St Mary’s students celebrate grandparents and get colourful

By Oliver Shedden

Nov 5, 2024

St Mary’s Echuca students came out in force for the school’s colour run on October 31. Photo: Aidan Briggs Photo by Aidan Briggs

It was a day of celebration at St Mary’s Echuca as students were accompanied by their grandparents and special friends for a morning of activities followed by a fundraising colour run in the afternoon on Thursday, October 31.

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St Mary’s holds its Grandparent’s Day celebrations annually, where the children and school are able to honour and thank the grandparents and special friends for their support.

The special guests were able to do a range of activities with their grandchildren including card making, tea towel decorating, calendar creation, biscuit garnishing and a pampering room where the students could treat them to a shoulder massage.

“Grandparents day is something we do annually, and we like to recognise their support of the students by having them come in and do activities,” said St Mary’s Echuca principal Jasmine Ryan.

The students decorated biscuits with their grandparents. Photo: Oliver Shedden Photo by Oliver Shedden

“Our grandparents are often involved with our school, so to have the opportunity to celebrate them with love is really important.”

Later that same day, the students participated in a colour run to raise money for the school to be able to build a new sensory room for neurodiverse children.

Participation in the event proved to be hugely popular, with an initial fundraising target of $25,000. The current total amount is exceeding $32,000.

Aarav Shaima, Jordan Palmer and Will Bourke were all smiles at the colour run. Photo: Aidan Briggs Photo by Aidan Briggs

“Colour run is separate from our grandparent’s day and is an initiative to build awareness around our neurodiverse children and to fundraise for them to build a new sensory space here.”

“The sensory room isn’t just for our neurodiverse children; it is also for any child who has social and emotional requirements that needs a bit of time out.”

“I think it’s more motivating for the kids and better supported if we do fundraising through fun. We’ve wanted to do a colour run for a long time given that kids like to get dressed up and messy.”