JS News: 2 Nov 22
By Tracey Markovic, Assistant Head of Junior School Operations
Late in Term 3, Bruce and Denise Morcombe from the Morcombe Foundation visited Radford College and spoke with our Year 5 and 6 classes about child safety and the importance of every child having a ‘safety network’.
Bruce and Denise Morcombe’s son, Daniel, went missing in 2003 while waiting to catch a bus to go Christmas shopping. Not long after Daniel went missing, the Morcombe Foundation was established with the main goal of “seeing a future where all children and young people are provided with education, protection and support to be safe from abuse and risk of harm.”
After discussing what students had learned about safety networks in more depth in our Year 5/6 Round Square co-curricular, students decided they wanted to act. They wanted to ensure that every student in the Junior School knew who they could talk to if they needed help. This is where the initial idea of being part of Day for Daniel started.
One of the IDEALS of Round Square is Leadership. The Round Square students believed that by working together they could plan a whole Junior School event to help raise awareness regarding child safety.
Round Square describes leadership as the following: "Students are offered opportunities to explore leadership concepts, identify role models and develop and rehearse a range of leadership skills in a supportive environment both inside and beyond the classroom.
"Through defining and promoting a Spirit of Leadership, Round Square schools empower students to actively engage in developing strategy, solving problems, and leading teams, ultimately understanding their potential to be current and future leaders, and the responsibility that comes with that role."
Students were keen to take the lead and, with the support of Round Square staff, commenced their journey in planning the Junior School’s first Day for Daniel.
Planning took place each Thursday morning at Round Square meetings, where students met and worked together to ensure everything was organised.
"Initially, we decided we wanted to organise and plan the event," said students. "We created a schedule and list of all the jobs we needed to do. We allocated jobs and roles to everyone. We worked together with people in our team.
"To do this, we needed good teamwork. We had to listen to our team members’ ideas and accept that our ideas may not be the only ones. We had to respect our group members. We had to be flexible and open to changes. We had to meet deadlines."
Upon reflecting on the process of planning, students had the following to share about how leadership was integral to organising the day: "There were many ways we showed leadership when planning. Part of our role was talking to all the JS students about Day for Daniel. It was tricky at times - they asked a lot of questions! We showed leadership skills when we created our posters, the video and script for Celebration, and writing the Nexus posts for parents and teachers. We even provided resources to teachers that they could use with their classes."
On Friday, 28 October, students and staff embraced the Junior School’s first Day for Daniel and came along to support in a way they could. Playgrounds and classrooms were filled with a sea of red and denim. These clothes are significant as they are similar to the last clothing Daniel was seen wearing before he disappeared. Throughout the day, students across the Junior School discussed child safety and the steps they could take to keep safe in various situations. Every student created a ‘safety network’ of people they could talk to if they needed help. Students also brought in a donation that will be sent to the Morcombe Foundation.
If you would like to find out more about Daniel or the Morcombe Foundation, please click here.