The below article has been written by Ashton Meadows, Service Manager at Busy Bees at Cameron Park Preston.
We began planning and contacted our community members to see if they would join us, we secured Cameron Park RFS and Vesta Kids DJ. We also wanted to promote the night to our community so the Researchers went on an excursion placing pamphlets in our neighbour’s letter boxes advertising our disco night.
While on our walk, Eloise stated “I can’t wait for the dance party.”
To ensure everyone knew about our event the Collaborators decided to make a sign to place at the front of the Service, they used paint first to create different images. While the children worked many discussions were had about their paintings and the fires.
“What colour is the fire now?” Georgia asked Gwen.
Gwen replied “I think this fire is a little one so it’s yellow.”
Georgia added “It’s because the rain is here today, that makes the fires little.”
Before long the night was here, the carpark was decorated and the music was turned up. DJ Nathan kept the children engaged as he played the latest songs (Baby Shark of course) as well as played dancing games and let the children have a turn at being a DJ themselves. The children and families were busy eating and dancing when all of a sudden there were sirens coming down the hill! Cameron Park RFS had arrived and they allowed the children to explore the fire engine, gave out fire helmets for the children and mingled and chatted with our families.
It was a wonderful night and many donations were made, we were so blown away to discover that together we had raised $525. These donations will be donated across three different charities, Cameron Park RFS, Red Cross Bushfire Appeal and Aussie Ark Wildlife Fund.
Organising these events in collaboration with the children allows us to instill positive community values and a sense of empathy and care for others. This links with Outcome 2 of the Early Years Learning Framework.
