Jacqui Goldenberg, Community Services Program Director

Our Community Service program HOPE – Humans of Purpose and Empathy – continued unabated this year with outstanding support from students and staff. This critical program aims to educate students, to encourage them to contribute to, participate in, and to fundraise (money or goods) for the many charities the School supports.

HARMONY DAY

In Term 1, the whole School participated in Harmony Day. The Junior School, including the Early Learning Centre, created a wonderful mural of hands celebrating their cultural heritage. The School was awash with orange, and we collected 100 bags of food which was donated to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ARC). Seven courageous Year 9 students also cut off their long locks and raised AUD$5000 for the ASRC.

Knowing that I helped someone by cutting my hair makes me feel great. - Melody Xu

CUT FOR A CAUSE

Seven Year 12 students plus our PFA President, Kirsten Brooks, used our annual Cut for a Cause to raise funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). They raised an outstanding AUD$12,235.

CANCER COUNCIL

For the Cancer Council’s Biggest Morning Tea, Year 8 students planned and baked goodies to be shared with the Year 12 cohort. A snap lockdown saw us pivot our original plans. Individual morning tea boxes were distributed to the Year 12s after an English assessment task, while the Year 8s still managed to come together to enjoy their morning tea and raise $1500.

It was a pleasant surprise to receive the boxes, and a nice reminder that the School community has each other’s backs. All of the Year 12s really appreciated them as a symbol of support and a delicious snacking opportunity. Thanks Year 8s! - Ben Churilov, Year 12

Amidst lockdown, when it became increasingly difficult to find joy, the gift packs that we received as a result of the hard work of the Year 8s truly put a smile on all of our faces. We were certainly grateful for the delicious food! - Caitlin Johnston, Year 12

Baking with fellow Year 8s further connected us, and seeing everyone enjoy the food our group created brought a huge sense of pride. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to have the Biggest Morning Tea with the Year 12s, but it was still great to be able to help the Cancer Council. - Jasmine Ptok, Year 8

INDIGENOUS LITERACY FOUNDATION

This year, the Year 11 students supported a new charity, the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF). We ran a School-wide competition for students to design a tote bag on the theme of reading and hope. We sold many bags, with many parents choosing to donate their bags to indigenous communities, including one kind parent who sent 25 bags to a school in the Northern Territory to use as library bags.

One of our design winners, Lolly Seligmann, said, ‘I am so grateful for the opportunity for my design to be used in order to raise money for the ILF. Having learnt all the good this organisation does, enriched the experience for me. I felt wonderful to be a part of this.’

CONNOR’S RUN

Once again, our Year 10 students participated in Connor’s Run. Liz Dawes, founder of the Robert Connor Dawes Foundation, spoke to all our Year 10 students about her personal story.

While unfortunately the community run was cancelled, with the help of the PE Department all students completed a 10km run on their own during September. T-shirt and entry packs were delivered to all students and together we raised AUD$14,587, and were once again, the number one fundraising school.

Participating in Connor’s Run this year was a really great experience. I felt lucky to be catching up with friends and supporting such an inspiring charity. - Jess Bonham

Congratulations to the Year 10 group for their amazing support of Connor’s Run this year. Our family has been a long-time supporter of this fabulous charity, which is very close to our heart. We love that the Kilvington family support is so strong despite the tough times we are all living through. - Sally, Year 10 Parent

EAT UP AUSTRALIA

Our Year 7s partner charity is Eat Up Australia. We were lucky enough to have a sandwich-making session, as well as have the founder of Eat Up, Lyndon Gale, come in and speak to our Year 7 students. We plan on again having a continuous 9-5 bike-riding day to raise AUD$5000 for the organisation.

In line with our School motto, ‘Not for our own, but others’ good’, we have had another busy and productive year, making a difference to the lives of those less fortunate in our wider community. As Joyce Wu in Year 12 said in relation to cutting her hair, ‘Helping others is a virtue’.

In the Know | International

small enough to care, big enough to excel

Issue 2 · 21 Nov 2021

In this issue