Community+and+Service


 * What does your school do with regards to taking action, working within the community and providing service?**

We have begun to look at the Compass Program (drawn out as a "junior" equivalent of the Duke of Edinburgh program) as an already in place program to help meet the needs of our Middle Years students in this area. This is on top of the on going, student initiated activities that occur each term. Peter (Wesley)


 * Our middle school service coordinator has a long standing program of our students working with Merrylands School for disabled students. Students visit on a rotation basis to help in the classroom and then once a year the Merrylands School comes to MLC for the whole day and have a swim with our students helping them in the water, they then provide a BBQ lunch and play games etc.**
 * Another long standing program is making learning activities for an orphanage in Nepal via the MITRAATA Foundation. We also knit squares for Wrap with Love and make skirts for students in Sri Lanka. Last year, 14 Year 10 students went to work in a highland village in Fiji and 6 worked in a remote village 4 hours out of Chiang Mai in Thailand erecting water tanks. This was organised through Rustic Pathways. If you google MLC Enlightenment you can view the video on youtube they made. (Anne)**

Our students at Wesley St Kilda road campus are involved in a nmber of projects. Student leader discuss a small number of local and international causes to support on a yearly basis. We are involved in supporting a group that supports students "at Risk" to be resources to stay at school (local school). Individual homeroom groups have supported overseas students to complete thier schooling via world vision. We have some students working on campaigns such as "close the Gap" to raise awareness of issues with Aboriginal people across Australia. (Richard B)

//We have the following programs in Xavier School:// //__Grade 6 and 7__ - We bring students to depressed areas (slums) and have them stay there for a day interacting with an assigned family. They are made to do chores. Afterwards, the experience in processed in different subjects.// //__Grade 8__ - We bring students to the National Penitentiary where the students interact with the prisoners. The experience in processed in an overnight recollection in school.// //__Grade 9 and 10__ - Students are broken up into groups of 10-12. Each group chooses a charitable instution or non-government agency they wish to 'serve' for four Saturdays. Our partner institutions include orphanages, daycare centers, homes for the aged, juvenile detention centers, etc. After each Saturday visit, the experience is processed in one period by a teacher-mentor who was with them in the outreach. The students are supposed to come up with a resolution on how they could help the institution given their interaction with them. They are also required to blog/journal about the experience. These may be 'used' in their Christian Living Education classes, too.// //(Jane)//