There was plenty of energy in the Primary Classroom at Hospital School at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital, as Book Buddies Maggie, Cathie and Shauna joined students for a special National Simultaneous Storytime session.

Together, they shared Luna Roo the Kangaroo Baller before leading fun activities inspired by the story, creating a warm and engaging experience for students. It offered simple but meaningful moments to listen, imagine, join in and enjoy a story together.

For children learning in hospital, these opportunities matter. Stories can offer comfort, spark creativity and bring a sense of connection to the school day. They can also provide a welcome distraction and support literacy in ways that feel natural and enjoyable.

A national celebration of reading

National Simultaneous Storytime is held annually in May and is now in its 26th year. The much-loved initiative brings children together across the country to read the same book at the same time, celebrating the value of stories, literacy and shared learning.

Its reach continues to grow. In 2024, more than 2.3 million children took part at over 21,000 locations across Australia, highlighting the important role reading plays in children’s learning and wellbeing.

At Hospital School, this year’s session gave students the chance to be part of that wider national moment while enjoying an experience designed just for them.

Creating brighter moments through reading

For the WCH Foundation, supporting programs that enrich the hospital experience for children and families is central to our work, and Book Buddies is an important part of that commitment.

Through this joint initiative with Hospital School SA, delivered with expertise from members of the Children’s Book Council of South Australia, qualified book readers visit the wards to encourage reading, build literacy skills and provide a positive distraction for patients, creating moments of comfort, connection and joy in hospital.

On International Nurses Day, we’re proud to celebrate a remarkable family whose legacy of nursing spans four generations, almost 80 years of care, compassion and commitment to children and families.

For Michelle Lock, nursing has never just been a profession. It’s a shared family story, passed down from her grandmother to her mother, to herself, and now to her daughter, each generation connected by a deep commitment to caring for others.

That story began with Michelle’s grandmother, Margaret, who started her nursing training at Adelaide Children’s Hospital (now the Women’s and Children’s Hospital) in 1948 and became a registered nurse in 1951. Shortly after qualifying, Margaret travelled to England, backpacking across the UK while working for six months in a paediatric hospital before returning to Adelaide Children’s Hospital in 1954. The values she gained through nursing of resilience, compassion and care, lived on through her family.

Margaret’s daughter, Mary, followed in her footsteps, starting her nursing training on her 18th birthday in 1973. She worked across Joanna, Rose, Fielders and Princess wards and lived in the nurses’ quarters in the Samuel Way Building while she trained. “It was very lush accommodation,” Michelle recalls her mum saying. After leaving Adelaide Children’s Hospital, Mary moved to Sydney to work at the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital before returning to Adelaide to raise her family, with nursing now firmly woven into the family’s identity.

Margaret Hunt (Michelle's grandmother)

Mary Galea (Michelle's mother)

For Michelle, nursing felt like a natural path. She studied nursing at Flinders University from 1998 to 2000, where a clinical placement on Newland Ward confirmed her passion for paediatric care. Those years were busy, Michelle’s daughter, Sarah, was born during her second year of university and spent the first six months of her life accompanying Michelle to classes. Michelle completed her graduate nurse program on the 4th Floor Medical Ward in 2001 and worked there until 2004. In 2023, she returned to the Women’s and Children’s Health Network as Nurse Unit Manager of WCH@Home.

Today, the legacy continues with Sarah, the fourth generation of nurses in the family. Sarah studied nursing at UniSA from 2020 to 2022. A clinical placement on Michael Rice Ward confirmed paediatric nursing was where she belonged. She completed her Transition to Professional Practice Program at Flinders Medical Centre and continued working across paediatric services, including Women’s and Children’s Hospital wards through the Casual Pool. In 2025, Sarah also volunteered as a nurse in a remote community in Africa, an experience she describes as “life changing”.

When Sarah chose nursing, Michelle says she felt immense pride. “I was very proud of her for setting out on what she wanted to achieve. I knew nursing could take her all over the world if she wanted to, and it already has.”

Across four generations, nursing has changed significantly. “Technology, training, skills and scope of practice have advanced enormously,” Michelle reflects. “But what hasn’t changed and should never change is the human touch, compassion, and empathy provided through nursing.”

This International Nurses Day, we celebrate not only the incredible nurses caring for our community today, but family legacies like this one reminding us that care, connection and commitment can truly span generations.

We are proud to share that we have helped fund new engagement boards, equipped at every inpatient bedside across the Women’s and Children’s Health Network.

These boards were thoughtfully co-designed with clinicians, consumers and families. Their purpose is simple yet powerful: to support clearer, more meaningful conversations about each patient’s care and what matters most to them. The boards include dedicated spaces to write messages and questions for staff, note how the patient is feeling and share their daily goals.

Working alongside Aboriginal consumers and staff, a version has also been developed to create culturally safe, respectful and meaningful engagement for Aboriginal patients and families.

By empowering shared decision making, the engagement boards help patients and families feel informed, involved and confident in their care journey, while also acting as an important tool for clinicians to share patient information.

Consumer Advocate Hannah and Registered Nurse Sunny, who were involved in the project.

We’re incredibly grateful to everyone involved in bringing this initiative to life. These small moments of connection and communication can make a profound difference to the wellbeing and experience of families during their hospital stay and we are honoured to help make that impact possible.

The brand-new playground at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital is officially open and families are already making joyful memories in this inclusive and purpose-built space.

Children at the opening celebration explored the playground’s exciting new features, including interactive sensory panels, balance and strength building apparatus, and inclusive play structures such as a wheelchair accessible carousel. Thoughtfully designed with every child in mind, the playground supports the physical, developmental and therapeutic needs of patients and families. 

Adding to the fun on opening day, a face painter and balloon artist delighted children throughout the celebration, creating a festive atmosphere full of laughter and smiles. 

Whether climbing, laughing, or exploring, the opening day highlighted the vital role this playground will play for families at the Hospital. Children undergoing treatment and their siblings have a space to play, recover, and feel like kids again. Parents and carers have a spot to rest, connect, and enjoy small but powerful moments of relief during what can be long and challenging days. 

The redevelopment was made possible thanks to the incredible generosity of donors, supporters, and community partners.  

The WCH Foundation is proud to support projects like this, which enhance the patient experience and support the emotional and social wellbeing of children and their families.

See the opening day and full photo gallery below!

Thank you to our supporters! 

This playground was made possible by the generosity of our community.  

Special thanks to SA Power Networks and the Enerven Employee Foundation, who launched the campaign by pledging to match the first $20,000 raised. We’re also grateful to AHT Electrical, the Australian Football League, and Foodland & the Good 4 Locals Foundation for their support, along with every donor who contributed to making this project a reality.

Thanks to a new radiant overhead heater acquired for the Women’s and Children’s Hospital delivery suite, newborns are now receiving the care and comfort they need from their very first moments.

For newborns, maintaining stable body temperature in the first few hours of life is crucial. Hypothermia in neonates can lead to serious complications and, in some cases, result in unnecessary admissions to the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU), separating babies from their mothers in those critical early bonding moments.

Midwife Jamie Logan explains the importance of the infant warmer, sharing that “neonates who are growth restricted, small for gestational age, or born to diabetic mothers are at a higher risk of becoming hypothermic during the postnatal period.” Having this specialised equipment in the delivery suite means these babies can be continuously monitored during skin-to-skin contact with their parents while also receiving radiant heat if necessary.

Already, they’re seeing results, with a 78% success rate for at-risk newborns who use the warmer avoiding SCBU admission.

“We anticipate that this technology will be invaluable in promoting family-centred care,” says Jamie.

Keeping mothers and babies together from the very beginning supports their bond, reduces stress, and improves outcomes for everyone involved.

A heartfelt thank you to Shannon Fleming, LOT.100, and special guest chefs whose efforts with Collab for a Cause raised almost $70,000, helping make this vital project a reality. Together, we are helping South Australian babies, children and their families thrive from the very beginning.

Two brave buddies found themselves on the same unexpected adventure, landing them both in Newland Ward at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

Spending time in the hospital can be daunting. But for Sunny (left) and Clarry (right), their time on Newland Ward turned into an unexpected experience that showcased the incredible power of friendship during challenging times.

Two separate bike accidents at their local bike trail, saw the boys both treated at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital (WCH). Sunny suffered a ruptured spleen, followed just days later by Clarry who arrived with a serious liver injury from the very same bike jump.

Separated by circumstance but united by friendship, the two boys were soon sharing not only recovery journeys but a hospital room, too. Recovering from serious injuries as a child isn’t just about physical treatment; it’s often just as much about emotional wellbeing. The staff at WCH’s Newland Ward understood this and went above and beyond to ensure that Sunny and Clarry could go through their recovery side by side.

Their families couldn’t be more grateful for the thoughtful care provided not just for the boys’ injuries but for their overall wellbeing.