The below article has been written in collaboration with Jessica Robinson, one of our valued Busy Bees parents at Underwood.
Hi, my name is Jessica Robinson and I have three children – two who attend Busy Bees at Underwood. I am currently studying to be a Teacher Aide through TAFE Queensland, and was recently selected to attend a study tour in Samoa as part of my course. I jumped at the chance! While on the study tour, I will be spending 10 days working in Samoan schools to support the children over there and learn about their culture and practice. Knowing that Samoa is considered a third world country, I wanted to help where possible, and thought that it would be a great opportunity to involve the children at Underwood.
I approached Stacey, the Service Manager, and told her I was keen to share my experience with the kindy Researchers class. Stacey was thrilled with the idea, and suggested that the children could be involved in creating some gift bags to present to the Samoan children.
I sat down with the Educators and we spoke to the Researchers about the children in Samoa. We talked about how Samoa is a third world country, and that means that a lot of children don’t have nice things. The children learned that sometimes schools in Samoa don’t have a lot of resources or toys for the children, and how it would be nice if together we could share some of our things with them.
The children were very excited by this idea and immediately offered to help! They got to work putting together some gift bags for the children in Samoa with classroom supplies, including pencils, markers, toys, bubbles and balloons. We also put a basket in the foyer for other Families to donate items for the children, which were added to the bags.
The children learned so much from the experience and had some beautiful insights to share:
“We gave toys to the other island that didn’t have any” – Landon
“They don’t have a big room like us” – Lucy B
“We have lots of toys and they have no play equipment” – Mackenzie
“And that’s not fair” – Charlie
I am feeling very overwhelmed by all the support and donations provided by Busy Bees at Underwood and our other Families. I feel so honoured to be a part of this journey and knowing I can share it all with our children as well. Such a small gesture can make such a massive impact, not only to the children in Samoa but to our own little family at Underwood.
Sadly, Jessica’s visit has had to be postponed until next year due to an outbreak of Measles in the area. The children’s care packages are being kept in a safe place, ready to be presented to the Samoan children when she arrives!
We’re so proud of our Underwood children, Families and Educators for their compassion, empathy and willingness to participate in this small but powerful gesture. Thank you Jessica for sharing your knowledge and experience with our Researchers class.
Quality Area 6 | Standard 6.2.3 – Community Engagement
The Service builds relationships and engages with its community.
