Care Packs For Schools

  Monday 1st June, 2020
  Categories: Connect Stories

Care Packs For Schools

Fairhills Global Classroom meeting on Zoom

FAIRHILLS HIGH SCHOOL

The Fairhills HS Global Classroom mentors have found different way to connect with students during schooling from home. Unable to support students face to face, these schools volunteers worked via ZOOM to put together care packages for the 55 Year 9s in this program. As they planned, chased donations and prepared the care packages, they also made and sent students a virtual care pack as lockdown began – with fun memes, words of encouragement and ideas and strategies for staying hopeful.

Each physical care pack contained a notepad, nice toiletries, snacks, seeds to plant, a stress-ball-making kit, relaxing teas, dotted paper and bubble wrap to help deal with stress, a gift voucher for a fun day out after isolation ends, and other fun goodies.

Families and students in Year 9 were extremely grateful to the team. One student experiencing severe depression hadn’t left her room in days; the delivery lifted her spirits and brought a smile to her face. The school leadership has been delighted by the support from volunteers in a tough time. It also lifted the mood of mentors, having something practical and other-focussed for them to work on.

— Naomi, ELEVATE Training Coordinator

YINNAR SOUTH PRIMARY SCHOOL

We’re only a small school, with a handful of teachers and support staff, but I knew the pressures they were under. The staff were doing a brilliant job supporting students in a difficult situation and I wanted them to know they were valued and respected.

I’d heard about care package for kids and thought, “I’m going to do that for the teachers.” I searched for different ideas because I wanted everything in the pack to have a meaning that I could share on a card included in the packs. Each pack had the staff member’s name handwritten on the front and included treats like chewing gum to help you stick to your goals, and marbles to replace those you might lose!

I hand delivered the bags to each of the staff and they were all really well received. A couple of staff even had tears in their eyes when they read what everything meant. As I delivered the bags I discovered one of our staff was celebrating her 60th birthday. Her bag was delivered with a bunch of flowers and some morning tea to enjoy.

— Michelle, Chaplain at Yinnar South PS

Care packs for students at Fairhills HS (left); Care packs for staff at Yinnar South PS (right)

This story is part of the June 2020 issue of CONNECT. Read the latest update from our State Director here. For other stories from this issue, click on a tile below.