Learning through Community Service
  • It is a process of learning through the experience of service.
  • It responds to pedagogical objectives and community needs. It places equal value on both.
  • It is not a social assistance programme. It avoids a patronizing attitude that deepens distances and differences.
  • It reflects the concept that education implies social responsibility.
  • It implies reflection as a permanent process to diagnose needs, establish objectives, plan activities, monitor development, use experiences to analyze and value them, modify perspectives and project other actions for the future.
General objectives of the Community service programme at St George’s College:

It is expected throughout all the educational process from K1 to ES6 that students:

  • Understand and develop the potential they have as human beings through activities of creativity, action and service.
  • Engage in new challenges that allow them to further their abilities.
  • Work with autonomy, independence and responsibility, being always conscious of the ethical implications of their actions.
  • Work in collaboration with other people showing personal initiative and respect for the talents and opinion of others.
  • Acquire knowledge and commitment about themes of global importance under the motto of the IB community Our humanity: a shared reality (poverty in the world, education for all, education for peace, disasters and emergencies, awareness of environmental problems, infectious global diseases.)
  • Think globally but act locally getting involved in helping the members of the local community as part of a social and educational exchange that arises from respect for the dignity of all human beings.
Project, activities and institutions
CAMPAIGN DATE DETAILS
Back to School Campaign March 15th During the first campaign of the year, the whole community donated pencils, erasers, rulers, voligomas, fibers, pens and cash to purchase school kits. All materials will be given to different institutions such as Casa del Niño, Filochicos, Escuela 10 de Quilmes and Hogares de Niño in La Plata.
An event will be organized where students from St George’s College will deliver the kits to students from the beneficiary institutions.
Blood Donation Campaign April 10th In this campaign we will promote the blood donation within our community and raise awareness about this act of love that can save lives. The blood of a single person can help up to 3 people who need it. K3 and EP1 students will make masks to be given to the “heroes” that will come to donate blood. This campaign will be carried out together with the support of the Hematology Department of the Quilmes Hospital, under strict safety and hygiene rules.
Módulos Sanitarios May 10th This campaign raises funds for the building of bathrooms and the purchase of bathroom items, including shower mats, shower curtains, toilet cleaning brushes, towels. The bathrooms will be built by our students and some members of staff will monitor them. A specialised team will be part of this activity too.
Winter Clothes Campaign June 7th The aim of this campaign is to gather clothes such as Jackets, shoes, boots, trousers and sweaters. During this campaign, students will sort out clothes and help people in need. Donations will be given to Filochicos, Casa del Niño and some other institutions.
Funds will be also raised to buy shoes.
Children’s Day Campaign August 9th We collect toys in good condition to BE donateD to different institutions. An event will be organised to give children all the donations.
College students will organize different games for students from other institutions.
Christmas Campaign November 15th During this solidarity action, typical christmas food will be gathered to help those families in need from Casa del Niño, Filochicos, and children homes in La Plata. Also, funds will be raised to repair the buildings of those institutions and buy different tools.
PROJECT EXECUTION GROUPS INVOLVED OBJECTIVES
Service Learning Programme with students of EP5. Every week, all year. 5th year of Prep. Cooperate and create Solidarity Campaigns. -Make handcrafts to collect funds. -Organise and participate in stands with solidarity aims during Founders’ Day. Interact with Filochico’s activities. -Develop subjects and values: solidarity, rights of child, self-esteem, respect, discrimination, violence, bullying, etc.
Audela workshops (Integration of people with special needs) March. CAS groups from ES5 and ES6. Share workshops with blind and deaf people who challenge our prejudices and beliefs over disability and foster dialogue, attentive listening and reflective thinking to acquire new perspectives that leave aside the ignorance, indifference and fear that make social integration impossible.
“Mediapila País” April. Prep and College. Prep and College Assembly Presentation of the young people from Fundación Mediapila País (single mothers, heads of household, who learnt a profession and maintain their families with the shirts the volunteer from Mediapila sell in schools and churches). Sale of t-shirts and sweatshirts over a break.
Educational trip to Mendoza. August. ES 2. Building teaching material according to the Uspallata School’s need. Then we visit and share activities with them.
Workshop “Solidary Hands”. Weekly. Students who participate in weekly workshops in Kinder, Prep and College. In these workshops, students make objects to raise funds and/or to share with children from the Institutions with which we work.
Paper and bottle tops recycling for Casa Garrahan. Whole year. All the sections Coordinator: Green Committee Develop awareness over the importance of looking after paper and that it is possible to recycle what we discard at school. “Paper is not rubbish” is the Casa Garrahan´s campaign motto and the bottle caps are seen as useful objects.

Institutions with which we regularly interact (sharing activities or assigning the campaigns’ donations)

INSTITUTION – PLACE STUDENTS – BENEFACTORS OBSERVATIONS
Filochicos (6 blocks from the School). 90 kids. We share on a weekly basis CAS and recreational activities with students from EP5. Some CAS activities: Activities related to the Red Cross, activities related to the “Green” Area. Creative Arts, reading or sports activities.
Casa del Niño (Students from the Di Pascuo School, inside our campus). 30 teenagers. 180 kids from 5 to 12 years old. We share CAS activities on a weekly basis.
Hogar Evangelina (Located at the entrance of the Sanford) Hogar Eliasen. 60 kids. 30 Senior Citizens. We share CAS activities on a weekly basis.
Hogar Mitre – Dios suplirá /Hermanos libres – Quilmes. 20 kids from 6 to 13 years old (12 girls – 8 boys) Donations.
Escuela Diferencial 501 – Quilmes. 160 kids from 4 to 17 years old. Donations.
Jardín de Infantes Rural Girodias– Buenos Aires province 20 kids Donations.
Jardín de Infantes Nucleados N1 – Uspallata, Cerro 7 colores. Escuela N1- 412 Correo Salinas, Uspallata. Mendoza Province Mendoza once a year to share activities.
Escuela rural “Campo Gallo”– Santiago del Estero Province. 50 kids Donations.
Rural Schools in the North of Argentina: 1. Escuela Nº 389 “Paso de los Andes” – Cacatua, Jujuy. 2. Escuela Nº 1113 “Solidaridad” – Santiago del Estero. 1. 160 kindergarten and Prep kids and 90 College students 2. 80 kids from 3 to 14 years old, kindergarten and Prep. Donations.
Cooperadora Hospital de Quilmes. Donations.