The City of Wyndham continues to undergo rapid change in its demographics and character, due in part to a high and increasing birth rate and a large influx of new residents and relatively young population. With significant cultural diversity including the largest population of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Greater Melbourne area, the richness of culture is woven throughout the entire community. In order to ensure excellent social, health and economic outcomes for our growing and wonderfully diverse population, Wyndham City Council is committed to building and maintaining a lifelong and life-wide learning culture which is dynamic, diverse and accessible to residents across all life stages.
What is a Learning City?
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines a Learning City as one “which effectively mobilises its resources across all sectors to maximise the opportunities for lifelong learning for all its citizens”. Wyndham was officially welcomed into the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities in 2019 and is very proud of the key achievements and progress that is has made in the years since. Wyndham proudly stands as a global leader and supports individuals and local communities on their learning journey.
As a member of the Global Network of Learning Cities, Wyndham utilises UNESCO’s “Learning
City” definition as one which:
- Promotes inclusive learning from basic to higher education
- Revitalises learning in families and communities
- Facilitates learning for and in the workplaces
- Extends the use of modern learning technologies
- Enhances quality and excellence in learning, and
- Fosters a culture of learning throughout life
Wyndham City Council’s Learning City Portfolio Committee provides input and guidance to deliver on the Learning Community Strategy actions helping to improve learning outcomes in Wyndham. The Committee is made up of members of the community and key learning stakeholders and strives to ensure Wyndham residents have access to quality education and learning opportunities.
Below you will find some of the work Wyndham has done in local, national and international forums.
UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities
Learning cities climate-action initiatives from around the world
Wyndham is proud to be featured in the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities Collection on Lifelong Learning for Climate-Action!
The collection shows how UNESCO learning cities from around the globe use the transformative power of lifelong learning to combat the climate crisis
- View Wyndham’s climate-action initiative
- View other featured learning cities from around the world link
UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities Award
Our Learning Community team are delighted to become proud recipients of a UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities Award for our work in lifelong and lifewide learning. The biennial UNESCO Learning City Awards encourage, recognise and reward UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities (GNLC) members who have demonstrated significant progress in enhancing education and lifelong learning opportunities for all.
UNESCO acknowledged Wyndham’s commitment to building a Learning City and helping residents improve their learning outcomes through lifelong learning. This award was only possible through our incredible collaborations and partnerships locally, nationally and internationally.
Learning Community Strategy
Learning is fundamental to the well-being, prosperity and sense of belonging of all people.
Council has established a strong foundation for lifelong learning within the community since the creation of its first Learning Community Strategy in 2010. The recently adopted Learning Community Strategy 2018-2023 outlines a commitment to ensuring the benefits of learning are available to all Wyndham residents and promotes a learning community culture where equity and inclusion are the drivers of planning, engagement and delivery.
The Learning Strategy identifies a range of priority skills such as Learning Agility; Literacy, Numeracy and Language; Digital Fundamentals & New Media; Civics; Employability and Leadership.
The Learning Strategy will foster these priority skills through a range of Strategy actions focused on Celebrating living and learning in Wyndham, with the Learning Festival as the signature event; Advocating for equity and quality in service provision; Facilitating partnerships and collaboration across sectors to create new learning models and deliver outcomes for all; and Innovating learning and fostering new entrepreneurial spirit through integration with, and promotion of, Wyndham’s Smart City agenda.
Wyndham Learning Festival
2023 Wyndham Learning Festival
With the theme of “Our Thriving, Creative Wyndham”, the FREE festival offered something for all ages and interests from 1-7 September and celebrated and encouraged lifelong learning with a range of activities from across the Arts, Sports & Recreation, The World of Work and Tech, Environment & Sustainability, Wellbeing & Self-Care, History, Culture & Diversity, Food & Cooking, and Families & Children.
Events were as varied as a Young Scientist of Wyndham Competition; Vietnamese Cooking, a ChatGTP workshop, Financial Wellness, Drumming, Indian Dance, Job Seeking skills, Fitness classes or learning CPR and many, many more!
The Wyndham Learning Festival’s signature ‘WynTalk: Celebrate the Magic of Storytelling with Mem Fox was held on Friday 1 September at the Wyndham Cultural and featured acclaimed author and educationalist Mem Fox reflecting on her career and celebrating 40 years of Possum Magic, as the audience discovered the magic of literature, learning and creativity.
An exciting evening was had with the launch of the Festival including the new Wyndham Learning Festival showbag, music from local school performers, a celebration of Festival Sponsors Victoria University and Pacific Werribee Shopping Centre, and some lite refreshments.
2022 Wyndham Learning Festival
The Wyndham Learning Festival (WLF) is Wyndham’s largest annual learning event, focusing on promoting learning across the lifespan.
Following two years of online-only events due to the extended impacts of the Pandemic, the 2022 WLF went ahead with a blended delivery of in- person and online events. With the theme of “Building a Resilient, Sustainable Wyndham”, the free 2022 Festival offered something for all ages and interests from 1-7 September and celebrated and encouraged lifelong learning with 70 activities from across the Arts, S.T.E.M, Environment and Sustainability to Health & Wellbeing, Families and Children and more! Events were as varied as a Young Scientist of Wyndham Competition; Thai Cooking; a Photography Workshop; Recycling; a Multicultural Sports Expo; Lawn Bowls; Building Resilience in Children; Gardening; Sustainability; a Farm tour; a Werribee River walk; an author talk with Morris Gleitzman, and many, many more!
As collaborators on the delivery of the Festival, now in its seventh year, the Wyndham Community and Education Centre (Wyndham CEC) and Wyndham City Council (WCC) share a passion for learning and recognise the far-reaching social, economic, environmental and cultural benefits of promoting lifelong learning. This year saw Wyndham CEC purchase and interface an online booking system to the WLF website. This enabled a greater and more timely insight into event data. Previously this data was collected via event feedback surveys, administered after the events.
Some key highlights include:
● 70 events were registered by a range of organisations
● In person events: 52
● Online/Zoom/Teams:18
● Total audience registrations 1,288
● WLF website views: 5,891
View the full final 2022 Wyndham Learning Festival Report (pdf)
View the full final 2022 Wyndham Learning Festival - Final Report (word)
2021 Wyndham Learning Festival
The Wyndham Learning Festival (WLF) is Wyndham’s largest annual learning event, focusing on promoting learning across the lifespan. Following a challenging year for all in 2020, the 2021 WLF was a smaller, curated program ensuring that all community members had the opportunity to find a learning event of interest. With the theme of ‘Re-emerge, Connect & Thrive’, the 2021 WLF provided a celebration for the community living through a challenging time and offered hope for reemerging brighter and better into the future!
As collaborators on the delivery of the Festival, now in its sixth year, the Wyndham Community and Education Centre (Wyndham CEC) and Wyndham City Council (WCC) share a passion for learning and recognise the far-reaching social, economic, environmental and cultural benefits of promoting lifelong learning. Whilst initially planned as a hybrid event, the 2021 Festival was switched to completely online due to a prolonged lockdown in Victoria. This meant that some events could not proceed, as they did not translate into the virtual space, reducing the number of events offered to 43 (down from a planned, smaller than previous years 55 events).
One objective of the curated program was to enable providers to run smaller, interactive events. The ability to interact with attendees, and to meaningfully field questions from the audience met the needs of both event providers and participants, particularly at this challenging time. Approximately 1400 people attended the 43 events that made up the 2021 WLF, with over 1800 people registering. The learning events came under eight categories:
- The Arts (performance and visual), crafts, & hobbies
- Sport/Recreation
- Business, jobs & career
- Science, technology & digital literacy
- Health, wellbeing & self-care
- Language, faith & culture
- Cooking & food culture
- Children & families
View the 2021 Wyndham Learning Festival report
2020 Wyndham Learning Festival
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.
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.
Global Learning Festival
WynTalk: 'Pathway to Reconciliation' with Marlee Silva
Marlee Silva , author and podcaster shared her perspective on Aboriginal issues, culture and identity, and how we can connect with country, space and place.
Marlee spoke from her heart, sharing her experiences growing up in Australia and generously sharing her ideas on how we can all be better allies to Aboriginal people.
She implored us to use this WynTalk conversation to pause, reflect and make a commitment to learning, growing, and being a changemaker for a better future for us all.
Recording & Resources from the Evaluation of Learning Cities and Regions
Case studies from Northern Ireland and Australia 7/11/2022 @ 7PM (AEDT)
Evaluation plays an important role in learning cities and regions. It tells us if we are achieving the intended outcomes of our lifelong learning strategies and initiatives and helps us to communicate the impact of our work to stakeholders.
This event featured case studies from two learning city practitioners from the City of Canning in Western Australia and Derry-Strabane in Northern Ireland, showcasing approaches to evaluation at program and strategic levels in both urban and rural contexts.
View: Global Learning Festival - Evaluation Resources
The 2022 Global Learning Festival - Final Report
The Global Learning Festival (GLF), co-hosted by Wyndham City Council and Melton City Council, together with members of UNESCO learning cities and learning communities across the globe was held 6-9 November. This is the third year that Wyndham has co-hosted the Global Learning Festival, and it continues to be a powerful opportunity to promote lifelong learning to a global audience. The GLF brings the world to Wyndham and takes Wyndham to the world. It is a central place for learners to come together to share their knowledge, skills, culture and traditions.
This year’s GLF featured 47 free online events, there was something for everyone, to suit all ages and interests and all time zones.
Many of the GLF events were recorded and can be viewed on the GLF website
The 2021 Global Learning Festival - Final Evaluation Report
This is the final report for the Global Learning Festival, which took place 8-11 November 2021. This project was led by Wyndham City Council and Melton City Council, in partnership with the PASCAL International Observatory and the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning.
View: The 2021 Global Learning Festival - Final Evaluation Report
2021 Global Learning Festival WYNtalk - Reconciliation: respecting and valuing Aboriginal history, learning and teaching
This event was run on Monday 8 November 2021 and featured teacher, media presenter, and columnist, Shelley Ware.
Our keynote speaker, Shelley Ware, shared her perspective on Aboriginal issues; leadership development in aboriginal communities and ways in which Aboriginal history, culture, learning and teaching can be embedded into our broader education systems; females in sport, AFLM and AFLW, and her own journey.
The 2020 Global Learning Festival - Final Evaluation Report
This is the final report for the Global Learning Festival, which took place in September 2020. This project was led by Wyndham City Council and Melton City Council, in partnership with the PASCAL International Observatory and the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning.
Download the 2020 Global Learning Festival Report
Pre-recorded Learning Events
Wyndham Learning Festival 2022
With over 70 community-led Learning Events, over 1200 registrations, and a mix of in-person and online events, the 2022 Wyndham Learning Festival offered something for everyone!
This year’s festival theme was ‘Building a Resilient, Sustainable Wyndham'. Each of the curated events offered reflected upon this theme and provided a fun, engaging, and stimulating learning experience.
Check out this video to see what participants had to say about these wonderful events.
Some key highlights include:
● 70 events were registered by a range of organisations
● In person events: 52
● Online/Zoom/Teams:18
● Total audience registrations 1,288
● WLF website views: 5,891
Make sure you join us next September for another fun-filled and immersive festival!
View the full final 2022 Wyndham Learning Festival Report
My Smart Garden
My smart garden is a free sustainable gardening program that helps you get started growing food and transforming your outdoor space (yards, balconies or pots) into a beautiful, functional garden
In partnership with Melbourne Horticulturists Kat Lavers, Craig Castree and Scott Hitchins, My Smart Garden has developed a series of short gardening videos with great tips on starting and maintaining your garden:.
UNESCO GNLC Online Learning Module - The case of Wyndham's Green Living Series - 2024 recording
Make yourself home at Wyndham City Community Centres
Wyndham’s Community Centres are welcoming and vibrant places providing a great range of services, activities and programs that are low-cost and for all ages and interests.
Centres support residents, community leaders, associations and groups to run activities, programs and events for the wider neighbourhood to participate in.
Each centre aims to reflect the aspirations and strengths of the neighbourhood. They are great places to make new friends, volunteer or join one of the many community groups that call these centres home.
Wyndham City Community Centres
LearnWest Network Projects 2023-2024
LearnWest Connect Share Learn Project 2023-2024
Discover stories showcasing the impact of lifelong learning – follow LearnWest in celebrating the joy of learning throughout life, fostering social connections, bridging generations, boosting health, and unlocking economic opportunities.
Let's learn, grow, and thrive together!
2022 Learning for Earning Festival
The Learning for Earning Festival returned for its second year in May 2022. This important collaboration between the six councils from Western and Northern Melbourne saw the members work together to support their various communities to improve learning and earning outcomes across the north and west. This model of collaboration amongst councils has meant a greater collective impact amongst our communities. Heartfelt thanks to all those involved in making the Learning for Earning Festival happen.
The festival was designed to provide participants with the knowledge and skills they need to upskill and look at different pathways to employment, to gain knowledge about starting or changing careers, to learn about leading and emerging industries and discover opportunities for the future.
This Festival was a more curated program in 2022, hosting three key flagship online forums, scaffolded by a series of live and in-person events held in each Council’s libraries.
Download the 2022 LearnWest Learning for Earning Report
2021 LearnWest Learning for Earning Festival
The LearnWest Network are proud to share their final report on the inaugural for the 2021 Learning for Earning Festival, which took place in May 2021. The project was an important collaboration between six councils from Western Melbourne (Wyndham City Council, Melton City Council, Brimbank City Council, Hobson's Bay City Council, Maribyrnong City Council and Moonee Valley Council) to support our various communities in learning and earning to improve outcomes across the west.
This project also included an important collaboration with the Australian Learning Communities Network, which partnered with Wyndham to support an International Development student from RMIT University, Ava Ter, to lead the writing of the final report and the collection of stories of Most Significant Change.
The report includes an interesting analysis of the initiative and an evaluation framework that captures important qualitative and quantitative data. This project, which ties into Action 12 of the Learning Community Strategy, is unique in its cross-council collaboration in learning in Australia.
Download 2021 LearnWest Learning for Earning Festival Report
Adult Learning Australia
ALA webinar: Building Inclusive and Sustainable Learning Partnerships - 4 October 2023
Australian Learning Cities Network
ALCN - PAE Learning Forum Climate Resilience, Sustainability and Regeneration – Community Education and Action
The ALCN Learning Forum showcased the practical Education for Sustainability work of the UNESCO Learning City of Melton, Victoria, alongside initiatives from Port Adelaide Enfield (PAE) and the Living Lightly Locally project in South Australia.
Learning Festival Webinar Driving Local Action on Sustainable Development Goals for Long Term Impact
UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities and the PASCAL International Observatory’s Learning Cities Network
Watch a panel of speakers from Cork and Limerick (Republic of Ireland), Wyndham (Australia) and Durban (South Africa) – members of the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities and the PASCAL International Observatory’s Learning Cities Networks – as they share over 28 years collective experiences of hosting Learning Festivals.
Moderated by Adult Learning Australia, and with an opening address from PASCAL International Observatory, this webinar aims to facilitate learning and the exchange of experiences among learning cities.
Learning Forum - Governance Frameworks For Partnerships - 21 February 2024
Wollongong – a Learning City Journey – the challenge of picking up a project mid-stream
Friday Forum 8/12/23
Friday Forum 27/10/23
ALCN Friday Forum Lifelong Learning for Life and Work
On Friday 22 September ALCN Friday Forum in partnership with RMIT University hosted an informative webinar on the Advantages of extending the Learning City Approach into other areas of Local Government and beyond and Learning and/or earning: Tensions between learning for the economic sphere (jobs) and learning for well-being/democracy.
Watch the webinar below and read the presentation.
Sharing Insights - Australian Learning Cities: global to local - local to global
On 4 May, 2022 the ALCN with Adult Learning Australia hosted a webinar: 'Sharing Insights - Australian Learning Cities: global to local - local to global' Councils from across Australia, including the award-winning learning cities – Wyndham City Council, Melton City council; Circular Head Council and aspiring learning cities, City of Canning and Wollongong City Council shared their experiences and insights on building healthy and resilient communities through learning and how they share knowledge and good practices on a local, national, and global scale.
The webinar included a keynote speech by David Atchoarena, Director, UNESCO Institute of Lifelong Learning (UIL), an Australian Learning Cities Showcase Panel - facilitated by Jenny Macaffer, CEO, Adult Learning Australia and a presentation by Peter Kearns, AM, ‘Reimaging Australian Learning Cities'.
View the webinar recording here.
On 11 May 2021, the ALCN, in partnership with Wyndham City Council. hosted a webinar: 'Australian Learning Cities: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.'
The webinar included a presentation by Peter Kearns, AM, ‘Learning cities in Australia: yesterday, today, tomorrow’, and by Jac Gomez-Torres, Wyndham City Council, reflecting on ‘Empathy Partnerships’ as part of Peter Kearns’ project for EcCoWell (as part of the PASCAL International Observatory).
Download: ALCN Webinar May 2021
Download: ALCN Webinar May 2021 - Menti Metre Responses
Friday Forums: Becoming a UNESCO Learning City - the City of Canning
An informal chat to learn about City of Canning’s journey towards joining the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities in September 2022
Other recordings
Measuring Partnerships in Learning Cities Initiatives Using Collective Impact
The Learning Community team is excited to share the Collective Impact Assessment Tool (CIAT) evaluation for 2020 for the Wyndham Learning Community Strategy (LCS). Fifty-seven partners were ranked across our three outcomes for both their engagement and contribution to the 18 actions of the LCS.
This is a fine effort in partnerships which demonstrates we truly will only achieve the goals of the LCS by engaging, working with, and empowering others.
Despite the impact of COVID, there was excellent progress in partnerships involved in the LCS
A narrative on Wyndham Learning City’s experience.
Wyndham has recently completed the first-year partnership evaluation of its current Learning Community Strategy (2018-2023) (LCS), using the Collective Impact Assessment Tool (CIAT). This software tool was first developed by neighbouring City of Melton’s Community Learning Board by Peter Blunden, Dr Shanti Wong and Ian Wong, with input from Dr Leone Wheeler. It has been adopted by other councils including ours, and by organisations such as hospitals.
The underlying premise of Collective Impact is that no single organisation can create large-scale, lasting social change alone. This tool helps measure how and to what level our partners and ourselves are collectively achieving our strategy goals and designated actions.
Our LCS Strategy has 18 different actions, some led by us, and others led by key partners where our team play a strong supporting role. In 2019, our actions ranged from events such as the Wyndham Learning Festival, community-wide projects focusing on transition and equity, and globally as we became a member of the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities.
To achieve our actions, we collaborated with over 50 partners from both departments within Wyndham City Council to externally local community groups, regionally with learning networks, nationally with the ALCN and internationally with UNESCO. As such, measuring our collective impact and contribution was complex and brought challenges.
To prepare for the assessment for the first year of the strategy, we first set up our three chosen assessment areas based on our objectives and goals in our LCS. These areas change depending on the focus of the strategy or learning project being considered. Then we checked we had listed all the partners involved across the year in any of our actions or the strategy more broadly. Next, we completed a subjective assessment of ourselves and all listed partners, ranking each partner as either high, medium or low in terms of their contribution as well as their participation on the three assessment areas. Then we did a broad overall assessment of the whole strategy as a project in and of itself.
CIAT supported a clear analysis as to what level different partners contributed in 2019, and as to how they contributed to our different LCS objectives.
For our first year, we ranked moderately in our three focus areas for 2019. Our focus on celebrating living and learning in Wyndham was highest due to the large partner contribution in our learning festival. These first CIAT results support us to see a clear baseline and help drive our planning for the upcoming years of the LCS. It also gives us potential to improve over time with this data being representative from only one year and allowing us scope to compare and reassess annually.
LCS CIAT Assessment Result for 2019
To see a little more of our journey and results, check out our video. LCS 2018 - 2023 CIAT 2019 With Voiceover by Jac Torres-Gomez.
Wyndham City: A tale of steady progress towards a sustainable learning community
Wyndham City: A tale of steady progress towards a sustainable learning community as published in the Australian Journal of Adult Education - Vol 60, Number 3.
Authors: Leone Wheeler & Diane Tabbagh Co-Ordinator , Learning Community, Wyndham City Council.
The Australian Journal of Adult Learning (AJAL) promotes critical thinking and research in the field of adult learning as well as the theory, research and practice of adult and community education. Each issue features articles that have been double, blind -peer refereed.
View introduction about article
Download full article - Journal is Australian Journal of Adult Education - Vol 60, Number 3.
0 - 8 Literacy and Numeracy
The Wyndham 0-8 years Literacy and Numeracy Network meets quarterly and works to enhance the state of literacy and numeracy for children aged 0-8 and their families in Wyndham.
View the 2021 Wyndham Literacy and Numeracy Research Report
Aboriginal Culture: Driving New Ways to Learn
The Wyndham Learning Community Strategy 2018-2023 works to influence teaching and learning practices and to foster opportunities to promote local Aboriginal culture, history and politics through easily accessible resources.
The following are some great resources supporting this vision.
- Wyndham's Aboriginal Culture & History
- Indigenous Astronomy
- ABC education videos - Adam Goodes
- The Australian Dream Cultural Identity
- The Australian Dream History and Truths
- The Australian Dream and Racism - Archie Roach
- Reconciliation Australia
- Healing Foundation
Indigenous Resources at Wyndham City Libraries
Wyndham City Libraries offer a wealth of resources delving into First Nations stories, culture, history, and politics. Catering to all age groups, these materials are accessible at all of our branches across Wyndham. Explore our curated list of recommended titles handpicked by our library staff:
Adult:
Welcome to Country : a Travel Guide to Indigenous Australia
Sand Talk : How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World
Macquarie Atlas of Indigenous Australia
The Little Red Yellow Black Book : an Introduction to Indigenous Australia
Everywhen : Australia and the Language of Deep History
Time to Listen : an Indigenous Voice to Parliament
The Future Ancestor : a Guide to Journey and Oneness
Young Adult:
Welcome to Country : an Introduction to Our First Peoples for Young Australians
Unlimited Futures : Speculative, Visionary Blak and Black fiction
Tell Me Why : for Young Adults
Growing up Aboriginal in Australia
Junior:
Junior Atlas of Indigenous Australia
Heroes, Rebels and Innovators : Inspiring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People from History
Come Together : Things Every Aussie Kid Should Know About the First Peoples
Early Years:
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
Mental Health Support and Resources
General Specialised Supports
- Beyond Blue Mental Health Coaching - 6 free sessions with a Mental Health professional, delivered via telehealth.
- Beyond Blue Mental Health Check
- CoHealth- FREE walk-in clinic. No referral and no appointment needed.
- Mental Health Crisis Services- If someone is thinking about ending their life, please call 000 or the Crisis Assessment Team on 1300 657 259.
Carer Supports
Media Supports
- Podcast - ‘The Imperfects’
Multicultural Mental Health Supports
- Victorian Transcultural Mental Health Website
- Adult Migrant Education Services (AMES) Australia: AMES provides a range of settlement services to new and recently arrived refugee and migrant communities. Services include on-arrival settlement support, English language and literacy training, vocational education and training and employment services. Phone: (03) 9794 1900
- Centre for Multicultural Youth (CMY): The CMY supports young people aged 12-25 from migrant and refugee backgrounds through a range of specialist support services, programs, resources and advocacy initiatives.
- Foundation House, the Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture: Provides support to refugees who are survivors of trauma and other traumatic events. Services for individuals, communities, schools, and young people.
- SANE Helpline – 1800 187 263: The SANE free counselling service supports people who are concerned about their own or someone else’s mental health. This is a free phone call where you can choose to remain anonymous.
- If your first language is not English, call us with the free Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS). Call 131 450 and ask for your preferred language. When connected to an interpreter, ask to speak to the SANE Helpline on 1800 187 263.
- Health Translations Directory: Free multilingual information and resources on health and mental health.
- Embrace Multicultural Mental Health Multilingual Information:
- Free multilingual information about mental health concerns in a variety of languages.
- BeyondBlue Translated Mental Health Resources: Mental health information on stress and stress management. Information for families and new parents.
Council Based Supports
- Community Connector- Wyndham Council has a dedicated team who can help you find and connect with local service options. If you need support, but are unsure of where to start, email us at communityconnector@wyndham.vic.gov.au or call Wyndham Council on (03) 8734 4514 and ask to speak to the Community Connector.
- Youth and Children Counselling Support - Wyndham City’s experienced and professional counsellors welcome your calls on any topic or matter requiring support. Contactable via phone on (03) 8734 1355.
Career & Education Resources
VOCEDplus is an International tertiary education research database and is produced by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), which together with TAFE SA, is a UNESCO regional Centre of Excellence in technical and vocational education and training (TVET).
myfuture is Australia's National Career Information Service and provides resources to explore career pathways and tools to develop self-knowledge to help with career decision-making.
VNG Early Childhood Mentoring
VICSEG New Futures are offering the CALD community a new Early Childhood Mentoring Program to boost cultural diversity in the early childhood education sector. The program is totally free.
Please pass onto others who might be interested in your own communities.
Information about the Early Childhood Mentoring Program
The program offers extra support to new migrants, refugees and asylum seekers so they can study Early Childhood Education. There are two courses students can study with the extra support:
Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care (CHC30121)
Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care (CHC50121)
The additional support for program participants includes:
- Extra study support and one-on-one mentoring for all Early Childhood students
- Financial support through study resources and travel allowance
- Free access to onsite childcare services where available
- Pre-employment and post-employment support
For more information and application details students can contact Marwinn Bangan, Project Manager at New Futures Training:
Email: mbangan@vicsegnewfutures.org.au
Phone: 03 9093 5170
Free Online Course: Media and Information Literacy for Adult Educators
The UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL), in collaboration with UNESCO’s Media and Information Literacy and Digital Competencies Unit, has launched a free online course on Media and Information Literacy designed especially for adult educators.
This course is open to everyone, with a special invitation to educators around the world. Here are the key details:
Registration: Enrol here
- Availability: Accessible until 31 May 2025
- Duration: Approximately 10 learning hours
- Language: English
For further details, visit the UIL website.
Sustainability and Environmental Resources
Teachers across Wyndham get together once a term to share knowledge, experiences and skills in regard to environmental education and projects happening in schools. At each quarterly meeting, teachers will be presented with information about environmental resources, programs and grants.
Wyndham City supports teachers in delivering an integrated and locally relevant sustainability curriculum. This network provides an opportunity for teachers working in Wyndham to share their schools’ environmental achievements, discuss the challenges in providing environmental education and connect to local environment.
Register to be on the mailing list and be kept up to date with programs and events relevant to the Teachers Environment Network.
Contact Wyndham City’s Waste Education Officer on 1300 023 411 or email wastewise@wyndham.vic.gov.au to sign up.
Werribee River Association – Education
Wyndham Parent and Teacher Resources
Textile and Clothing Waste Education in Wyndham
Reduce/Reuse
Visit Sustainability Victoria for some tips and tricks.
Clothing Swaps
Normalise buying and swapping second hand items by having clothing swaps at your school/Kinder. This can also help vulnerable families in your school/kinder with the opportunity to refresh much-needed clothing in the current cost of living crisis. Leftover clothes can also be picked up for FREE to be reused or recycled by A fitting connection and you will also earn credits for school/kinder incursions! Info on this can be found here.
Textile Drives
Collect textiles through your school/kinder! Clothes can be picked up for FREE to be reused or recycled by A fitting connection. You can also earn credits for incursions at your school/kinder! Info on this can be found here.
Mending, Upcycling and Crafting
Keeping clothes in good condition by fixing them is a great skill to pass on to students, and their families. It also keeps items out of landfill. You could start with a mending circle, mending uniforms with holes or loose hems. Kids upcycling activities can start from childhood years – try getting your students to come in with an old t-shirt to turn into a no sew reusable bag, or create collages from old textiles, upcycle clothes into new pencil cases. There are many more ideas which you can find online.
Recycle
Of course, clothes that are beyond repair, or of poor/cheap quality will need to be recycled. However, we should focus on reducing the issue in the first place. Here are some resources regarding different textile waste in Wyndham and Victoria:
Our war on textile waste | Sustainability Victoria
About – Tread Lightly (asga.com.au)
Clothing/Clothes/Textile Recycling in the City of Melbourne area - Planet Ark Recycling Near You
Wyndham – Other Waster Recycling Services
Please see the Green Living Series page for Green living events in Wyndham.
Resilient Wyndham
Resilient Wyndham focuses on strengthening Wyndham’s resilience to adapt, survive, and thrive post-COVID-19 and against future challenges like climate change, extreme weather, natural disasters, pandemics, cyber-security threats, and economic downturns. This four-year vision to 2025 includes annual action plans and targets, emphasizing preparedness for the unexpected. By working with Wyndham's diverse communities, businesses, and organizations, the strategy aims to enhance resilience, responding effectively to disruptions. It highlights five Focus Areas and collaborative actions to support people, the environment, places, and the future, underscoring that a connected and inclusive community is key to resilience. We invite everyone to join us in building a stronger, resilient Wyndham. View the Resilient Wyndham strategy here.