All Things Hub

We have had a very busy month, with lots happening in our Hub and school! Most recently, we celebrated Reconciliation Week. This year’s theme was, “Now more than ever” and was a reminder to all Australians that the fight for equality and justice for Indigenous Australians must continue. We began the week by introducing the ancient tradition behind a Smoking ceremony during English class before taking part with the school for a Welcome to Country and Smoking ceremony by Uncle Josh. It was a fantastic way for our English Class students to connect their learning to real life experiences. 

 In addition, during our Women’s Wellbeing Group on the Heights campus we invited our very own staff member Mckayla Bishop to share her Great Grandmother’s traditional Aboriginal recipe called Jonny cakes. Not only were the Jonny cakes delicious but the women had so much fun learning how to make this recipe and learning about the history and origin of this recipe. We look forward to inviting Mckayla again during NAIDOC week and learning all about her famous Great Grandmother Dr Ruby Langford Ginibi, an acclaimed Bundjalung author. 

For playgroup on Heights campus we decided it would be fun to go on an excursion to the Springvale library and join their Storytime session for Reconciliation Week. The children had lots of fun playing at the park, learning how to say native animals in Aboriginal language and listening to stories and completing craft activities. 

In learning about the history of our First Nations people, we also made connections to land and learnt how we can nurture and look after our environment.  We were very thankful for Zoe and Claire from the Enliven program who came and visited our Women’s Wellbeing Group on Springvale Campus and spoke about the benefits of growing our own food and limiting our food carbon footprint (e.g. how many km’s has this food travelled to get to the supermarket in order for you to purchase). They showed us good soil with tips and tricks we could do at home and together we planted carrots! We followed up this session by having a third Enliven representative Belinda come and teach the women how to make Minestrone soup. It was very tasty and a great healthy meal to have during winter with the kids. 

It was also National Volunteers Week, and we celebrated some of our wonderful volunteers including Dildar, Makara, Shahida and Van who always go above and beyond to assist in hub, the school to ensure our students and community have everything we need to thrive. We also acknowledged our School Council Members who volunteer their time every month to support our schoo A very big thank you to you all! If you have been thinking of volunteering as well, please contact me via the details below. 

As you can see, there is always something happening at our Springvale Rise Community Hub! It’s never too late to join! Here’s a reminder of our programs currently available. 

English Classes – Springvale Campus 

Learn English by speaking, listening, and even having some fun playing games with each other! We even have some plans for some out of school excursions so please watch this space!

We now offer classes on:

Monday, Tuesday and Thursday morning

9.30am - 11.30am. Free childminding is available too. 

Playgroup – Heights Campus and Springvale Campus

Come along and meet other families and join in on activities that allow you to talk, sing, share and have fun with one another.  Please note the change in time and day on the Heights Campus. 

Wednesday Playgroup    9.30 - 11.30 Springvale Campus 

Thursday Playgroup      9.30 - 11.30,

Heights Campus

Women's Wellbeing Group

Connect with other women whilst having fun participating in a variety of activities such as crafting, cooking and many more! 

Wednesday Women’s Wellbeing Group 

12pm-1.30pm, Springvale Campus 

Thursday Women’s Wellbeing Group

 2pm-3.30pm, Heights Campus   

Food Relief

Free food and milk for families experiencing financial difficulty. If you would like further assistance please attend this session so we can connect you to further services. 

Tuesday 2.30pm-3.30pm Springvale Campus 

Wednesday 3pm- 3.30pm, Heights Campus

A reminder that to attend any of our hub programs you will need a Volunteer Working with Children Card (it is free). If you need assistance applying for this card, please contact myself with the contact details below. 

If you have any questions, please call on 

 0447 273 998 or email julie.raciti@education.vic.gov.au 

Mrs Julie Raciti

Community Hub Leader