In the service of others
By Mrs Louise Wallace-Richards, Acting Deputy Principal, Head of Secondary School
Leading and serving others without the expectation of kudos or thanks is a key tenet of a Radford College education. However, this does not preclude staff from seeking opportunities to highlight the achievements of our students in leadership and community service. One such opportunity arose last term when, with the assistance of other Secondary School staff, I was able to nominate a number of our Year 12 students for the Order of Australia ACT Student Citizens Awards for excellence in student leadership and contributions to service in our community.
The nominees represented only a handful of the many students at the College who lead the student body in various aspects of College life and complete many hours of service for various groups in the Canberra community. This includes assisting Franklin Primary with their reading program, conversations at Calvary Retirement village and assisting with lunches at St John's. The work the nominees have done has been exceptional and it is no surprise that all five nominees will be rewarded for their efforts by the Governor General, Her Excellency the Honourable Ms Sam Mostyn AC, at a ceremony later this month. The successful nominees include:
- Amber Smith and Lachlan Lloyd for Excellence in Leadership and Achievement
- Thomas Liu for Individual Sustained Community Service and Citizenship
- Emma Osborne-Laverty and Emily Passlow for Group Sustained Community Service and Citizenship
These Senior School students serve as an inspiration to all Year 9 and 10 students who are working hard this semester to complete their compulsory community service hours: 10 hours for Year 9 and 20 hours for Year 10. It is our view at Radford College that service hours are a key way in which we help our students in their personal and social formation. The completion of service hours complements our commitment to character development and academic excellence.
The manner in which we approach service enables the College to easily achieve the Australian Curriculum’s required focus on Personal and Social Capabilities. Humanities subjects, such as English and history, and many studies of society and its environment subjects, teach students about the experiences of others to develop empathy. It is by learning through experience, however, that is both powerful and long-lasting in its effects.
Our Director of Service Learning, Ms Kath Notley, is to be applauded for her efforts to provide so many different experiences for our students to engage in service. Read more about it in this week's In the spotlight article.
Year 9 and 10 students who still need to complete their hours of service can refer to Nexus for opportunities. Parents and carers are encouraged to talk to students about what they have learned and to motivate them to explore how their views may have changed as a result of the experience. Given empathy is 'the power to feel and connect with others,' the benefit of service to help our children be better friends and citizens is clear.