With the usual aged care cook away for a week and no one readily available to replace them, the Kalkarindji School jumped at the chance to help cook and deliver meals to the residents.

Kalkarindji School Assistant Principal, Brenton Hobart, said it was a great way for the kids to improve their cooking skills, but spend time and care for people in their community.

“We already run a cultural education program that gets the kids out the classroom and into the community, but this is a really great way to help them interact with older and vulnerable community members,” Brenton said.

“Not only are they cooking the food, but they are delivering the meals and having lunch with the residents which is really great.”

He said that for one of the NDIS residents, Bradley, having the kids come through and eat a tasty lunch was invaluable.

“Bradley is a bit of a character about town, and everyone knows and loves him, so it’s been really great having the kids hanging out with him,” Brenton said.

“He [Bradley] hasn’t stopped laughing. It’s a really nice way to bring together young and old.”

Spaghetti Bolognese, Tuna Bake, and Spaghetti Carbonara were some of the meals on the menu this week, with each class getting a turn to cook the meals and deliver them to the residents.

Brenton said that this was definitely a program that could be more than just a once-off.

“I think there’s a lot of value in this, so we’re definitely thinking about how we can turn it into something that can happen once a term or every few weeks.

“We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”