Insites
Overview
The Value of Service
How we care
The Service Learning program is a starting point for the boys to learn more about themselves while also recognising the needs of others.
Through both school tours and activities within the local community, the Service Learning program provides boys with opportunities to learn and reflect on their role within the broader Australian and global community.
The program boasts a strong sense of practicality and curricular integration. For example, boys in Year 9 have built beds for the youths at the Oasis Youth Shelter home. While in Year 11, every boy gets the opportunity to serve breakfast to the homeless at the Exodus Foundation’s Loaves and Fishes restaurant.
It is my hope that by encouraging our boys to participate in hands-on Service Learning activities, we can help to develop young men who show empathy for their fellow man.
Aims of the program
- Awaken a lasting social conscience and an awareness of the value of service to others amongst Newington boys, parents and staff
- Allow boys to develop a detailed knowledge of the role of charitable organisations in assisting those in need
- Facilitate the development and use of practical skills to assist organisations and individuals in need
- Provide opportunities and support to enable boys to become personally involved in volunteer work for a lifetime of service.
Service at the Preps
At Lindfield K–6 and Stanmore K–6, our younger boys are expected to understand and demonstrate reliability and collaboration, face the consequences of truth and honesty and show active concern for the people and the environment of the College.
As boys grow in maturity they are presented with a more formal program for demonstrating service and leadership which includes:
- social and personal presentation workshops
- leadership programs
- voluntary community outreach and service
Service at the Senior School
All year groups from 7–12 are presented with various opportunities to participate in the Service Learning program at the College.
Service in the Junior Years
In Year 7, boys deliver kitchen garden vegetables grown at Newington to the nearby Loaves and Fishes Restaurant, catering to the homeless of our local community in inner Sydney. Some service opportunities are mandated such as the Year 8 Charity Awareness program usually held in Term 4. In this activity the boys develop an awareness campaign of their House’s charity, by creating presentations using various media including Drama, Music and Computer Graphics.
Service in the Middle Years
It is the College’s expectation that all boys in Years 9 and 10 will organise voluntary, unpaid service work within their local community. We are of course mindful of the time demands already placed on our boys, so it is envisaged that boys will perform a minimum of eight hours, during either Semester 1 or 2. This service work could be performed weekly, fortnightly, or over one or two days during the holiday period. Boys can volunteer their time at a charity organisation or at a local club, church, or environmental group. These opportunities provide valuable hands on experience for our younger boys.
Our future leaders
The Service Learning program plays an important role in the development of our leaders at the College. We hope to establish a clear link between Service and Leadership.
We hope that Newington graduates will carry what they have learned from the program into their future lives, where they can influence family, friends and colleagues to be more aware of their responsibility to those less fortunate than ourselves.