School of Education

Wednesday, 29 April 2026

More than 160 enthusiastic Children’s University (CU) students and family members joined us across Edith Cowan University’s Joondalup and South West campuses this April for another memorable holiday program.

From the moment they arrived, CU members jumped straight in, exploring hands‑on workshops, learning new skills, discovering fresh knowledge, and experiencing university life. Designed to make learning aspirational, inspiring and fun, the program offered seven innovative workshops led by passionate ECU academics, staff and student ambassadors from the School of Education, Nursing and Midwifery, Medical and Health Sciences, and the University Department of Rural Health – South West (UDRH – SW), as well as external presenters from the Yip Yip Circus.

A Healthy Dose of Learning on the South West Campus

• Allied Health: Innovation Stations: a playful, hands‑on workshop gave participants a taste of allied health through exciting bite‑sized activities, ending with the creation of clever take‑home tools and supports, including a handy dandy grabber!
• Speech Squad: explored voice, speech, and language as students met Speech Pathologists and discovered how they help keep us talking.
• Healing Heroes: a sequel to the incredibly popular Nursing Necessities workshop. Participants stepped into a real demonstration ward to experience a day in the life of a nurse, admitting patients, taking observations, administering life‑saving oxygen, and discovering hands‑on nursing skills in action.

Imagination, Performance and Connection on Joondalup Campus

• Circus Skills 101: delivered a high‑energy, super‑fun experience for aspiring CU circus stars, as they explored, creative movement, hands‑on circus skills, and the chance to bring specialised equipment to life in fun and entertaining ways.
• Tech Together Imagine, Build, Connect:  familiesshared big ideas about how technology has changed and helps us connect through drawing and LEGO, building ideas together and imagining the future world of digital technology
• Creative Wordsmiths in the Wild: Creative sparks flew as students explored the ECU ecosystem for descriptive inspiration, unlocking their inner wordsmith through playful experimentation with similes, descriptive sentence structure, and words.

The Impact: Learning, Interactions, and Enjoyment

The feedback from students and their families speaks volumes:

“I was deeply moved by how every child was given a fair opportunity to participate individually. It was a truly unique, 'eye-level' education that perfectly matched the children's perspective - something we couldn't experience anywhere else” - CU guardian.

“I feel that it’s important for our child to believe they can be anything and achieve anything they wish to learn or do so today’s workshop has really helped” - CU guardian.

“What I enjoyed today was making my phone Lego and I really loved this tech workshop” - CU Child.

“The activities provided makes me realise that there are many things that can make my child more productive and happier. Supporting them in their interests is immensely important to them” - CU guardian.

Thanks to Our Partners

A sincere thank you to the ECU staff, academics, and student ambassadors from the School of Nursing and Midwifery, School of Education, University Department of Rural Health, School of Medical Health Science for the collaboration and giving so generously their time to share resources, knowledge and expertise with our CU families.

Special appreciation goes to the Australian Government Department of Education and Training’s Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program (HEPPP), the University Department of Rural Health – South West and Waste Authority for their generous funding and ongoing support in making these much-loved workshops possible.

To learn more about ECU’s Children’s University program or how to get involved, visit our website or contact us at childrensuniversity@ecu.edu.au.