Students re-imagine the life stories of our elders

Storytelling has connected people for millennia, and residents at Perth’s Melville Parkside Care Community and Melville Senior High School students are nurturing this very human tradition.

Intergenerational relationships benefit everyone. Younger people learn from the experiences of their elders, and gain a deeper understanding into the history and dynamics that have built the world they will inherit. Older people benefit from the curiosity, new perspectives and skills of young people. 

Assignment accepted!

It began with a challenge for students in Gifted and Talented English program at Melville Senior High School. They were charged with meeting some of our residents and writing a short tale based on a significant event in their lives.

The students took to the task with gusto, visiting our Care Community and listening intently to the life experiences of our residents before starting to craft their stories on paper.

And there was a twist: students could write the story as biography or truth-based fiction.

The students found a rich well of material to draw from, like resident Nancy, who bravely toured Australia in a four-seater Cessna plane with her husband.

Once the stories were complete, residents and their young friends shared afternoon tea, and the students presented their stories.

“I’m turning 100 this year so I’ve had a full life,” says Nancy, with some understatement.

“I told the students about one memorable lunchtime in my country school where, sitting under a wattle tree, I bit down into my sandwich and spat out half a cockroach! It was so awful. One girl wrote a fictional story that ended in me turning from the blackboard to the class, with cockroach legs between my teeth!”

Joan has also lived an extraordinary life, beginning in the small West Australian town of Wiluna, shifting to the mines in Fiji before returning west, to Kalgoorlie. Joan recalled working sometimes seven days a week from the age of 14 in Fiji, and enjoying bareback horse riding as a special treat.

“They’re such good kids,” says Joan. “They were so happy, listened so well and opened up about themselves. They did a wonderful job and worked so hard to tell our stories.”

This is just Chapter One

The program with Melville Senior High School will continue throughout 2024 and beyond. Each fortnight, residents from Melville Parkside Care Community visit Melville Senior High School, with a range of activities scheduled.

Ideas include baking, gardening, theatrical performances and - just to prove ageing really is living - students will teach residents how to ‘roast’ an audience before a rap battle!

Importantly, while our residents have been energised by their new friendships, the students have also - gaining new perspectives on ageing and the value of older people in society.

“I’ve been profoundly inspired by the intergenerational connections formed between our students and the residents,” says Christina, English teacher and Gifted and Talented Coordinator at Melville Senior High School.

“This initiative has fostered connection, understanding and has enriched our school’s community. Our students are gaining valuable skills and compassion, while the residents are experiencing renewed vitality and joy. It’s the highlight of our week when the residents visit us and the students and I are very grateful to have their presence and conversations.”