With three school-aged kids and another not far behind, Kate and Maurie Street from Dubbo have put their $100 Creative Kids vouchers to good use.
“Jack and Zoe have been involved in Drama Club Dubbo for the last three years,” Kate said. “This involves a combination of classes such as drama, musical theatre and choral.”
“Programs like drama develop confidence, social skills, and provide an outlet for creativity. For children who are not interested or involved in sport, creative activities are a purposeful and meaningful activity that are inclusive and make each child involved feel valued, promoting positive wellbeing.”
Kate said the added confidence was one of the more particularly satisfying benefits she has noticed from her children participating in their drama classes and it has also had a positive effect in other areas.
“I have seen a growth in confidence in both Jack and Zoe since beginning at Drama Club. Zoe was too shy to participate in the first Drama Club performance she was in. She is now trying out for lead roles. Drama Club makes Jack and Zoe very happy. They are always eager to attend.”
“The growth in confidence has also led to an increase of participation in activities at a school level.”
Kate said she downloaded her children’s Creative Kids vouchers online on the Service NSW website.
“All I needed was my Medicare number. The links were easy to find and the process was relatively simple.”
Parents can use one $100 voucher for every school-age child per year to help meet the cost of structured creative and cultural activities, such as drama and theatre, music lessons, languages, coding, photography and graphic design.
Creative Kids complements the hugely popular Active Kids voucher, which doubled from 1 July, meaning that Creative and Active Kids vouchers combined will save a family with three school-aged children $900 a year.
“This year we have used the Active Kids voucher for three of my children,” Kate added. “Two play soccer and one plays basketball and netball.”
“I think Creative Kids and Active Kids are great initiatives from the NSW Government that encourage alternative options and activities for children, to assist families to reduce the burden of fees associated with extra-curricular activities,” Kate concluded.
Creative Kids and Active Kids are among more than 70 rebates and savings to ease the cost of living. Other initiatives include CTP refunds, Energy Switch and Toll Relief.
