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  • Unit
  • ...

Understanding Homelessness Through Film

  • Secondary
  • Year 9 - 10
  • English
  • Learning through film
  • Text Analysis
  • Social
  • Homelessness
  • Lesson
  • ...

Exploring Stereotypes and Misconceptions of Homelessness

  • Secondary
  • Year 9 - 10
  • English
  • Learning through film
  • Text Analysis
  • Social
  • Homelessness
  • Lesson
  • ...

Unpacking Stories of Homelessness

  • Secondary
  • Year 9 - 10
  • English
  • Learning through film
  • Text Analysis
  • Social
  • Homelessness
  • Lesson
  • ...

Investigating the Causes of Homelessness

  • Secondary
  • Year 9 - 10
  • English
  • Learning through film
  • Text Analysis
  • Social
  • Homelessness
  • Lesson
  • ...

Researching and Proposing Actions to Address Homelessness

  • Secondary
  • Year 9 - 10
  • English
  • Learning through film
  • Text Analysis
  • Social
  • Homelessness
  • Social Action

About these resources

All of us have seen people sleeping rough, or lugging the ubiquitous striped carry bags, or pushing shopping trolleys stacked high with blankets and precious belongings. We all know about homelessness but we need to humanise it. We want Some Happy Day, through the story of Tina, to provoke conversation and more action that works towards addressing the issues of homelessness. This four-lesson unit for year 9 and 10 English engages students to explore homelessness through the film and re-evaluate their understanding of homelessness. 

About the film

Some Happy Day is an Australian indie feature film sharing the story about Tina, a homeless woman in desperate search of a better life who meets Frances, a social worker with troubles of her own. Over a single day their lives interweave, revealing unsettling connections that lead to change and redemption. Director Catherine Hill has worked with marginalised and often street homeless men and women for over two decades and it was their stories that inspired her to make this film.

Help us make real change.

Soup Kitchen Productions have teamed up with Cool.org, Screenkind and Lonergan Research to conduct a study measuring the effectiveness of these lesson plans and the movie Some Happy Day on changing students’ attitudes and behaviours towards homelessness.

Thank you for teaching these lessons to your students. Knowing how students feel and think about homelessness is the first step to social change. Please help us to make further impact by having your students complete 2 short surveys. This data allows us to refine and improve these resources, and continue our mission to help end homelessness. If you are an English teacher with a year 9 and/or year 10 class and would like to take part (or know someone who does), please contact us at shd@lonergan.team for more information, including research materials (student and teacher questionnaires).

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