This wonderful partnership with the Splinters Group occured during 2015/2016.
Through discussions with the students, their parents, schools and the wider community it was identified that a lot of our students would benefit from being around older community members.
The Splinters Project was seen as a way of supporting the work that the Karayuna Learning Centre undertakes by:
- Providing older role models for them to talk to and possibly develop a good rapport with.
- Gain skills in the woodwork area.
- To build skills and competencies that allows them to function and contribute in their daily lives.
- Build their self-esteem in that they can achieve something in life.
- Complete something different in the community that they may not have experienced before.
- Learn and develop their interpersonal and general manners around other people especially the elderly.
Essentially the aims are to enhance student’s opportunities, motivation and capability to develop appropriately and function effectively. This includes areas of: academic, health and safety, social – emotional functioning, communication, character values, self- evaluation, self- direction, vocational and other life roles, recreational and enrichment pursuits. Thus the project endeavours to promote youth development in areas of social skills training, character education, and assets development.
Every Wednesday the team at the KLC would take students out to the Splinters workshop. Here we would meet up with a group of men and women who enjoyed getting out and completing some basic wood work projects. Each person has their own project they are working on and the dedicated volunteers that support this programme provide guidance and assistance to anyone asking for help. Our students would have a fully qualified volunteers who assisted them in making a range of wooden items. This included:
Wooden bowls
Wooden pens
Wooden keyrings
Wooden boxes.
Students also had the chance to mingle and socialise with the older generation while they worked but more importantly at morning tea time. For a lot of students this was the only time they had to informally talk to the older generation.
Splinters Program photos
