A unique intra-community initiative designed to foster friendships and connection among Year 6 students transitioning to high school took place in Narromine last Thursday, September 17, and was a great success.

The Year 6 Connect Day is a fun, interactive team building event for senior students from primary schools in Narromine and Trangie, with the object of helping them build confidence, encouraging new friendships across schools, and creating a sense of community.

Held at the Narromine Sports and Fitness Centre, perfect weather ensured the adjacent Payten Oval was well used for outdoor sports including archery, laser tag, volleyball, hockey, and league tag during the morning, with indoor activities in the sports centre held in the afternoon.

Thanks to the support of local community sponsors including the Rotary Club of Narromine, Narromine CWA, Narromine Junior Jets, Qube Agri, Mortgage Choice, Narromine Christian School and the Narromine Shire Council, the day was free for all 86 Year 6 students who attended.

Participating schools included Narromine Christian School, St Augustine’s Parish School, Narromine Public School, and Trangie Central School. St John’s Parish School, Trangie, was a late withdrawal due to unforeseen circumstances.

Organised locally by the team at Communities for Children Narromine/Narromine Community Skills Project Inc, the day’s activities were managed by Creative Community Concepts.

Coordinator Kyle Myers said the day had emerged from local parents keen to help children from different schools connect before meeting again in high school.

“Three years ago, some parents thought it'd be a good idea to get students from all the schools from the region in Year 6 to come together and learn to play with each other, make new friends, and help that transition into high school a lot easier,” he told Dubbo Photo News.

“Our Creative Community Concepts team are running all of the activities, and we've got some really great helpers in the young leaders from Narromine High School as well, out keeping score, refereeing, and helping our staff,” he added.

Students were divided into teams comprising members from each school to participate in the rotational activities and were encouraged to choose names for their teams. Each team collected points for their activities.

“It's all about having fun, getting out, being active,” Kyle said.

“Matt from the Royal Flying Doctor Service was in earlier and had a good conversation with all the kids about their wellbeing and mental health.

“We know that their mental wellbeing and physical fitness goes hand in hand, so if they've got both of them in check, it's going to help their transition going into Year 6 far easier,” he added.

Communities for Children Narromine spokesperson Sharon Milnes agreed that it takes a village of support to make the Year 6 Connect Day happen and appreciated the local non-profits and businesses that continued to get behind the project and make it free for students to attend.

“Its value to the community is that it breaks down barriers to young people making friendships and improves their mental health for heading off to high school, which is a stressful transition for them,” Sharon explained.

“It’s a great day for all of the students and we'll keep organising them!”