MIDDLE SCHOOL

Baptcare The Orchards

Over the past 5 weeks, we have been visiting Baptcare, a modern aged care centre in Doncaster East for the MyDuke Of Edinburgh award program. Our volunteer work there entails us to help and entertain the residents living there by interacting with them, partaking in any activities hosted by them and helping the staff members. So far, we have played multiple games of Scrabble, snakes and ladders, poker and Rummikub with them as well as given them hand massages, painted their nails, served them food, played golf with them, talked to them and participated in their ‘word of the day’ and exercise programs. It has been beyond enjoyable interacting and helping the residents living there so far, and it is most definitely the highlight of our Wednesdays.

Daniel M. 9I, Sophie V. 9J, Celeste G. 9I, and Faye M. 9J.

Kevin Heinze Grow 

This semester we are completing the Duke of Edinborough award. This has 4 components; service, physical recreation, skills and an adventurous journey.  

For our service, we are volunteering at the Kevin Heinze Grow garden centre on Wetherby Rd, Doncaster. Kevin Heinze is a centre which supports the mentally disadvantaged, or those with mental health conditions, through therapeutic horticulture. The centre focuses on teaching the students about gardening, but through this, they also learn many life skills in doing so. By working in and around the garden the students, who may have previously been unable to focus or spend extended periods of time in one place, are able to learn to put their focus into one thing at a time and apply this into their everyday lives.

So far while volunteering, we have participated in the student programs. This either involves some form of gardening (eg, potting plants or raking leaves) or a class such as mindfulness or social skills. We have also been assisting with transferring compost from the old bins to the new ones.

We have really enjoyed our time at the centre so far. It is an extremely positive environment to be working in and it is really satisfying to know that we are making a positive impact in our community. We are looking forward to spending time at Kevin Heinze in the weeks to come!

Jessica M. 9E

Doncaster Early Learning Centre

Over the past few weeks, we have been doing community service at the Doncaster Early Learning Centre. Our group decided to volunteer at a childcare, because we wanted to develop our interaction skills with children of a younger age, that we don’t normally interact with. During our time at Doncaster Early Learning Centre, we have been helping out with activities, assisting with lunchtime and nap time, cleaning up, and ensuring we make the staff’s day as easy as possible. 

This community service goes towards our Duke of Edinburgh bronze award. In total, we need to complete 13 hours over 3 months. This service component is 1 of 4 that need to be completed.

On our first week we filled portfolios, cut out shapes from paper and played with the children. We got to know the kids and get a feel for the sort of work that the staff do. It was a great introduction to the childcare. On our second week, one of us worked in the baby room and the others assisted the staff. In the baby room, you read stories to the children, play games with them such as playing in the kitchen, and cooking, and sing songs to them, like the alphabet. Meanwhile, the rest of the group reorganised the laundry storeroom, filled with art and gardening supplies, and cleared it all out. On our third week, we were all split up. One of us was outside, helping to entertain the kids and run the reconciliation week activity, which was painting boomerangs. Another student was cutting out the boomerangs for the activity, setting up all the beds for nap time, and playing with the kids while they were doing their craft activities. The last person stayed with the babies, played with them outside, and assisted with lunchtime.

Overall, this experience so far has been very beneficial and we have all gotten a lot out of it. So far, we have grown a lot as both individuals and as a group, and we are almost certain this growth will continue. We highly appreciate what this childcare stands for, and the opportunity they have provided us. We look forward to our following weeks at the childcare and hope they benefit from us being there as much as we have from helping them. 

Ghazal B. 9J, Theodora P. 9I, and Yvie T. 9E

Donburn Primary School

We both go to Donburn Primary School for our service in MY Duke of Ed, Tash works with the year one’s and Milli works with the year two’s which are next door to each other. Tash works with the Year one’s to help improve their mathematical abilities, accompanies them to the library to help them read, and helps the teacher when needed. Milli helps the Year two’s with their reading, writing and science. We stay for a total of around 2 and a half hours. We have both developed connection with the teachers and their students and have grown very close to the kids. We both enjoy doing service at Donburn Primary School and look forward to every session with them.

Natasha M. 9K and Milli C. 9D

Bulleen Pre-School

In the Duke of Edinburgh, we are working in groups to complete service for 13 weeks. Our group consists of, Ruby G, Kayley P, Kaitlyn L, Lana B and Tenille F. For Duke of Edinburgh, it is required that we complete 3 months of service, 3 months of physical recreation and 3 months of skill. One of these tasks needs to be for 6 months (all groups are doing 6 months of service). Our skills and physical recreation is our own responsibility. For our service, we all decided to volunteer at Bulleen Pre-School.

When we are volunteering at Bulleen Pre-School we often do gardening and then get the opportunity to connect with younger people. The last two weeks we completed gardening, we did weeding in the vegetable pack and cleared the leaves from the path. The garden is now cleaner, safer and sustainable for the kindergarteners who attend Bulleen Pre-School.

It has been a great experience working with the younger kids and helping around the kindergarten, making sure that we give back to the community and make the environment somewhat safer and better for the current and future kids going to Bulleen Pre-School. Every week we enjoy our time at the kindergarten and we will always have a connection with Bulleen Pre-school now.

We also wanted to say thank you to Mr Halliday and our various mentors for organising, helping and guiding us throughout our Duke of Edinburgh subject.

Ruby G. 9H