The thought of kinder students with no books and toys to play with has spurred a group of passionate Ballarat North Primary pupils to organise a school-wide drive for donations.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A team of 14 grade six students have been part of a 10-week RotaKids trial – a school-based arm of the Rotary service club – and chose the Rotary Club’s KinderKits program to support.
Each Friday during term three the committee, and mentors from the Rotary Club of Ballarat South, have met and organised a donation drive for educational resources including teaching aids, books and sporting equipment to be distributed across the Pacific region.
Teacher Olivia McLean said Ballarat North was the first Ballarat school to trial the RotaKids program.
“Part of our curriculum is looking at being responsible citizens. My dad and his partner are both in Rotary so I knew the RotaKids existed and the things they said it would do sounded exactly like what we were trying to teach in the school,” Ms McLean said.
RELATED STORY: Kids bring school supplies to Fiji
A call was put out for grade six children who were “passionate about making a difference to others” and the team was formed.
“They all wanted to do something global, and they wanted to do something with children, so the KinderKit program fit well,” Ms McLean said.
Weekly meetings are run by a committee with a president, treasurer and secretary with support from Rotary mentors.
“They decided on the KinderKit project, had to work out how they would take it to the whole school, allocated each class to collect different items, made posters, put something in the newsletter, spoke at assembly – building their skills,” she said.
Have you signed up to The Courier's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in Ballarat.
