May 27th, 2025Just sayin’…

By Donna Kelly

We have two great features in this edition – Education and Volunteers. The first came about because schools told us this is the best time for them to talk about their schools for parents looking to enrol their children. The second because it is Volunteer Week right now.

Looking at the Education Feature is quite enlightening, schools look like very different places to when I was attending. I went to Overport Primary School in Frankston – it’s still going strong – and I think we had about 1000 students.

My first memory was writing my name in cursive and being admonished by the teacher because “we don’t do that yet”.

I loved the library and used to read a couple of books a week. I even wrote to children’s author Ivan Southall once – and he wrote back. I guess it’s where my love of writing came from. When I finished with primary school I headed to Mount Eliza High School.

It had just been built and they were looking for students, so we people from the wrong side of the tracks were accepted. Luckily they had a uniform because there is no way I could have kept up with the clothing allowances of the other girls.

They mostly lived in big houses (I didn’t really know about mortgages then), often with pools (which were nice to share), and very little parental care (which I thought was great).

A friend of mine told me later that she thought my helicopter parents were much better because they were alway asking where I was going and with who. I thought she had hit the jackpot, a bedroom with a door to the outside world which we made great use of to wander at will.

At Mount Eliza I also joined the school magazine’s editorial team. The mag was called Ripple and had a wide variety of features, photos, pictures and writings. I remember a couple of Year 8 boys wanted us to publish their drawing – which would have put the karma sutra to shame.

We said no so they photocopied about 200 copies and dropped them around the school instead. It was all about the notoriety, I guess.

The schools now, though, are all about building resilience, nurturing individual students, connecting to community and of course, the three Rs. It’s a whole new world and one that is really interesting to have an insight into.

Our volunteer feature only just scratches the surface of what happens in this amazing community. But it is indicative of how many people give up their time to help others and create a better world.

Everyone loves the 5000 Club and Kyle and I have had some great meals there – the desserts are the best! And I love that Sandy uses her amazing calligraphy skills to write up the day’s menu.

L2P is another great iniative where volunteers help learner drivers get enough hours to gain their licence. It’s all very well for kids who have parents who are happy, and have the time, to sit next to them for 120 hours but what do you do if your parents are working, maybe don’t have a car, or are looking after other kids?

Friends of Cornish Hill are an amazing bunch. Spending their time to revegetate Crown land, for all to enjoy. And as volunteer Kath Anderson says, there are plenty of different roles for people to take on.

Maybe grant writing? Riding for the Disabled has been going for years and is a heartwarming group of volunteers taking those with a range of disabilities out for a ride on gentle horses. I think anyone who has ridden a horse knows how relaxing and comforting it feels to be gently swaying out in nature. (Except for Kyle, who doesn’t like anything bigger than him.

Finally, who does not love Daylesford Community Op Shop? I have been so many times to shop for theme parties and ChillOut parades, or just to grab a new book, new to me anyway. Hope you enjoy this edition. We did. Love this community. Just sayin’…