Last week a group of Year 6 students came to speak to me about their desire to raise some money for a cause by making and selling cupcakes. I just LOVE it when our young people supported by their parents of course, are touched by a need and are prepared to work selflessly to try to meet that need.

Fundraising requests are a real balancing act in a school. We are very conscious of the impact that this has on families – particularly in primary where students do not have a part time job to pay for things themselves and parents have to meet the cost.

However, the benefit which comes personally to young people when they want to help someone else cannot be easily measured. The saying, “It is better to give than to receive” may be based on this fact. They say that people who even WITNESS someone else do a good deed are impacted in an incredible way.

Earlier this week I met with Mrs Jade King (Ag Science teacher) and Mrs Cherie MacLeod regarding “The Human Face of Drought” to discuss whether in primary we could help some of the struggling families by providing items for care packages. We took this idea to our Team Leaders who were very keen to help and who felt that our students may wish to do some jobs or actually go without some treats themselves to provide staple food items for some families affected by the drought.

Connectedness to a cause or a community is so important for our young people and I believe that working together as a class, doing something sacrificial for others will create an incredible sense of community and will support their own personal well being in addition to bringing joy to some of the struggling drought affected families.

In Week 5 assemblies, I will be speaking to students and encouraging them to be creative in how they can provide these staple items or maybe even a little treat for the children in these families.

By the way, the group of students who wanted to make cupcakes to raise money for a cause helped the Ag students today (Friday 10 August) by providing cupcakes and other items for the secondary cafe to support the purchase of hay bales. I hope this article warms your hearts – as it did mine.  

Cheryl Bryers, Head of Primary