An ‘exceptional group of kids’

St Matthew’s Primary School Page Year 5 students delivered over $1000 worth of backpacks, lunch boxes, drink bottles and more to local charity Roundabout Canberra to support children at the start of the next school year.

A group of Year 5 students have taken the Christmas spirit to heart this year, raising funds to buy school supplies for children in need.

The St Matthew’s Primary School Page students recently delivered over $1000 worth of backpacks, lunch boxes, drink bottles and more to local charity Roundabout Canberra.

Curriculum coordinator Rachel Powell said she was stunned by the determination of the “exceptional group of kids.”

“It started off with a HASS Inquiry unit,” she explained.

“With that, they have a conceptual understanding goal that they come up with. Ours was global citizens have ethical, moral and economic responsibilities to contribute to communities in a positive way and improve the lives of others. So, that is where it all came from.”

The class started by investigating Australian democracy and values.

“We went into how community members can work together to combat things like racial, gender and religious discrimination,” Mrs Powell said.

“Then we looked at global organisations that work together to make a positive impact on the world. The kids made posters and gave talks about different groups and how they build community.”

The students heard a presentation from Roundabout Canberra and decided to run a bake sale in support of the cause.

“They were really taken aback that some children just don’t have things,” Mrs Powell said.

“One of the things they were most upset about was the fact that kids didn’t have lunch boxes and pencil cases and backpacks going into the new year. They thought that was a really hard way for kids to start the year.”

The bake sale raised an astounding $780.

“It was an amazing effort,” Mrs Powell said.

“I was shocked, but it was the sheer effort that all of them put into it.”

When Mrs Powell contacted Officeworks to organise an excursion for the students, the company added another $250 to the final tally.

 “We got to have a huge shopping spree,” she said.

“We packed it all into our lunch tubs and went down and gave it to the volunteers at Roundabout. The lady who was there working on back-to-school packs started crying. She was just overwhelmed that the kids had brought so much stuff, by their generosity.”

Mrs Powell said the Year 5 group was on a high for days and was eager to find more ways to make a difference.

“We say to the kids that at the end of the day, our job here on earth is to make the world a better place,” she said.

“And I think that is the biggest thing they got from it. One of my little poppets turned and said to me at the end of it, ‘Mrs P, we did what we were supposed to do with that inquiry. We did make the world a better place.’

“So, I think that is the biggest takeaway for them – their understanding that they are here to make life easier for people to make the world better.”