Learning through Service is an important part of being a student at Swan Valley Anglican Community School. Students from all year groups in Primary and Secondary have the chance to be involved in a wide variety of service opportunities.
Service Learning is a collaborative relationship between the community and the classroom that equally prioritises Student Learning and Service. It focuses on activities where both the recipient and the provider are the primary intended beneficiaries of the activity. This differs from Community Service where the recipient benefits, but there is no intentional learning for the provider.
Students at our School are encouraged to make meaningful connections between what they are studying and the consequential applications to the community. This achieved through guided reflective writing and classroom discussions.
Some of the Service Learning activities that our students are regularly contribute to include:
Community Appeals
- SVACS Winter Appeal aims to support and care for our local community. Donations are distributed to local Food Relief Centres that aid people in the Ellenbrook and Midland regions.
- Christmas Giving Program encourages students to “Put Faith into Action” by demonstrating compassion. Staff and students create Christmas hampers for families in the Ellenbrook and Midland regions that are distributed by the Ellenbrook Food Pantry and the Anglican Parishes of Swan and Midland.
Giving In Faith To Serve (GIFTS)
Giving In Faith To Serve (GIFTS) is a Primary School Service Learning Program. The aim is to explore the concept that “Empathy comes from making a connection that can grow”. By seeking to support members of local and regional communities, students learn to understand the importance of selfless giving.
- Inspirational Presentations: Volunteers representing organisations (including St John’s Ambulance, Bullsbrook Volunteer Fire Brigade, West Swan Volunteer Fire Brigade, the Salvation Army, and Anglicare) share their lived experiences with students, with a focus on the importance of serving others.
- Community Engagement: Students engage with residents from a local retirement village, enjoying board games, Afternoon Tea, and sharing memories together.
- Service Opportunities: Students participate in various service opportunities, including:
- Environmental initiatives (eg: beach cleaning at Hillarys).
- Organising a stationery drive for a remote Aboriginal School in Warum (Turkey Creek).
- Preparing Christmas cards with messages of hope and encouragement.
School Service
Secondary Students complete School Service hours by undertaking different activities around the campus, such as:
- Library – book covering, cataloguing
- Café – meal preparation
- Drama – costume management and resources
- Art and Hospitality – resources support and organisation
- Student Services – assisting with Lost Property, administrative support
- Music – resource management
- Primary Classrooms – support with resources, reading and other activities
Anglicare Ambassadors
The Anglicare Ambassador Program is a joint project between Anglican Schools in Western Australia and Anglicare WA.
Anglicare School Sleep Out: Each year students from Ambassador schools swap their school bags for a sleeping bag and sleep out at Optus Stadium for young Western Australians experiencing homelessness. While sleeping out, students learn more about the causes and complicating factors of homelessness and what they can do to help. All funds raised go to the Anglicare Street Connect service that works with young people on the streets of Perth to help them get their lives back on track.
