On Tuesday 28 March CatholicCare Victoria and St Anthony’s of Padua’s Primary School launched the Nourish and Flourish program at the school. This program was possible thanks to community stakeholders and sponsors including; Woolworths Opalia, Baker's Delight, Freddy's Fruit, Bunnings Warehouse, Western Health, Melton Council and Mary MacKillop Foundation.
With the goal to build thriving communities and disrupt disadvantage for local families in Melton South, the program offers three wellbeing programs – one being the breakfast club which offers all students with a free meal in the morning, to enable opportunities for social connection and to support mental and physical development.
Over 700 attendees including students, teachers, parents, volunteers and community funding partners gathered at the school hall, where the program operates from.
The incredible Year 6 Student Leadership team hosted the launch event and included a beautiful performance by the school choir, speeches by Damien Schuster, School Principal and Agnes Sheehan, CatholicCare Victoria CEO.
“It has been estimated that one in five Victorian children arrive at school hungry, affecting their ability to learn and do their best. St Anthony’s Primary School’s wellbeing team had also observed that there were children regularly starting their school day without breakfast, and so this idea evolved into the Nourish and Flourish program,”
Agnes said during her speech.
Nourish and Flourish was born from a parent-led idea in 2019, where nine families participated in a co-design workshop with CatholicCare Victoria to discover opportunities to support children and families, particularly families doing it tough.
The breakfast club is now hosting about 260 children each day, twice a week, and the program runs parallel sessions of aerobics and sport to encourage student wellbeing.
A café cooking program has also been developed by the school as part of the Nourish and Flourish program, as well as a soon-to-be community garden.
The ribbon cutting ceremony concluded the launch event and the students erupted in a cheer when the ribbon was officially cut by Damien, Fr. Fabien and Agnes.
Gaya K | Communications Officer – External Lead