Deputy Principal Mission and Pastoral Care
Service Learning at Santa Sabina
At times my position, which crosses both Mission and Pastoral Care, can prove to be problematic when I am writing a VV article. I am often asking myself ‘Which area should I cover this week?’ However, when writing about service learning and volunteering I do not encounter this problem because this aspect of your child’s education at Santa Sabina is comfortably covered by both Mission and Pastoral Care.
As a Catholic School, we ensure that our students understand the Principles of Catholic Social Teaching through their learning and by providing opportunities for students to authentically live these principles in the opportunities they are offered.
Catholic Social Teaching Principles underpin our Salamanca Service Learning and Social Justice Model. This model proudly embraces the Catholic mission of service to others and states:
- Service learning should be committed to forming young people of love, compassion and justice.
- It should be Gospel-driven because a Gospel-centered life is a response to Christ’s call to live a life of service.
- It should be influenced by the core messages of Luke’s Gospel in particular. The Beatitudes and verses such as that below help to situate students in the knowledge that Christ stood beside the marginalised.
The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.
Luke 4:18-19
- Pope Francis has said ‘We will discover the real joy of the Gospel, when we give it away, giving of ourselves’.
- As a Catholic School we should ensure that we provide service learning within a Catholic context and provide specific faith-based Catholic service learning opportunities.
- The programs should be grounded in Christian values, and prayer should be an integral part of the developmental and reflection process.
There are, of course, also well documented and researched benefits of service and volunteering for our wellbeing. An article published by the University of Sydney, in consultation with their Psychology and Pharmacology Departments, identified five ‘feel good’ benefits of service and volunteering:
- It provides a sense of belonging.
- It can improve your physical health.
- Generosity leads to greater happiness.
- You can lift the mood of the people around you.
- It increases your sense of satisfaction with life.
The Salamanca Model involves students in individual service learning throughout their time at the College. For students in P-4 we love to acknowledge any service children may have been involved in with their families and communities and we offer opportunities at school in a safe and inclusive environment for our younger students to be involved in service learning. At Gioia House we encourage our students to be involved in individual and small group service opportunities and to record these in their e-portfolios as part of their Las Casas Service Record. This prepares our students for Years 7-12 where there is an expectation that all students will be involved in some kind of service or volunteer experience that they will record in their Las Casas Service Record on VO.
Aristotle wrote ‘Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.’ Service learning and volunteer action is central to the vision of mission and pastoral care that we have here at the College.
Melanie van der Meer
Deputy Principal Mission and Pastoral Care