Year 3 students had a visit from Camp Quality and their puppeteer team at the end of last term. Camp Quality are an organisation that supports kids and families who have suffered with cancer.
The team presented a show centred on the story of puppets ‘Ariel’ and her brother ‘Tom’, telling some of their family journey throughout Ariel’s cancer diagnosis and treatment. They thoughtfully navigated information about why cancer patients might look different, what chemotherapy is and isn’t, what type of side effects patients might experience, and the process of operations, hospital stays, and recovery. At the beginning of the presentation, students were asked to raise their hand if they thought they could ‘catch’ cancer by getting close to a cancer sufferer. An overwhelming majority shot up their hand. Importantly, when the same question was asked at the end of the presentation, not one hand went up as students now knew there was no such thing as cancer germs.
The visit aimed to address the many layers of effect that cancer has on sufferers and their families, and to teach students how they can be a supportive friend or family member to someone who is unwell.
