Colour for Awareness Event 2022

The Year 11 VCAL students were very excited to run their major project for 2022 as a Colour for Awareness event with the aim of raising awareness and funds regarding people living with a disability. The students worked with organisations such as SCOPE, Bell Park Dragons and Parallel Sports to build their knowledge and understanding of disability and the impacts of different impairments on living life. They explored areas like discrimination, equity and issues specific to people living with a disability. Through these learning opportunities our students became more open and aware of language choices, preconceived ideas they were carrying and the biggest learning of all was to see the person first.

Naturally we felt that the information we had explored could be shared and the Year 11’s designed an interactive lesson with all Year 7 students, followed by the Colour Awareness Event. The event began with a zoom session with our very own Sam McIntosh. Sam is an old Ignatian and paralympian, who offered some insight into his day to day life for our students, as well as his experiences as an athlete. We then headed outside for a variety of challenges run by the VCAL students, and of course the coloured powder. We were so lucky that the weather was great, students were enthusiastic and the activities were well run by the VCAL students.

We are grateful to the support of Cricket Victoria for their sponsorship, the willingness of the Year 7’s to participate and from all the staff who assisted not only on the day but also in the lead up to the event. Overall we raised over $500 to donate to local charities who support people living with disabilities, and hopefully even more importantly we have our students remembering to see the person first.