Lighthouse Summary of Activities April 2020

Lighthouse is working in creative ways to support students and staff at Greater Shepparton Secondary College with a focus on literacy and wellbeing through connections. These are existing initiatives offered in a different format.

1. Greater Shepparton Community Response

Lighthouse (Lisa) chairs and provides administrative support for the Greater Shepparton response, a collaboration of about a dozen orgs including GSSC, Committee 4 Greater Shepp, Shepparton Foodshare, Rumbalara Aboriginal Co-operative, Ethnic Council of Shepparton and District, Goulburn Murray Community Leadership Program, and others who are working together to co-ordinate effort in areas such as identifying vulnerable cohorts and food distribution.

2. Activity packs for children – pre-school and primary

Distributing about 200 packs a week.   When we were doing a smaller number they included coloring pencils, chalk, bubbles etc but as they have grown they are now activity sheets.

3. Havens

Operating as virtual Havens maintaining contacts with kids and families via phone, text, social media and home visits. Supporting families with food, connections and referrals and assistance as needed. Mainly just being there, letting them know we care and we are there for them.

4. Food distribution

Early on we were distributing up to 130 packs a week, that has dropped back to about 25 packs a week as the Foodshare and other organisations have ramped up their response. We also have three staff volunteering two or three days a week at the Foodshare and another staff member distributing food packs for Shepparton Family and Financial Services.

5. Virtual Take pART (Year 7)

Following the success of the Take pART lunchtime program in Term 1 we are aiming to provide art inspired activity packs for all Year 7 students in Term 2. These packs will contain creative activities with a focus on promoting positive mental health that can either be delivered in one hit or be spanned over 10 weeks. The activities will be a combination of online resources and provided resources and materials. Again, we have partnered with businesses across Greater Shepparton to design the program.

Activities to include:

• Fitness challenges, Plus Fitness Shepparton creating online at home workouts
• Flowers, Blooming Buckets to provide foliage and instructions to make a flower arrangement
• Online art class, local artist Tank to film a short art class video for students to follow and the paint, canvas and paint brushes will be included in the resource pack
• Cooking session, canned spaghetti or apples provided to create a delicious meal. The can is then used as the vase for the flower arranging
• Mindfulness, link to Smiling Minds app for students to practice their mindfulness or meditation
• Paper craft, students to create origami. Also, able to team up with Council Waste Educators to create everyday items (paper bag bin liner) from reusable sources
• Rock painting, to provide simple instructions to beautifully decorate rocks
• Random Act of Kindness, to write a positive postcard/note to place in a neighbours letterbox
• And much more..

Click here to see the Take pART evaluation summary of Term 1.

6. Secondary Activity Packs

Lighthouse will provide 50 activity packs per year level to support engagement via activities that have a strengths-based approach. Where possible the activities will incorporate some Industry Links and mentor connections. Activities will be centred around:

• Connection to each other (students)
• Connection to school
• Promote positive mental health

Selection of most in need students will be at the discretion of the principal and wellbeing teams at each campus/setting.

Click here to see the Secondary Activity packs schedule.

7. Year 7 Literacy delivered as a virtual program

Also looking at taking our successful year 7 literacy mentoring program online and currently in discussions with the school about that.