Many people are feeling alone and isolated during these tough times, especially the elderly.
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Moss Vale High School Support Unit (special needs) students though, are doing their part by writing letters to the residents of Harbison Heart and Home.
The students are doing the penpal project as part of their Community Access Subject and the school's special education head teacher Tim Vandervoort said both the residents and students would benefit from the program.
"The aim is to develop friendship skills and to foster connections with the elderly residents of our local aged care facility, in order to reduce the impact of feelings of isolation and to learn about our older generations, their life stories and daily life experiences," Mr Vandervoort said.
"The students are able to share experiences and talk about their own daily lives, school life, their families, their pets, their hobbies, their likes and dislikes, and their hopes for the future with their new penfriends."
Mr Vandervoort explained all of the skills that the students would gain in the process of writing and receiving letters.
"Students are developing specific letter writing skills to get to know their penfriend by asking and answering questions, sharing more about themselves, and using appropriate language," he said.
"They are discovering that unlike texting messaging or emailing, writing letters take a lot of thought and consideration and that a well written letter is really quite an art form."
One of the letters was received by year 7 student Emily's penfriend Eric, who is 97-years-old.
She has a vision impairment, so she has been using braille to get her letters across, with the teachers transcribing the braille so Eric can read it.
"This has been incredible to see a student with vision impairment be able to make a new friend and make connections despite her impairment," Mr Vandervoort said.
The program, which began in term 2, saw students teamed up with a suitable penfriend with similar interests, hobbies or backgrounds and will continue to run for the rest of the year and into the future.
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