CAFS

Sleepout May 2022

The Year 12 Community and Family Studies (CAFS) classes are currently studying different groups within our community who may be facing inequities. One of those groups are homeless people. Did you know that currently there are 116,000 Australians (including over 44,000 children and young people) who are homeless?

As a way to deepen our understanding of the hardships that homeless people face, our CAFS students participated in a sleepout overnight on Friday 20 May, on the floor of the school conference room. It was cold and uncomfortable but gave us a glimmer of insight into how tough being homeless would really be. 

In the lead up to the sleepout, students worked in their classes to budget meals for dinner and breakfast having been allocated only $3 per student. The students learned firsthand how expensive nutritional meals can be and, instead, opted for cheap meals of two-minute noodles for dinner and bread with jam for breakfast. 

During the sleepout, students spent time bonding with one another as we found a way to fill time without any of our usual technology to keep us entertained! The students also watched The Oasis, a documentary that focuses on the Oasis Centre in Sydney and explores the lived experiences of Sydney’s young homeless population. While heartbreaking and, at times confronting, this documentary solidified our students' understanding of the range of factors that can lead to homelessness and the necessity of a variety of resources to support those who are sleeping rough.

As part of our study into “Groups in Context” we are also doing fundraising for the homeless support organisation Mission Australia. Our goal is to reach $1000 which could house a family of four for a whole month at one of mission Australia’s crisis centres. 

If you would like to contribute some money to the cause, you can make a direct donation to our team page by following the link below.

Anna Wall

PDHPE/CAFS Teacher