SERVICE LEARNING
Service-Learning (S-L) at RGS seeks to nurture
every Rafflesian girl to be a socially responsible
individual through the provision of opportunities to
perform meaningful community service. It is carried
out across the four years and is embedded in the
Character and Leadership Education (CLE) programme.
Through S-L, Rafflesians actively engage in
enhancing the well-being of the local community and
grow to become independent, pro-active learners.
They are equipped and empowered to serve, explore
and act on real community needs. This includes the
Overseas Service-Learning programme for selected
students and civic engagement projects through the
Community Problem Solving programme.
Based on Treffinger's Levels of Service (LoS),
the RGS S-L Programme is designed to provide for the
differing profiles of students. All students will
complete a Community Exploration project by Year 2.
With this foundation, the students can make informed
choices and pursue Community Action projects or
continue with Community Service/ Exploration
projects in Year 3 and 4.
| The
RGS S-L Programme |
|---|
| Year |
Main Activity |
Type of S-L |
LoS1 |
Criteria |
| 1 |
International
Coastal Cleanup |
Community Service |
1 |
Basic volunteerism |
| 2 |
Level wide S-L project
(Class-level)
Some CMPS groups |
Community Exploration |
2 |
Some sustainability, some impact on
community |
| 3-4 |
Self initiated S-L projects,
e.g.Advocacy projects with limited
outreach, CCA S-L |
Community
Exploration |
2-4 |
Some sustainability, some impact on
community
Significant impact to school or
community |
| |
Overseas Service-Learning, Community
Problem Solving Programme(CmPS),
special programmes(Congress,
In-Convo) |
Community Action |
3-4 |
LoS 1 = Don Treffinger Level
of service approach for Talent Development
The Community Problem Solving
Programme (CmPS)
in RGS
The Community Problem Solving Programme is a
differentiated programme for students with a strong
passion for service and who want to understand key
issues in the community and use problem solving
skills to solve real world problems. Working in
teams of about 6-8 members, students identify an
area of concern in a community, explore challenges,
establish an underlying problem, propose an action
plan to solve the problem. They then carry out their
proposed solution and reflect on learning and impact
on the community.
Examples of CmPS projects include, working with
NParks to resolve the problems of the public
feeding of animals in the nature reserve,
releasing of animals into the environment and
improving their quality of living for the
elderly.
CmPS members bringing the elderly for an
excursion to the Botanics Garden as one solution to
address the issue of active ageing in our community.
The
RGS Overseas Service-Learning Programme
RGS's very first Overseas Service-Learning (OSL)
trip took place in Kerala, India in 2004. A group of
30 students and four teachers taught basic
Information Technology (IT) skills to students at a
high school and conducted a reading programme for
children in an orphanage, which they also
refurbished. More OSL trips were planned to other
parts of Asia, such as Kumbalum (India) and Phnom
Penh (Cambodia) from 2005 onwards after reviewing
the benefits of the programme for developing the
character and leadership of the students besides the
impact of meeting the needs of the communities they
served.
The objectives of OSL are two-fold
- to serve the needs of beneficiary
communities overseas in a way that promotes
self-sustainability and positive reciprocity
- to develop character, leadership and other
life-skills of RGS students as they aspire to
meaningfully contribute to improving the lives
of underprivileged youth and their communities
Since 2004, the OSL programme has developed and
initiated projects in Cambodia, Vietnam and the
Philippines together with the assistance of NGOs in
those countries. Students work with NGOs of
identified communities over a sustained three to
five year relationship. With the OSL motto "A Legacy
of Love", past and present OSL members have impacted
over at least 2000 people in needy communities and
live out their school motto, Daughters of A Better
Age.
