Today we talk about some creative planning around involvement within the Community. Epping Secondary College’s students completing their CHC22015 Certificate II in Community Services had a wonderful idea to engage with Vinnies in South Morang. The aim was to cover all things relating to:
Antionette Rehak coordinated with Vinnies 4-5 students on a Wednesday over a few weeks to provide a streamlined approach and everyone gaining experience at the store. Duties involved, unpacking stock, merchandising, customer interaction, multitasking, and communication.
The students gained so much from the experience and had a taste of what community work is. The enthusiasm was high, and great feedback was received about the students. What an efficient way to get hands-on experience working with diverse people, along with interacting effectively with others in the workplace.
Bundle this together with giving back to the community creates a true gem.
There were even opportunities for the students to return to Vinnies for further experience, which was a bonus.
Thank you, Antionette, for sharing such a positive story about your community journey and I am sure it has inspired other Secondary Schools delivering CHC22015 Certificate II in Community Services, to brainstorm some creative ideas.
The second “Schools doing great things" feature story is all about Kurnai College and the sports carnival organised by their 1st year Sport and Rec students.
Getting into the community spirit, Kurnai College created a Sports Day/Carnival for Gormandale Primary School. Supported by the 2nd year Sport and Rec students who also attended, the day was as successful as it could be. So much effort, thought, and planning went into the event, from scheduling, organising ribbons for all the students, and arranging medallions for the winners.
Events included a sack race, sprint, long-distance run, discus, long jump and a water balloon throw, stations were constructed and in operation, and the organisers all had name tags. The Kurnai College students demonstrated true leadership skills, motivated others, displayed positive attitudes, and created significant encouragement from their participants.
Visitors aren’t present often, so this was an iconic, exciting day for the Primary School students. The BBQ was a winner in itself! Who doesn’t like a sausage in bread with an enormous amount of tomato sauce? The Kurnai students all received a thank you card from Gormandale Primary, which was well received and tugged at the heartstrings.
Following the sports carnival organised by Kurnai College, Gormandale Primary had their Interschool Sports day a few days later. Gormandale Primary’s performance in previous interschool sports days hasn’t been up in the top 5. Until now…
The students were prepped, ready, and rearing to go. And that is what they did. They came second and were absolutely thrilled with their achievements: something worth celebrating and a fantastic outcome.
The next thing to conquer is the triple jump, so no doubt Kurnai will be involved with prepping them for this next challenge.
Andrea and Candy, your support and direction provided to your students, are evident in the outcome. Congratulations on an inspirational story and creating such an impact on your student’s development whilst supporting your community.
We love sharing stories about ‘Schools doing great things’, and this event we are showcasing is all about putting on the hat of creativity. St Stephen’s School Carramar catered for the senior drama production ‘Letters to Lindy’ and mastered a menu based on the bush setting using a variety of native spices.
The menu consisted of kangaroo sausage rolls, saltbush chook skewers, white kunzea damper with bush tomato relish, strawberry gum cheesecake and lemon myrtle shortbread.
This was a valuable and most enjoyable learning experience for students getting exposure to native spices as well as putting hospitality skills into practice before and on the night. A great success for all the students involved, who were able to gain hands on experience and put on a delicious spread appreciated by all.
Thank you to St Stephen’s School Carramar for sharing such a great example of how you can be creative, have fun and deliver a successful outcome.
