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wynlearn.net.au
wyndham's gateway to lifelong learning

Within Find Learning you can:

  • Browse or search a calendar of learning opportunities within Wyndham by clicking on the When & Where text. This section allows you to narrow your search down according to several things including; your learning interests, a favourite provider, or the time of day you would prefer to attend sessions/events. To start the ball rolling with booking into a learning opportunity, you will need to register (see the My WynLearn section below).
  • Find details for Learning Providers in your area by clicking on the Who text and then clicking on a suburb of Wyndham.

Once you've seen what's being offered locally, you might like to get involved in the community of learning within Wyndham by using the Engage in Learning tools. There are a couple of different sections in here:

  • By clicking on the Connect text, you can get a picture of the discussion about learning that's happening within Wyndham currently. After registering with the site (see the My WynLearn box below) you will be able to post your own topics to the forum and start shaping learning in your community.
  • Clicking on the News text gives you access to articles that have been published on the site, as well as news feeds about adult and community education within Australia and links to other relevant organisations locally.

The My WynLearn box is the place to register as a user of the site and start customising WynLearn according to your learning interests. This simply involves clicking on the Register text and filling in a brief form. You will then be sent a password via email which enables you to log in. Logging into WynLearn entitles you to:

  • Begin the process of booking into learning events.
  • Organise to be notified of new opportunities in your interest area by using the alerts tool.
  • Participate in the discussion forums (within the Engage in Learning box) and start dialogue with other local learners.

Engage in learning

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News

2020 Wyndham Learning Festival A Success!

By Sharyn for Wyndham Community and Education Centre Inc on 2020-12-09

The Wyndham Learning Festival took place between 23-30 November 2020 and offered more than 150, free online classes, talks and workshops led by over 78 different providers. The festival was led by Wyndham Community and Education Centre and supported by Wyndham City Council and sponsored by Victoria University (VU) Polytechnic.  This year’s theme was ‘Healthy Learning, Healthy Lives,’ with activities relating to this theme offered for all interests and ages, including Chinese lantern making, Brazilian drumming, karate classes for beginners, dance grooves from West Africa, lessons of global cooking skills, Ancient Egypt Hieroglyphs, and the Matsunaga Institute in Hawaii shared stories of resilience, peace and conflict resolution.

In response to the pandemic, the working group took the Festival fully online, taking the opportunity to bring the world to Wyndham and Wyndham to the world, including attendees and events that came in from across the globe. We are excited to share that this spotlight on Wyndham has created some dynamic and fortuitous new partnerships and networks, further enhancing and profiling the work and leadership of Wyndham as a Learning City.

Wyndham City Council led various key events during the Learning Festival including this year’s signature event, WYNtalk: Finding Your Voice with Clare Bowditch which took place on 29 November. This fun, confidence-boosting, empowering and interactive event had the charasmatic Clare sharing stories from her own life, singing and answer questions. There were over 180 registrations for the event, and over 50 attendees on the day including the new Learning City Portfolio Committee holder Cr Jasmine Hill who welcomed the audience. Those that could not make it have the option to view the recording in the future on Council and WLF websites. Another key event included the Australian Learning Communities Network 2020 Roundtable, which was co-led and planned by WCC and the ALCN, and featured dynamic presentations from various speakers and learning cities around entrepreneurship, resilience and sustainable communities.

Starting the session off was Judith James, PASCAL Observatory Board member and former Head of Strategic Regional Collaboration, Swansea University, Wales, U.K. with her presentation on Why in a Post-COVID world it is important to develop an entrepreneurial spirit within communities. Martin Probst from Wyndham’s PROfound Leadership shared his insights on developing entrepreneurship leadership skills. A presentation from Gwydir Shire was provided then Wyndham Council’s own Daryl Wilson shared some inspiring local examples of innovation. The event concluded with a round-table of tasters of opportunities and challenges in learning communities around Australia, from Melton, Townsville, Sudbury (W.A) and back to Hume. A recording of the session can be accessed here.

The Learning Community team also led an event where researchers Charlotte Bagnall from Manchester University and Lisa Mundy from the Murdoch Institute, spoke about the Middle School-Aged Years, wellbeing and COVID-19 to an intimate group of policy makers and educators working in this space. We are pleased to say this partnership will continue, and in collaboration with the WCC Middle Years Working Group led by Karen Thomson, we will be collaborating on a transitions project during 2021.

Finally, the Learning Community team partnered with the Department of Education Koori Engagement Support Officers for the West, Lisa and Judy to run a Professional Development session ‘Brief Introduction to the Kulin Nations’. The event had 40 attendees and was MCeed by Jac from the LC team. After information on Acknowledgement to Country, traditional owners, Bunjil the Eagle and the importance of history and cultural ties, discussions shifted to the challenges that the Aboriginal people have had since the arrival of white settlers. The rise of activists like William Cooper was discussed; such activists fought against discrimination and advocated for human rights.  The discussions then moved to cultural significance sites across Australia and their importance to the Aboriginal people. 

On moving forward and closing the gaps, the hosts noted that in as much as most of the communities are still struggling and passing on at a young age, there were positive strides that had been made, especially on the health for elders with illness.  The Covid-19 pandemic has meant the local communities were affected as people could not see each other. The Aboriginal community is close knit and not being able to see other family members has impacted the mental health of the community greatly, and it was observed that some young people had been lost because the lockdown had been too much to bear. The hosts then spoke on the Indigenous early childhood activities in Wyndham, and other activities like the Wyndham walk, cultural day at cultural sites, and lessons from the presenters in those sites.

A final WLF report will be finalised and shared in the near future, sharing challenges, achievements and quantitative and qualitative data on the project for 2020.

The article “Wyndham City: a tale of steady progress towards a sustainable learning community" co-authored by Diane Tabbagh and Dr Leone Wheeler (ALCN) has been published in Adult Learning Australia’s 60th anniversary Australian Journal of Adult Learning