FIRST AID COURSE AT WERRINGTON

Community Junction Werrington held their first TAFE outreach First Aid Certificate course last term.  The group had lots of fun while they learnt some vital skills that will help in the home and future employment. 

Participants enjoyed the experience so much they have expressed interest in future courses and have organised a reunion lunch amongst themselves.

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

‘Challenge Accepted’ term 1 at St Clair Youth Space has been a full 6 weeks of funny, memorable and disgusting challenges that have really tested everyone involved and made us laugh! Eating  challenges, smoothie challenges and battles of endurance with the stack up, stack down cup     challenge. There was something for everyone.

Coming in term 2 is our newest program for St Clair Youth Space called ‘Wednesday Wonderland’ where young people will enjoy imaginative activities, a movie night and more laughter. Contact our Youth Worker Monique for more information on 9834 2708 or email monique@communityjunction.org.au

MAGNETIC PLACES – BERANGA (we belong – Darug Language)

Beranga, set in North St Marys, involved 13 young people getting together to create works of art which included visual and digital media. 

Community Junction Inc. partnering with Daisy and Thomas from Curiousworks (a media company) have focused on young people getting to know each other while learning various other aspects of digital media. 

One week involved learning and experimenting how a camera works by creating mock interviews and filming themselves. They also learnt film terms for different types of photography and filming shots. The final weeks of the project saw young people inspired by Uncle Wes a local Indigenous Elder storyteller passing down stories about events in his life and encouraging young people to do the same with their lives and culture whilst celebrating the history and culture of their community.

CHILDREN’S SERVICES

North St Marys Children’s Centre had a positive spring into the year with a variety of child initiated, celebratory, and community experiences!

OOSH and Preschool services joined together to celebrate awareness and raise funds for Harmony Day and Go Blue for Autism. These were widely celebrated events where children engaged in a broad range of inclusive experiences that addressed our celebration of all children and families within our service. 

In early April the Children’s Centre was lucky enough to have United Way volunteers and North St Marys community members provide a ‘Makeover Event’ where our service was granted a new mud kitchen, mulch garden, self-watering and composting vegetable garden, painted tyres and chalk boards, timber decking around our centre, a yard pole and some indoor painting! We are overwhelmed with excitement for the positive and sustainable experiences that this makeover will provide for the children within our service and community. 

What a great term for relationships, professional and team building with the Children’s Centre!

PAINT PENRITH REaD BLACK AND YELLOW

Together with Paint Penrith REaD, Rooby Roo is about to Paint Penrith REaD Black and Yellow.

Rooby is getting a new vest made to be seen out in our Koori community. Maryanne Wallace the Aboriginal Educational Officer at St Marys North Public School and her Aboriginal students have been hard at work creating many different designs that will be put onto Rooby’s new Koori vest. 

Students ranged in age from Year 1 right through to Year 6. Maureen Silleri, Community Junction’s      Indigenous Community Connections Worker said “It was an interesting project to be a part of and the kids have been super great.”

Community Junction Inc. would like to thank Penrith City Council’s 2016 Community Assistance Program (CAP) for funding received for this project.

NATIONAL SENIORS WEEK

Community Junction Inc. celebrated the launch of Seniors Week at the Mondo on Friday 3^rd March in partnership with Penrith City Council. We held an interactive game of Connect 4.         

We also held our annual event at Erskine Park Community Hall with services such as Leep, Nepean Food Services and Ken Stretton taking part in our Speed Info Sharing segment.  Erskine Park Children Centre and Erskine Park High School did a great job with entertainment and catering. We would like to thank NSW Seniors grant for supporting our event.

'OUR SPACE’ ART PROGRAM

‘Our Space’ Art Program was designed to create a space of  belonging, creating the feeling of being part of the community and a way to express who young people are by painting something that represents themselves.

It was interesting watching young people get involved in various stages of the program such as sketching, canvas painting and painting on records. The program surprisingly meant so much more to some, using art as a way of coping while others simply enjoyed creating art in a supportive         environment. One highlight was using spray cans to create art on records.

The young people had an awesome time during their celebration day where they celebrated and shared their achievements with each other.

CLEAN UP AUSTRALIA DAY

After putting the call out on Facebook, Werrington residents chose Werrington Lakes to receive this year’s clean up for our ‘Clean Up Australia Day’ event.

Cambridge Park High School students and Richardson & Wrench Real Estate Werrington County and

Jordan Springs answered our call for help immediately and were a major contributor to the success of the event. In total we collected 5 full bags of general waste and 4 bags of recyclable material that would have ended up on the lake instead of in the bin which was great to see!

ZEST AWARDS

Team Colyton is a group of like-minded residents, organisations, schools, businesses and Penrith City Council working together to create change and make Colyton a better place. Team Colyton have been busy over the past year since the team was established and were happily surprised to have been nominated for the “Out of the Box” category for The Zest Awards 2017. 

Team Colyton attended the Zest Awards 2017 on February 22^nd at ANZ Stadium which was a great night filled with inspiring people from Western Sydney sharing their stories. Team Colyton walked away with the Highly Commended award for “Out of the Box” category – a proud moment for the Colyton community!

If you would like to know more about the work Team Colyton do or be a part of it, please contact TeRina on 9188 9065 or check out YourSayPenrith.com.au/Colyton