Convoy of Hope

from The King's School Gazette January 2021

Determination During COVID

COMMUNITY

As we returned to school at the start of this year we had all witnessed the devastation the bushfires brought to large areas of Australia. One area hardest hit was the Lake Conjola region.

With the School’s Mission Statement stating, ‘The King’s School is a Christian Community that seeks to make an outstanding impact for the good of society’ and our School values of compassion and responsibility front of mind, we posed the following questions to the boys: ‘What can we do to help? How can we support our regional areas while sitting at our Parramatta campus?’

We then faced COVID-19. Schools closed and then reopened with restrictions. Sport, Clubs and activities had to stop unless they were COVID safe. Yet despite all this, the boys were determined and wanted to focus on others through these challenging times. We found the answers to our questions by being creative and joining with the Convoy of Hope, a faith based, non-profit organisation that provides hope and response to natural disaster.

With the intention to regenerate the area of Lake Conjola, students nurtured and grew 900 native seedlings into healthy plants over a five-month period. The healthy and strong pots were then delivered to the community at the end of November.

Besides helping mum and dad at home with planting, this was a new experience for the boys. “There was a lot we had to learn, but the hardest part was planting 900 plants. It was a lot of work, said Levi Strong (Year 5). “I really liked helping people who were in need. It was great knowing that we were giving back to the community,” said Year 5 student Toby Maple-Brown.

Although this was a small initiative undertaken by the Prep boys to assist such a large-scale rejuvenation project, the boys have taken great heart from being able to assist in providing support for the Lake Conjola region. “This is something we could definitely do again, even in different countries”, said Toby.

Our deep gratitude is extended to the Fathers’ Association whose financial sponsorship of the project made this service action possible.

Jordy Wickham Preparatory School Teacher

https://vimeo.com/491506450/ffe54c46f7

“Although this was a small initiative undertaken by the Prep boys to assist such a large-scale rejuvenation project, the boys have taken great heart from being able to assist in providing support for the Lake Conjola region.”