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The Lightning Warriors from Harts Range School (Sandover Group School: Atitjere Community)

24 August 2010

We received an amazing story this week from Harts Range School. 

They may be a school of only 60 students, but their huge hearts are making such a difference to one child's life...

The Lightning Warriors (15 middle years students) built a chook shed themselves and then raised some chickens.  They decided to sell these eggs to their very small community to support sponsorship of a child from Ethiopia through Worldvision Australia.

Congratulations Lightning Warriors! You are a true inspiration!

Inspiration from Sutherland Public School

18 August 2010

Our school is small- only 220 students-, but the kids, staff and community have big hearts. Our children are encouraged to think of others and our activities are linked to the HSIE curriculum, providing the children with real experiences that help others. The Students' Representative Council generates many ideas for fundraising and helps with organisation and running of many activities. Over the years we've been proud of the children's efforts to help charities such as Stewart House, UNICEF, Victorian Bushfires Appeal, Cancer Council, Red Cross, R.S.P.C.A. to name just a few. Each year the whole community participates in Wrap With Love, providing knitted blankets for the homeless, here and overseas. 

This year after the dreadful earthquake in Haiti, the children were shown a slideshow in Assembly about the disaster  and instead of the usual Easter Hat parade, we decided to hold a "Hats for Haiti" day.  Children were asked to design and make their own special hat for the parade, in return for a small donation. It was a great success and we had a lot of fun too. We are preparing a slide show featuring the children, to send you further details of this fundraiser.

Margaret Harris and Glen Hines (Charities Co-ordinators, Sutherland Public School)

Adelaide Secondary School of English - experiences of hardship and tragedy inspire kids to make an impact in Haiti and beyond.

13 August 2010

In some ways, students from the Adelaide Secondary School of English are like any kids in an Australian high school. The Student Representative Council meets weekly to discuss the school's fundraising activities and regularly rotates their chairperson and minute taker, they collect donations from their fellow students to support issues that are chosen by the SRC and they donate the raised funds to relevant charities. 

However the students at Adelaide Secondary School of English are in some ways, totally unique. All the students started at the school speaking no English at all. Many have spent their lives in refugee camps or warzones and many have never had the opportunity to attend school before. The kids come from such diverse areas as Africa, the Middle East, Burma, Bhutan and Nepal and all have experienced hardships unknown to most kids in Australian schools.

For this reason, the kids at Adelaide Secondary School of English were particularly touched when they heard of the Haiti disaster. Many of the kids could relate to the deprivation and fear of living in a refugee camp, and were familiar with the experience of displacement from their homes and family separation.                                                                                                                                                                                                                Now these students have the benefit of fulltime education and the safety and security that their life in Australia offers, they are committed to helping the kids of Haiti return to school and receive some semblance of routine and normality in their lives.

Melton College kids place Social Justice at the heart of their school community

24 June 2010

Having only been in existence since 2008, ICA Melton College in Victoria is already making a huge impact in the local community and around the world with their selfless efforts to help kids in need.

Social justice was recently voted by Melton students as one of the most important issues for their school community. Two Social Justice Captains were voted from among the student body and have now taken responsibility for running all internal fundraising and charitable events.

Now Melton, along with all schools in Australia, have the opportunity to see their efforts rewarded in the nation's first Awards program dedicated to recognising excellence in school-based philanthropy.

ICA Melton was the first of many schools to register for the Kids Helping Kids Awards, recognising and rewarding the outstanding fundraising that goes on in Aussie schools every day.  Schools are encouraged to enter their fundraising work for other kids in crisis, whether it is for their local community, across Australia or around the world.  In this instance, the Melton College kids have decided to enter their fundraising project in the "Sustainability" category for the awards, to acknowledge their long-term commitment to philanthropic activities at Melton.

All the kids in the school participate in fundraising events and work together to select a recipient organisation, usually one with a personal link to the school - whether a disease that affects someone's family, or a connection to an international disaster. The school is also committed to "spreading the love" by supporting a different nonprofit organisation each term.

The kids are often lucky enough to have school visits by the charities they support and are all genuinely touched by the impact that their fundraising activities have had on other people.

Social Captains, Bianca Trajcevski and Philomena Nandu said, "Our school only has 230 students, so we feel excited that the Kids Helping Kids Awards give smaller schools like us, a chance to be recognised for our fundraising activities. We are keen to create sustainable, ongoing social change within our school community and we hope that our efforts inspire everyone to realise that every little bit can make a big difference."

Keen to showcase your School's activity?

13 April 2010

We always love to hear about your School's activities, and this section is dedicated to just this!

Please send us through stories and photos so that we can showcase your fabulous efforts that make such a difference!

(*NB* Please make sure that you send us a completed PARENT RELEASE form with any images)