Caring across the ages

By Emma Sun
STUDENTS from Fleetwood Primary School paired up with residents at Villa Maria Aged Care to teach each other valuable skills.
The school’s ‘Learning Through the Ages’ program, which runs throughout the year, gives students a chance to practice their reading and the residents an opportunity to learn how to use the computer.
Program co-ordinator Joy Ogden said the collaboration had great benefits for both parties and has developed in the three years it has been running.
“The students go once a fortnight, we started working with the age care to help them with their manual dexterity and they helped our kids with reading,” she said.
“We found with our students that it helps build tolerance, respect and understanding towards others in the schoolyard.
“It’s actually helped with the dementia patients – we reignited memories by linking craft activities with the crafts of their time.”
She said the residents have been able to keep in constant contact with their families through the computer skills they learned from the kids, such as using Skype and email.
“Some of the families have actually set up Skype with them but they’ve never used them because they were too frightened and our kids broke the barriers,” she said.
“We actually get letters from residents’ families thanking us because they’ve noticed such a change in their parents or grandparents so it’s been a really nice program.”