Yard duty, cooking classes and staff meetings were some of the duties completed by Bulldogs staff and Directors today when they went back to school to be Principal’s for a day.

LeasePlan Western Bulldogs CEO, Campbell Rose, and Board members visited 18 Bulldogs Friendly Primary Schools in the west of Melbourne as part of an Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) program aimed at strengthening the relationship between schools, business and the wider community.

Campbell Rose said the Principal for a day program provided teachers, students and Western Bulldogs representatives with a chance to learn more about each other.

“Through our various community programs, including the Bulldogs Friendly Schools Program, we have been able to successfully engage with students and teachers across the western region, an area known as the Bulldogs backyard,” Mr. Rose said.

“Taking part in this initiative is very important from a Western Bulldogs perspective because it enables us to learn more about schools involved in our programs. It can also help identify similarities between school and club structures that both parties can discuss and learn from.”

His day at Sunshine North Primary School started in the garden, visiting the school’s vegetable patch and collecting chicken eggs with students. After morning tea with staff he moved into the kitchen with Grade 5 and 6 students for a cooking class.

Sunshine North Primary School Principal, Ken Ryan, said having Campbell Rose as Principal for a day helped strengthen his school’s relationship with the club.

“The Western Bulldogs are a very important part of the community and already, through the Bulldogs Friendly Schools Program, they have shown their commitment to our school,” he said.

“Brad Johnson has been our school ambassador this year and he has been brilliant for our students. But to have Campbell come here today and interact with children in the classroom only enhances the reputation the Bulldogs already have at our school.”

“Not only have the children got something out of today, so to have the teachers who were able to meet someone of Campbell’s integrity.”

Bulldogs Director, Dr Susan Alberti, whose visit to Glengala Primary School included yard duty and morning tea with staff, said the day was a great experience.

“I haven’t been back to a primary school since I was a young girl so this has been very special for me. To see the children learning, having fun and talking about their school with such pride is wonderful,” she said.

As part of today’s activities every school was presented with a Western Bulldogs Footy Finals Pack, which encourages staff and students to decorate their school in red, white and blue to show their support for the Bulldogs as they prepare for this year’s AFL Finals Series.

More than 13,000 students from 33 primary schools have taken part in the Bulldogs Friendly Primary Schools Program in 2008. The program is run with the assistance of pre-service teachers from community partner Victoria University and has included visits by members of the Bulldogs playing group throughout the year.