It’s hard to say who has look forward to the visits more – Toosey Aged and Community care residents or the Longford Primary School students who have most weeks been visiting to read books, draw pictures and on Tuesday, sing Christmas carols.
The enthusiastic group turned up in Santa hats and reindeer antlers, with a posy of flowers picked from the school garden.
Since mid last term the initiative, partially funded by a Hydro Community Grant, has taught far more than reading skills.
According to school chaplain Alison Morgan, the chance to connect with another generation, to share stories about their families and interests and to learn about aged care has been a real life education.
“There’s been laughter, and tears, as we lost one of our favourite listeners, but the rewards and learnings have been immeasurable,” she said.
On their last visit for the year students were presented with handcrafted gifts from Bobby Colgrave, Maureen Bayles and Joyce Shaw, who revelled in having the carollers sing two of their favourites.
They also received two beautiful books for the school library which were about young people and their interactions with older people.