This post is sponsored by Woolworths

To get a good understanding of how the Woolworths Earn & Learn program actually benefits schools, I sat down with Nathan Casey, a teacher and the Earn & Learn Coordinator for Narrabeen Lakes Primary School, as it’s one of our local schools and a small community, so I was interested in how the program works for them.

How long have you been coordinating the Earn & Learn program and what does it entail from your end?

I’m pretty new to it. This will be my second year. I have to register the school, set up our box in the office and I know that the Woolworths in Narrabeen also has a box for us. So, coordinating pick up with them as well. There’s a whole heap of sticker sheets in the office so then it’s a case of putting all the stickers on the sheets before we send them off. It’s a good job for some of our students as they will come into the office and complete all the sheets. It keeps them pretty busy!

How does Earn & Learn benefit the school? What sort of resources do you get out of it?

 Lots of new resources, but some of the really great things we got last year, off the top of my head, were a percussion set we could use for classes where the kids were doing music. We got some great maths games we could use for the infants and we got a Lego Builder set that came with a DVD, so the kids can create stories using Lego pieces that came with a backdrop as well. It was really cool and the kids loved it.

When we get our total, we really look at how we can spread it out through the school, as well as what sort of different, quirky things we would really like for the kids.

The other thing Earn & Learn really brings us is community spirit as well. Parents will specifically do their shopping at Woolworths so we can get the stickers, knowing full well they are going towards the school. We are only a small school, but we are really punching above our weight when it comes to collecting stickers. The whole school gets excited and the kids love collecting the stickers and bringing them in.

What do you want to buy this year with your Earn & Learn points?

Well, I’ve had quite a few teachers come to me with their wish lists so the list is getting bigger and bigger and bigger! The whole school is really keeping a keen eye on how much we raise and what we can get. I think we really did get a lot of benefit from the Lego stories starter block sets which were really cool so we might look at getting some more of them. But I also need to try and keep all the staff happy as best I can!

To find out more about Earn & Learn, visit www.woolworths.com.au/earnandlearn