Rockingham mother a children’s champion

A selfless Rockingham mother and teacher nominated for a prestigious State award has emphasised the importance of ensuring every child has a champion.

Sandra Casey was named runner-up in the Barnardos WA Mother of the Year award last Friday after being nominated by her daughter, Rebekah.

The Safety Bay Primary School deputy principal has supported Rebekah through depression and a cancer scare, while playing a prominent role in helping Rockingham’s youth through her job.

Ms Casey said she was “blown away” at making the final two for the award, but said her daughter’s recognition was the most important thing.

“The nomination itself was just amazing — we didn’t think it would go this far,” she said.

“Teenage years are tough and it’s always hard in single-parent families — she had a fair amount of sickness as a teenager and issues.

“I’m not anything special, I’m just a mum who loves her kid.”

Following on from theTelegraph’s supportWAyouth campaign, Ms Casey said that after more than 35 years as a teacher, the prevalence of mental health issues in children resonated with her.

“I’ve experienced mental health issues myself, going through divorce and separation — it’s a case of seeking help and seeing that there is help out there,” she said.

“With today’s society there are a lot of pressures, so teachers are becoming more and more skilled to acknowledge that.”

Ms Casey said putting the message out that it was all right to ask for help was critical.

“Throughout our life we all have our ups and downs — we have got to get the message out (to children) to let them know they are not alone,” she said.

Ms Casey also recalled an example of supporting a young man and giving him one of her name tags as a reminder that he was not alone.

“He needed to know that when you are feeling bad, someone does care about you and someone does love you,” she said.

“He saw me in the Rockingham Shopping Centre about four years ago and came running up to me, a grown man by this stage, and just threw his arms around me.

“He produced the name tag and said: ‘I carry it with me everywhere.’

“Every child deserves a champion — I find it a real privilege to be supportive of kids.”