Contribution by Ms Claudine van Diemen
Starting this school year, Service as Action will be part of the Middle Years Programme at ISD.
Service as Action allows students to take an active part in the community, this can be the ISD community or by helping an organisation outside ISD. We want our students to help make the world a better place and strive to be caring members of the community. The “why” behind Service as Action is important for them to remember. They will learn by DOING and EXPERIENCING and they will learn that they can have a positive impact in their community!
During mentor class and with help of the Service as Action coordinator, students will learn how to plan, reflect and meet the learning outcomes of their activities. Per year level they have a required amount of activities they have to take part in and specific learning outcomes they have to meet. The pinboard in the lounge will have a variety of activities that students can be part of, such as; Clean up Service, Be a Buddy, Homework Help, Voedselbank, Eco Club. We will recommend organisations students can work closely with outside ISD and students are inspired to take initiative themselves to take action. They can organise a campaign to raise awareness of an issue or organise an event. We are open to creative and innovative ideas!
A big thank you to the Eco Club who organised the first Service as Action activity at the beach of Kijkduin. More than 60 students/parents participated in the World Clean-up Day by cleaning rubbish from the beach for two hours. They did a wonderful job and we are very proud that they made such an effort to keep the planet clean! Thank you for all your help!We would like to shares some of the reflections of our students about the Beach Clean Up:
BEFORE the Clean-up (from Laura 3B)
By joining the beach clean-up I hope to benefit the sea life and life on land to reduce plastic waste from going into the ocean. When I have walks with my family and we go to the beach, I keep seeing tons of plastic everywhere! I also want to have fun doing it and work together with my friends. A few times when Helena and I are free we go to a forest/dog park and we pick up plastic to recycle. I want to do the same at Kijkduin.
For Service as Action I want to achieve the following learning outcomes;
- Become more aware of my own strengths and areas for growth.
- Develop international-mindedness through global engagement.
- Work collaboratively with others.
AFTER the Clean-up (from Sara, Lucia, Viola 2B)
Saturday 18th September we cleaned the beach at Kijkduin, because it was World Clean-up day. We used cleanup claws and trash bags from the Eco club to collect all the trash on the beach and in the dunes. We didn’t have enough for everyone, so we had to share and take turns. We participated so that we would get our first Service as Action activity done. We also did it to SAVE THE TURTLES!! We enjoyed the fact that we could help the environment and meet new people.
