Hairy Connections
Animal-Assisted Wellbeing Program
Epsom Primary School
What is Hairy Connections?
Hairy Connections is the name of our animal-assisted wellbprogram. Animals have a unique ability to create calm, supportive, and engaging environments for students. We have chooks, guinea pigs, and a pony!
Introducing our Guinea Pigs
Thank You to Our 2025 Student Wellbeing Team
We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to our dedicated 2025 Student Wellbeing Team for their outstanding commitment throughout the term. Each morning, this responsible group collected the guinea pigs from the Green Nest and carefully delivered them to their designated classrooms, ensuring every class could enjoy their daily visit from our furry friends.
In the afternoons, the team returned to each classroom, gently gathering the guinea pigs and, after a few well-deserved cuddles, returned them safely to their enclosure for the night. Their kindness, reliability, and genuine care for the animals have made a wonderful contribution to our wellbeing program.
Well done to our 2025 Student Wellbeing Team for showing leadership, compassion, and teamwork each and every day.
Sawdust & Smiles: Bringing Prep Dreams to Life
This term, we were delighted to begin turning our Prep students’ design ideas into reality, thanks to the generous grant funding received from the Bendigo Northern District Community Enterprise (BNDCE). Their support has enabled us to launch the first stage of a very special project through our intergenerational program, Sawdust & Smiles.
As part of this program, six enthusiastic students travelled on the local bus to the Huntly Men’s Shed, where they were warmly welcomed by skilled volunteers eager to share their craftsmanship and wisdom. The students proudly brought along the Preps' drawings and concept ideas, which the Men’s Shed members helped transform into real, hands-on woodworking projects.
The visit was filled with meaningful conversations, shared problem-solving, plenty of sawdust, and—of course—lots of smiles! Students experienced the joy of seeing their ideas come to life while building connections with community members across generations.
We are excited to continue this partnership and look forward to sharing more updates as the students’ creations take shape. A heartfelt thank you to BNDCE and the Huntly Men’s Shed for supporting authentic, community-connected learning at Epsom Primary School.
