During the first weeks of Term 3, the Year 11 Health Students have been working to promote health within our community – particularly towards the younger generations. By carefully writing storybooks and crafting board games, we prepared interactive experiences for the Kindercare Milford children regarding nutrition, friendships, and feelings.

After two weeks of preparation– including writing, designing, printing and laminating the storybooks– each class went to the Kindercare to read the stories to the children. On the 31st of July and 1st of August during lunchtime, we were welcomed warmly by the teachers, introduced to the kids, and then divided into groups so we could read our stories. These colourful stories ranged from learning about hygiene to how to handle negative feelings, and the kids listened attentively– asking questions along the way and playing with the activities in the storybooks.

We rotated the groups so as many kids could experience each story as possible, and by the end of the day, all the children gained new knowledge about how to take care of themselves and the people around them. For us, this was also a learning opportunity: developing techniques to handle children and capture their attention to get the message across easily required a lot of practice and patience!

Overall, this was a great experience for both the Year 11 Students and the Kindercare children. The kids left with new knowledge and fun memories, while we left with a deeper understanding of communication, empathy, and the importance of adapting our teaching to different audiences.

– By Bernie Hoyo Gibson