“The SVA Kit was a fantastic resources for our Year 5/6 children. They enjoyed their responsibilities and learning about the Christchurch SVA and how well that operated and encouraged collaboration. We created a project to help out our younger school community. We wrote letters to local shops and received some very generous donations and words of encouragement. A great process and opportunity, we would definitely do it again if given the opportunity. Thank you School Kit and Sponsors :)”
“Wow! What a fantastic kit I have a Year 2 class and they got so much out of this kit. We started by talking about some things that we could do to help others We'd had a parent come and talk to us about a company they started called Nourish They do 'Friday Feeds' for a couple of Wellington schools where they go into the school and make lunches for all the children We thought that it would be great to support this cause by providing some home baking as part of their lunch. To decide on what we should make, each student brought in their favourite sweet and we taste tested them all, before voting the top three for us to make - this was a very hard decision to make! The boys then had to write out a list of chores that they would be able to do around their home, in exchange for their parents buying the ingredients that we needed to do the baking. Everyone had to bring in 2 items. We used the forms in the kit to decide on the roles that everyone would have The boys loved wearing their badges, especially the vests We then spent the next 3 weeks baking on a Thursday. The boys were so respectful at understanding that the food wasn't for them and how they were giving back to the community. I have now collated all the recipes to make a recipe book for them to keep. We have had some great feedback from the schools - they even wanted the recipe. Thanks School Kit!”
“My class had a great time organising groups, recipes and adult helpers to come in and help us bake a range of goodies for the City Mission. We also had a canned goods collection. The children loved stacking the cans and seeing the pile grow. The boy that took the goodies into the City Mission came back to the class saying how happy he felt taking the goods in. He also talked about how thankful they were and how he wants to do this more often.”
“This is my second year using this kit, and it was another huge success. My students really enjoyed the opportunity to lead their project, with each one being validated for their strengths. Giving back is a reward in itself.”
“Thank you so much for this wonderful resource, upon commencing our journey as a SVA we soon discovered that we required some addition support and therefore we wrote letters inviting another classroom of YR 3/4 students to join us. Upon coming together as an army of 52 children and following some brainstorming about what community projects we would like to be involved in, and some robust discussions it was decided that our School Playground could benefit from some attention as the community utilises the school nearly every day.
The children then set about identifying what could actually be achieved by them (and whanau) for them, and the community they are a part of. Supporters where identified and letters were sent. A date was set, which has had to be changed due to the needs of the community and weather. At this stage the Waitara Central Guardians have delayed their action day(s) until the first term of 2020 with the plan to beautify and make our playground a nicer place to be for all.”
“This kit was wonderful. My class loved the buttons and the jackets. We took an environmental project theme, and decided to raise money by doing jobs at home to earn a gold coin. This gold coin will be donated to the Whangarei Native Bird Recovery Centre. We are going on a trip next week to our local DOC, and a representative from The Whangarei Native Bird Recovery Centre will be there talking to us about Kiwi, and what their job entails. Our students have been very keen to offer ways they could support this group, and raising money was suggested. Parts of this kit needed to be adapted for our junior level, but having the kit prompted us to use inquiry with our juniors, and use a social action for our environmental project. Thank you very much for allowing us to have this kit. We have a lot of little Kiwi and environmental community guardians out there at the moment.”
“A Year 3 child thought about the refugees who come to NZ and wanted to help them so we made cards with very few words, little booklets with pictures and banners to welcome the children. Two people who work at the centre came and talked about what a refugee is and what happens when they come to NZ. Then we gave them the things we made to take back to the centre. Before this time we had a SVA day making all the things to give. A small group organised the ideas of what to do and email the centre. We have had two other ideas - visiting the local kindy to hang out with the kids and visit the local rest home and take a Christmas card to them and talk with them.”
“My class, Year 7&;8's have worked with the Year 0 (New Entrant) class for their service and made a huge difference to the attitudes and skills of the young students as well as some of the behaviour issues they have had. Their teacher has also really appreciated the one to one learning we have implemented.
The students thought about all the activities we could include but with a few students in the New Entrant class decided to do some hands on activities. Activities included Seniors reading a picture book and asking questions to the Juniors and vice versa as well as P.E sessions. Teaching the Juniors how to roll, throw, catch and bounce a large ball, relays then a game with their buddy in Tapuwae. We also worked on cricket skills and a bowling, throwing and catching a tennis ball, followed by groups of 4 batting and fielding. Finally a game of non-stop cricket. We also did Art- cactus dye work for a collaborative artwork for the library. We will be completing the unit on Friday this week with old fashioned relays and a shared lunch and BBQ.
The students loved the HQ flag, wearing the vests, using the badges and receiving a badge at the end of each session.
Instead of doing one day of activities we decided to break it up into 5 lots of 1hr 15 mins each.
At the end of each session we had a student voice time which was so worthwhile. What an amazing programme this SVA has turned out to be. Everyone gained so much from it.
Thank you,
Marquerite :)”
