Member for Orange Phil Donato (left) caught up with Healthy Harold and the Mayor of Parkes Cr Ken Keith at Parliament last week. The Parkes Mayor has been a long-time supporter and board member of Life Education NSW. (Photo: Phil Donato Facebook page)
All kinds of visitors turn up at the NSW Parliament House, but it is not every day that a giraffe takes centre stage.
The nation’s favourite giraffe, Healthy Harold, visited Parliament House last week to provide an update on the important health and safety messages he is sharing with hundreds of thousands of students across NSW.
Minister for Education and Early Learning, Sarah Mitchell met with the famous Life Education mascot about the organisation’s new online program providing students with the tools to recognise, react and report inappropriate online behavior and content.
The Minister said kids were spending more and more time online, and teaching them how to stay safe and be responsible and respectful online was increasingly important.
“Life Education undertake really important work to help students to make safe, heathy choices throughout their life and I am pleased to see they are also taking their program online,” she said.
“I am proud to be a Life Education Ambassador and have fond memories of participating in the Healthy Harold program when I was at school.”
Life Education NSW CEO Jonathon Peatfield said more than 250,000 students throughout NSW were set to benefit from the Life Education program this year, thanks to the new delivery methods.
“Supporting teachers and schools to help educate students on these difficult contemporary issues is so important,” he said.
Healthy Harold and the Life Education team visit more than 1,500 primary, preschool and secondary schools across NSW, delivering important programs which give children the crucial skills needed to make safer and healthier choices for life.