Patricia Pallot has been helping school pupils to develop resilience and find friendships during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ms Pallot started volunteering with the charity EdConnect Australia during 2020.
Volunteers from EdConnect Australia assist students in need and in the classroom with subjects such as numeracy, reading and science.
Last year Ms Pallot mentored a small group of primary-aged Truganina P-9 College pupils.
“On a particular week, the students described how concerned they were about COVID-19 and how they had experienced the loss of family members and felt stressed at home,” she said.
Ms Pallot said she involved the students in games such as snakes and ladders, while talking about each other’s cultures and how they were coping at home and at school.
“The following week I learnt that these students who previously were ‘not friends on the playground’ began to play together and look out for one another,” Ms Pallot said.
EdConnect Australia’s western region liaison officer, Rhonda Velkovski, said the organisation’s “amazing volunteers” made a big difference in students’ lives.
“We recruit, screen and train skilled volunteers to provide life-changing mentoring or learning support to students in local schools who might struggle to realise their potential, in school and life,” Ms Velkovski said.
EdConnect Australia is looking for new volunteers to help out at Wyndham schools this year.
Details: www.edconnectaustralia.org.au, email edconnect@edconnect.org.au or call 1800 668 550.
