NORWEST Christian College Kinder pupils have made toys for local refugee children and will donate them through the NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS) program.
The pupils created the toys after hearing in class about the deprived living conditions some refugees face in both Australia and overseas.
“Refugee children must be very sad without toys”, said five-year-old Orlando.
Classmate Alexis said: “We wanted to help the refugee children stop being sad.”
The school’s 65 kindergarten pupils designed and created their own human figure toys, pencilling patterns on paper, cutting out clothing and gluing it to the figures.
These will be passed on to local children who are refugees from Africa.
Teacher Emily Elton said she had seen the need that is in Africa first-hand and wanted to create an awareness in her students of the wider world and how they can make a difference.
Each of the Kinder classes is named after a country in Africa - K Madagascar, K Somalia and K Morocco.
“We want to grow students who are globally aware, empathetic to those in need and who know, no matter how old they are, they can make a difference to the world around them,” said Mrs Elton.
She said she was in awe of the way her five-year-old pupils could empathise with those in need.
“They have shown such compassion and desire to care for others. Kinder have put their all into these creations, developed empathy for others and grown their ability to be great learners,” Mrs Elton said.
Kinder pupil Sky said: “I had fun making my toy. I really want to keep it. But the refugee children need it much more than me. I’ve got lots of toys. I am going to love giving my special toy to a lonely boy or girl and they will love it too”.