SERVICE LEARNING

Service Learning at AISCT is defined as an approach to teaching and learning that addresses authentic need through active engagement in our local and global communities.

OUR SERVICE LEARNING PRINCIPLES AND CORE VALUES
(based on the AISA Service Learning Handbook)

• Students learn from, and are enriched by, the perspectives of others 
• We have a responsibility to the community in which we live 
• Meaningful service is best achieved through sustained reciprocal partnerships 
• Service has deeper meaning and consequences when integrated into curriculum 
• Meaningful service is achieved through the five stages/standards of Service Learning: 
  1. 1. Investigation
     2. Preparation
     3. Action
     4. Reflection
     5. Demonstration
• Leadership, teamwork, communication, and mutual respect are fundamental for successful service experiences.

SERVICE LEARNING
IN THE CURRICULUM

Every student at AISCT will participate in a form of Service Learning over the course of an academic year.  

ECD
Service Learning is based on the AISCT campus. ECD students work in the gardens and design their outdoor spaces.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Service Learning is embedded in at least one curricular unit of study. Grades 1–5 each determine a local project that aligns with a unit of study.

MIDDLE SCHOOL
Middle School Communitas groups determine a year-long project based on their investigation of potential needs within the local community. Units of learning in Grades 6–8 include many subjects that incorporate a form of service learning, with greater emphasis on advocacy and research.

HiGH SCHOOL
Grades 9–10
Students in Grades 9–10 may choose to join a project with students in Grades 11 or 12. They may also choose to work independently or continue a project they began in Middle School. All Middle School students will reflect on their progress during Communitas ensuring that each student is actively involved in an aspect of service.

Grades 11-12
A graduation requirement is the successful completion of an Impact Project. This project is designed to allow students in Grades 11 and 12 to demonstrate the skills they have developed in their educational journey. Aligned to the school’s mission, students design projects that will impact their world. Work begins in Grade 11 and is completed for presentation in the Senior year.

AFTER-SCHOOL ACTIVITIES

There is a diverse range of activities on offer to suit students’ interests, skills and passions. Students may be involved in ASAs that have a focus on Service.

INNOVATION TERM

Innovation Term takes place during the last 12 days of the school year. A selection of innovation projects are proposed and include a selection that have a focus on Service.

KEY SERVICE LEARNING PARTNERS

These partners align with the school’s mission and safety/security measures and have proved to have sustainable goals.

Miracle Kidz Safe House for abused, abandoned and neglected babies and toddlers is a place where vulnerable children can find safety. A number of the babies either have FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders) and ADHD (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) or they are born to drug addicts.

Thomas Whildschutt Senior Primary School is an under-resourced school in Retreat, Cape Town. AISCT works with Help to run a tutoring program but as an under-resourced school, they have many needs.

Volunteer Wildfire Services (VWS) combats dangerous and sometimes deadly runaway wildfires. AISCT has been a partner with VWS since their rise to prominence during the devastating 1999/2000 Cape Town fire.

Two Oceans Aquarium exhibitions aim to encourage love, respect and understanding of our oceans so that people are motivated to take action for their future well-being and to use marine and other natural resources sustainably. They are also involved in a number of conservation and research programmes.

Goedgedacht Trust was established in 1993 around the donation of the 1704 farm Goedgedacht, some 85km north of Cape Town. The objective of the Trust has been to make a contribution to the transformation of impoverished rural communities by addressing poverty; particularly poverty that affects the lives of rural children and youth. The Trust’s aim is to develop a creative, effective, sustainable and replicable model for community development in rural areas, which offers children and youth safe spaces and opportunities to break out of the cycle of poverty that has trapped their families for generations.

Cape of Good Hope SPCA AISCT has partnered with the SPCA primarily by advocating for animal welfare. Their objective is to serve and protect all animals, to uplift their welfare and to ensure that they are protected under South African Law.

South African Riding for the Disabled Association (SARDA) aims is to provide therapeutic and recreational horse-riding for people living with disabilities so that they might benefit in all aspects of their mental, physical and social lives.