Year 11 Community Service at St Gregory’s Junior School
This year has seen the extension of the St Patrick’s College Community Service Program. The Year 10 Community Service Program has now been extended into Year 11. The Year 11 girls are expected to undertake 15 hours of Community Service, organised by themselves and done in their own time. Following is a report from three Year 11 girls who have already completed their 15 hours of service.
Report by Tayla and Natalie, Year 11 students
During the July school holidays three of us from Year 11 (Natalie W, Tayla D, and Kayla M) took part in the required 15 hours of Community Service by offering our service at St Gregory’s Junior School. We chose to go to St Greg’s Junior school as we felt they would have many jobs available for us to do due to the school being new. The three of us also agreed on this type of Community Service due to our similar interests in working with children. When we first arrived, the staff were very welcoming and flexible about our availability. During this experience, we took part in various activities such as assisting the children with their writing, spelling and colouring in. With Father's Day fast approaching we organised presents for the Father's Day stall. Along with organising the books for the upcoming Book Week, we also assisted with preparations of the Premier’s Reading Challenge, organising all new sporting equipment, and rearranging their temporary sports shed. From day one of volunteering, the staff showed much appreciation for the time and effort we put into each allocated task. We were very grateful for the opportunity to volunteer at the school as each of us girls found the time rewarding and beneficial. This experience gave us a better appreciation for the challenges that staff can be faced with; for example, handling the many tasks, keeping the students engaged in their learning, and ensuring the students are safe. Overall, our attendance at the St Greg’s Junior School was greatly valued by both staff and students which made our experience there much more enjoyable.
Below is an e-mail from a member of the St Gregory’s Junior School staff:
Dear Sue,
I wanted to take a moment to send a note of gratitude to the three Year 11 young ladies that carried out their volunteer hours at St Gregory's Junior School last week during their holidays.
Natalie, Kayla and Tayla were punctual, polite, and worked at double speed! They assisted with a large number of jobs and never stopped. In addition, they did extra hours because they said "you needed more help and we wanted to finish the job we started." They have already organised our whole Father's Day stall gifts! As Junior school teachers we never have enough hands to complete all the fiddly tasks we have. They were an amazing help and we are most grateful. They are welcome back here any time.
Kind Regards
Diana