Over the last two terms, Makers Empire, along with partners, Bushfire Kids Connect, and Growing With Gratitude, has been running a pilot program called Naturally Brave. Bushfire Kids Connect is a community group that helps students and their families affected by bushfires and Growing With Gratitude specialises in delivering mental wellbeing programs to schools.
Makers Empire and Bushfire Kids Connect program have previously partnered for two years on the Bushfire Brave program, which helps students learn about bushfire management, what to expect in a bushfire and how to help families affected by bushfires. This program has been delivered to 16 schools in the Adelaide Hills and SA’s southeast regions.
Building on the success of Bushfire Brave, the Naturally Brave program for grade 3-6 students aimed to:
During May to November this year, nine primary schools in the Riverland — Barmera Primary School, Berri Primary School, Cobdogla Primary School, Glossop Primary School, Monash Primary School, Loxton Primary School, Our Lady of the River, Renmark North Primary School, and St Albert’s School, Loxton — learnt about Natural Disaster management, strategies and resilience.
Students then designed solutions to help disaster-affected families from both practical and wellness perspectives. The pilot included professional development days for teachers (see below photos) and students completing the new Naturally Brave Challenge Course.
In late November, 2023, the schools came together for a showcase event at Our Lady of the River School in Berri to celebrate and share their learning. Students from all nine schools produced designs showing their unique solutions to the design challenge: “design something to help a family or community who have been impacted by a natural disaster.”
There were two prizes up for grabs – the industry award judged by invited industry guests and the peer award, as voted on by the students. So as they visited each other’s stalls, students voted on their favourite stand (students were not allowed to vote on their own stand!).
To conclude the event’s formal proceedings each student was presented with a certificate. Amanda Moretta and Ellen Wei from SAFECOM announced the joint winners of the Peer Award as voted on by all participating students, Team 1: Monash Primary School and Team 1: Our Lady of the River School.
Amanda and Ellen also announced the Industry Award they had previously judged as Barmera Primary School.
Congratulations to the winning schools! All winning teams were presented with a 3D printed trophy by Mayor of Barmera Berri, Ella Winnall.
Makers Empire will be partnering with Bushfire Kids Connect and Growing with Gratitude again in 2024 to deliver this program to 20 schools in NSW and 20 schools in SA.
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