Published on Thursday, 9 July 2026 at 1:03:47 PM

Helping Wheatbelt students find story, place and belonging.

In early June, we set out across the Wheatbelt for a week of Storytelling on the Road workshops, visiting East Narrogin Primary School, Brookton District High School and Narrogin Senior High School. Over the course of the week, the program reached 387 students and was supported by approximately 40 school staff, including classroom teachers, librarians, education assistants, principals and deputy principals.

Each Storytelling on the Road visit is developed in consultation with the participating school, ensuring the program responds to the needs, interests and abilities of the students. Across the week, students worked with artists and creative educators through hands-on workshops tailored to the learning needs of each school.

This time, the journey unfolded alongside Raewyn Caisley, author of Hello from Nowhere and Something Wonderful. Centred on the SEW-Arts framework, the workshops encouraged students to pause, reflect and connect with the world around them. Drawing on her own connection to the Wheatbelt, Raewyn worked with students in Narrogin to explore identity, personal experience and perspective.

Being part of Storytelling on the Road with Raewyn Caisley was a wonderful experience. Through her workshops, students were able to creatively explore their own special place in the world while developing their confidence and creative skills in such a meaningful way.

- Lise Griffiths, TLC’s Creative Learning Associate.

At the beginning of her workshops, Raewyn invited the students to reflect on their connection to a place, encouraging them to slow down, notice and engage with their thoughts, emotions and surroundings in a short meditation. Raewyn then led students through a visualisation activity

In these moments, familiar landscapes became doorways: a road, a paddock, a classroom window or a remembered corner of home could open into a story about belonging, memory and what it means to see yourself within a place.

Thank you for the wonderful incursion you, your team and Raewyn provided for our students on Monday. It is a great opportunity for rural students to experience quality resources that they rarely have the chance to engage with.

- Jenny Sterry, Acting Deputy Principal at East Narrogin Primary School.

One memorable moment came from Tommy, a student at East Narrogin Primary School, who reflected on a visualisation activity led by Raewyn and simply said, “That was powerful.” His response captured the kind of impact Storytelling on the Road hopes to create: giving students space to pause, reflect and recognise the value of their own thoughts and stories.

Building on the workshops, the Centre’s Creative Learning Associates, Lise Griffiths and Alyssa Curtayne, guided students through writing, discussion and illustration exercises that encouraged them to think about their own experiences with ‘place’ and share their ideas with peers. These activities were adapted to suit students’ learning levels and skill sets, giving them accessible ways to explore self-awareness, identity and connection. Lise and Alyssa provided teachers with additional resources and guidance to continue embedding SEW-Arts practices in the classroom.

This next stage of the program will support schools to keep the work going beyond the residency, giving students more opportunities to build self-awareness, strengthen creative confidence and connect with their peers through ongoing arts-based activities.

Over the coming months, the Centre will continue working with participating schools as they put these practices into action, gathering reflections from teachers and students and looking at how Storytelling on the Road can continue to support creative wellbeing in Western Australian schools.

Storytelling on the Road is proudly delivered by The Literature Centre in partnership with Healthway, supporting young people’s social and emotional wellbeing through creative practice. The program is informed by research from The Kids Research Institute Australia and guided by the SEW-Arts Framework.

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