Service to the community is embedded in our culture. We believe service is fundamental to making positive changes for individuals, groups, communities and society as a whole. This forms part of our contemporary understanding of leadership.
Introducing and building service learning
Service learning begins with an understanding that you should care for and support others. For our youngest students at Grimwade House, these lessons begin in the classroom through simple practices such as nominating ‘Helping Hands’ (class leaders) each week, building an understanding that helping others makes the classroom a better place.
As Grimwade House students get older, their span of impact increases with children interacting across year levels in support of particular programs and initiatives. They also become involved in fundraising efforts to support communities in need.
All these actions are focused on instilling an understanding that gratitude and service to the community matters now and in the future.
In Years 7 and 8, Wadhurst students continue these models of service through an expectation of making a positive contribution inside and outside the classroom. They expand their remit to focus on supporting community initiatives including ‘Crop a Kid’ Day, Eat Up Australia and Mission to Run.
Our Values in Action program
Our Senior School Values in Action program further informs our paradigm of service. This program enables students to work with, and learn from, the communities in which they live.
Students undertake service activities that often reflect their area of interest. Along with awareness and fundraising activities, students engage in direct community service including:
- weekly tutoring with The Smith Family
- the Prahran Mission Winter Breakfast program
- recreation with Benetas aged care
- support for families at Ronald McDonald House.
Involvement with local organisations allows students to meaningfully connect with their community, appreciate the challenges others face and learn how to offer support through volunteering, knowledge sharing and other activities that go beyond financial contribution.
We offer also interstate and international programs alongside our Melbourne-based activities. These are opportunities for students to expand their knowledge of national and global issues and consider sustainable support and cultural exchange. Current programs include:
- engaging in cultural exchange with Indigenous communities in Cape York
- working with the Fred Hollows Foundation in Vietnam.