VCAL

'St Kilda Mums'

On Thursday 30 August, VCAL ran a sausage sizzle and bake sale fundraiser during lunch time. Thanks to the support of our school community, we raised $440.  With that money, we bought boxes of baby wipes and lots of children’s underwear.  We took these and other donated goods to the ‘St Kilda Mums’.

‘St Kilda Mums’, started in 2009. It is an organization that works with welfare agencies, maternal and child health centers and maternity hospitals to help vulnerable and disadvantaged mums. They supply recycled nursery equipment including cots, prams and car seats, as well as clothes and other baby essentials to mothers in need. Instead of being thrown out, these near-new donated items, provide many families with years of use.

We took all our donations to them on Thursday 6 September. We also volunteered our time and helped to:

•             sort donated clothes into gender and size

•             separate donated packs of  nappies into

              various sizes e.g. infant, toddler, and

               walker

•             create bath essential packs for babies

•             sort toys into ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ categories

•             refit baby car seats with freshly laundered

               upholstery.

We also got to put together clothing packs with all the essentials that a child will need for a year of life.

Overall we thought the day was really good. We learnt a lot about ‘St Kilda Mums’ and it was great to do something positive for the community.

We would like to thank our VCAL teachers for organizing the trip and taking us there.

Daniel Howl

VCAL

Bully Zero Guest Speaker

On Monday 10 September, Michelle Murray from ‘Bully Zero’ visited us and talked about the dangers and consequences of bullying.

 Formed in 2012, the foundation works tirelessly, trying to create a world free from bullying, where teenagers aren’t driven to suicide by tyrants online, where a workplace is a welcoming place and not a place of anguish.

Michelle had prepared a power point full of information and videos. The topics that she covered included: types of bullying, current statistics, the role of the bystander, strategies to respond to poor behavior, empathy, respect, cyber safety and where to seek help.

The point of her presentation was to spread awareness of this issue and to explain that there are people that can help.

Austin Reid

VCAL