Asylum Seekers Centre

TODAY WE LEARNED… it’s very difficult to get into Australia, people really care about refugees, people do lots of volunteer work, how important it is to have a place in a community, how many different needs there are to be met, sometimes not a profitable thing to help asylum seekers

3 IDEAS OF HOW WE CAN HELP

1. Helping people to learn English, donating food, water and sanitary items to charities where they are distributed straight into the community.
2. Learn more about the background of refugees.
3. Educate ourselves and others about the issues that are happening at that time.

Tobi Chivas and Jessica Lang Y8

Mornington Special Development School

Going into community partnerships I was excited yet also very nervous. I didn’t know what to expect from the experience, I help with a nipper’s program at lifesaving for differently-abled kids, but I knew that a school environment would be a lot different.

We met before going into the school – everyone filled with nerves and excitement and went over how we were going to approach this as a team to give as much as possible and get as much as possible from the program. I instantly felt relieved once we met the teachers, all of whom were so sweet and caring and you could tell how much of a passion they all had for their jobs which was very inspiring.

The students were all amazing. Some were non-verbal others very verbal! Each child was so unique and different, yet all were learning something new each day. The most rewarding part for me was when I was working in the junior’s classroom (all of which are non-verbal) and was able to communicate with a student and calm them down so that they could re-enter the classroom just by using little laminated cards with pictures on them. In that moment it became very clear to me that anyone can do anything they just might all do it differently.

Overall, I had a wonderful experience and am so eager to go back and spend more time with the kids next term!

Maya Wishart Y8

What I did: I helped out the students at the Mornington SDS. I helped out Ms Sue and her class for the day and I really enjoyed the day. We had dance breaks and it was very relaxed, and I felt very involved and had a feeling that I actually helped out a lot of people that day. I loved hanging out with everyone and connected with a lot of people and I’m sure I will be even more interactive next session.

Expectations going into it: My Expectations were very different to what actually happened, on the bus, I started getting butterflies and wasn’t really prepared for the experience that I was going to board and felt that I would be up-front teaching and taking the whole class. But after 10 minutes I started feeling comfortable and realised I just need to be myself and talk about things I liked.

I started really bonding with one kid who also liked mountain bikes and at lunch, me and him were riding around the basketball court on bikes and really connected. Next session I feel that my connection with him will only grow every time I see him.

Angus Singleton Y8