Curran Public School is the little school that roared.
Located in Melaleuca Drive, in the Macquarie Fields public housing estate, it has done what no other NSW public school has – and much more besides.
Late last year its team of 12 Year 5 and 6 students blitzed the competition to win its category in the Future Problem Solvers Australian Championships held in Brisbane.
It was the first time Curran PS had entered a team in this championship.
But the students’ entry was so brilliantly simple even our “innovation” Prime Minister would be proud of them.
The Curran PS team recognised that there was a problem in their area in that some new students were entering the school system without any basic numeracy or reading skills.
Some new students could not even recognise basic numbers and letters.
Once they identified the problem, the 12 students in the team got stuck into producing a solution that has now become embedded into the school culture.
The team even gave itself a slogan – Kids Helping Kids -as it worked through the issue.
With the support of the school, they designed, made and distributed an educational “care package” to parents of children starting in kindergarten, to equip the parents with the skills and resources to help support their child’s early learning.
The package included a number and letter kit.
Winning in Brisbane also meant qualifying for the international Future Problem Solvers Championships, which will take place in Michigan, USA in June.
Principal Michael Strahan says the school, which has been going since 1975, couldn’t be more proud of the students in the team.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“This was all their own work and we are very proud of the entire team,’’ Mr Strahan said.[/social_quote]
However now another challenge confronts the school: raising enough money to help the team of 12 students travel to America.
For most of the team members it will be their very first trip overseas so they even had to get passports.
The Curran Public School community is doing all it can to cover the cost of the trip for the entire team.
However they can’t do this all on their own – the cost of airfares and accommodation is just too prohibitive for the students’ families and the school budget.
They’d would like to see the rest of the Campbelltown community – residents and businesses – come to the party.
After all the students will be representing Campbelltown as well as Australia in Michigan.
One way to help them achieve their goal is by attending a fundraising Ball at Ingleburn RSL on May 7.
♦ EVENT SNAPSHOT
WHAT: Curran PS Future Problem Solvers Fundraising Ball
WHEN: Saturday, May 7, 2016 Time: 6:30pm – 11:30pm
WHERE: Les Kelly Dunkirk Function Room, Ingleburn RSL COST: $85
BOOKINGS: For tickets visit the website link here.
ENQUIRIES: For more information on the school visit their website here.
