Community and Service
Hand-Made Gifts for Africa
Scotch boys have been knitting for many years and charity groups both locally and overseas have benefited from the endeavour. Year 8 boys in 'Knitwits' accompanied by staff and older boys have produces knitted squares, scarves and 'beanies'. The squares have been sown together into warm blankets for teenage mothers and their babies. These have been distributed by UnitingCare West through their 'Talking Realities' programme. Scarves and beanies have been delivered to an AIDS outreach programme in Moshi, Tanzania where they have been greatly appreciated by patients living on the upper slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro. The latest batch will be delivered by the joint Scotch and Presbyterian Ladies' College group in Tanzania this week.
The group will also deliver beautifully crafted wooden cars and trucks made by Year 10 boys in 'Toolmen' - one of the Friday afternoon service activities. These are fine gifts that will be treasured by the young children of Matipwili village. Packed in the luggage along with these will be painted calico bags together with the little surprises they contain - created by Year 5 boys.
A gift means so much more when it is hand-made with all the time and careful crafting that goes into its creation. The links we have with communities locally and elsewhere in the world are all the stronger for the effort.
Logging Service Completed
For boys in the Senior School, there are a number of ways that service can be logged. Service completed, as part of the Year 10 programme, will be logged automatically at the end of each rotation. Group House service activities are also logged automatically upon completion. Furthermore, staff who organize boys to serve in various co-curricular areas generally facilitate the logging of this service.
However, it is up to boys themselves to ensure that any individual service completed is validated and logged. There are pages in the Student Diary that can be used to record service. These need to be handed in to Mr Cordner for checking and logging. It is important that there are contact details for an adult outside the family who can verify that the service has been completed as stated.
The service is assigned points according to how direct the service has been and the level or responsibility demonstrated, to a maximum of 10 points per hour. Once 400 points has been reached the Awards Committee will consider an application for Colours for Community Service. In order to receive Honours for Community Service, a boy must demonstrate leadership in a service activity and markedly influence his peers in support of the activity.
