it works so every individual child can achieve their goals Go Riverton we are really an amazing supportive campus. Miss you all being on leave at the moment.

T
Tania Sims 1/09/2020

This film captures the very essence of Riverton Primary School - inclusive diverse. Where every childs abilities are celebrated and we come together as a community. So proud to be part of the Riverton teaching team. The words shared were unscripted and came straight from the heart

M
Mike Armstrong 1/09/2020

What a beautiful expose of the way young people are so good at seeing beyond differences and relishing our universal similarities. Bravo to all concerned.

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