Stevensville Primary School community hub co-ordinator Mei A-Yen Hsin says about 70 per cent of migrant children who begin their education at the St Albans primary school don’t know how to hold a pen.
Rarely do their parents have a firm grasp of the English language, and rarer still do they play sport or exercise regularly – and it’s all linked, she says.
“The health indicators for Brimbank are very poor,” she said. “We have high levels of diabetes and unemployment, and poor mental health indicators. Regular physical activity helps with all of this.”
The school has been given $4500 from the Brimbank Community Fund, an arm of the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation, to introduce sport and exercise into the lives of pupils and their families.
Australian health promotion charity Bluearth will run play groups at the school for pupils and their parents that will build co-ordination skills and provide education about the importance of physical activity.
Stevensville Primary was awarded one of two new grants from the Brimbank Community Fund, which was established in 2009 to support Brimbank’s most vulnerable residents, with a particular emphasis on helping young people.
Sunshine’s The Youth Junction also received $4500, to run a sports program on Friday evenings for young people aged between 16 and 25.
