Grade 11 and 12 Local Service

Service is an essential element of the IB Diploma programme and a prominent thread in the UWCSEA Guiding Statements (‘take responsibility for shaping a better world … be compassionate … embrace challenge … help other people’). Local Service – unlike College Service – allows you to interact with disadvantaged members of the local community: the elderly, the sick, the mentally ill, people with physical or intellectual disabilities, victims of employer abuse or children from families under stress. Planning and evaluating activities for this kind of service, and reflecting on your personal growth as you face new challenges, should enable you to achieve many of the CAS ‘learning outcomes’. Consequently, all Grade 11 students are expected to do local service for a full school year. (Service is not manadatory in Grade 12, but we do our best to support students who are keen to be involved.)

This website describes the Local Service activities being offered this year. They are many and varied. Please study the descriptions carefully and talk to the service leaders or Frankie Meehan (Head of High School Service) if you would like further information. Although it makes sense to use any special talents that you have, please be aware that sign-up operates on a first-come, first-served basis and you may need to compromise. In any case, working outside your “comfort zone”is an opportunity to show resilience, one of the qualities in our UWCSEA Profile!

Click here to read the 2016 CAS Handbook (google doc)

Read the sections below for further guidance.

Expectations

When you join a service, you are making a commitment that involves various responsibilities. Merely turning up is not sufficient. You need to be thoughtful and strive to give your best for the benefit of the people you are meant to be serving. Your responsibilities include the following:

1. Plan your service and activities for the whole year to avoid potential clashes (and consult the relevant coordinators or leaders promptly if an unforeseen clash should occur);
2. Attend your service weekly throughout Grade 11 (with the exception of Project Week and Internal Examinations week);
3. Always inform the service leader promptly and submit relevant evidence (e.g. a medical certificate) if you must miss your service;
4. Be punctual in arriving for the service bus if going off campus (buses leave at 3:10 sharp) or the start of the service if it takes place on campus;
5. Learn about the organization and individuals with whom you do service in order to in order to respond appropriately to their needs and interests;
6. Plan and implement relevant activities with as much energy, initiative and creativity as possible;
7. Reflect on what you are learning as you do the service, contribute positively to discussions with your service group and write regular CAS reflections.

Attendance

It is important to understand that your attendance must be excellent. In practice, this means a minimum of 85% attendance (not excluding illnesses). Poor attendance may jeopardise your graduation and delay your IB Diploma. As a result, you must seek extra opportunities to make up for any shortfall, for example by attending a similar service on a different day or doing ‘make up’ sessions in Grade 12.

Attendance at local service takes priority over all other activities, so you must arrange medical appointments, music examinations, immigration department visits etc. for other days. If your absence cannot be avoided, you must inform your service leader as soon as possible and present relevant evidence. Please note that students taking part in a drama production or similar performance are only entitled to miss service for one technical or dress rehearsal.

Choosing a Service (including tips for a fact finding visit)

Week 1: Do some research 

Check out the poster displays in the tent plaza. Read through the online service descriptions. Speak to service leaders or see Frankie Meehan (Head of High School Service) in the Service Office. Consider doing a service where you think you will be useful because of particular skills or qualities you possess. For example, if you can speak Chinese, Malay or Tamil, you would be a great asset to any service in a home or hospital for the elderly. But think, too, about the CAS requirement to ‘undertake challenges’, ‘develop new skills’, ‘show commitment and perseverance’ and ‘consider the ethics of choices and actions’. Avoid the ‘easy’ options and you will learn more.

Week 2: Sign up for a service

Sign-up opens on Friday 19 August and closes on Wednesday 24 August. The High School sign-up works on a first-come, first-served basis. Therefore, if you are sure about the day you are available and the service you want to do, sign up quickly.

Using your student login, access the student portal via www.uwcsea.edu.sg. Go to the Activities and Service link under Key Info in the menu at the bottom of the screen. You can preview all the services by clicking on Overview of Activities. As soon as you are ready to select a service, click on the My Activities and Services link on the menu located on the left. The rest should be clear. Make sure that you are free all year for the day you are selecting—check sports, MUN, music ensembles etc in order to avoid potential clashes. Tick the "I have read and understood the level of commitment required for Activities & Services" box. Click on the ‘Submit’ button. If no red error messages are shown, click ‘Confirm.’ Once you have done that, you should see a message informing you of your success. If you are unsuccessful, keep selecting. 

Once a service is fully subscribed, it will not be available to select. There is also a gender balance that might exclude you—this is to avoid services with 100% girls or boys. 

There is no guarantee that you will get your preferred option; some services are inevitably more popular than others. Please contribute fully wherever you find yourself. And remember that a more challenging service provides many opportunities to achieve your CAS learning outcomes.

Please see Frankie Meehan (Head of HS Service) immediately if there is a problem with your service selection.

Week 3: Attend Service Training on Thursday 1 September

There is a compulsory meeting for all Grade 11 and Grade 9/10FIB students 3.10-4.30pm on 1 September. Venues will be announced nearer the date. Many groups will be briefed by a representative of one of the organisations we work with. At the very least, you will meet with your service leader and have a chance to ask questions.

Week 4: Start your service

Get organised! Know where you should go after the 3.00pm bell on your first Service day and go there promptly. If you are unsure, then contact your service leader in advance or ask in the Service office. Service buses line up in the road outside the Bus Bay. Mr Singh and colleagues from the bus company will be at the zebra crossing to direct you to the relevant bus. (Know the name and location of your service. For example, if it is a Beyond service, you must specify Cantonment, Da Qiao, Lakeside, Qifa or wherever.)

If a group (e.g., MINDS clients or local schoolchildren) is coming onto our campus, it is essential to meet them promptly. It can be quite unsettling for them to have hundreds of students milling past. As the weeks pass, you will become the hero who rescues them from the hubbub.

Your first visit to a service may be a ‘fact finding’ one. In other words, an opportunity to learn more about the organisation, the venue, the people with whom you will be doing service, and what the organisation expects from you. You may find the questions below useful for gathering information.

Possible questions for a ‘Fact Finding’ visit

Talk to at least one ‘client’/patient/resident/pupil.  If they are unable to speak, try to interact in other ways. What behaviour do you observe?  What do you think the person is thinking and feeling?  How do you feel?  What have you learnt?

• What’s your name? (Does it have a meaning? How do you write it? What should I call you?)
• How old are you?
• Where were you born?  (Has it changed much?)
• Your favourite group?  Programme?  Team?  Colour?
• Who is/was your hero, and why?  
• Any pets?  What kind?  Name?  Easy to look after?
• Your favourite food?  Can you cook?  (Go on, teach me!  What ingredients do I need, how should I cook them?)
• What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten? 
• What's the best place in Singapore to ...........?
• What do you like and dislike about being here?
• What activities do enjoy doing?  What do you wish you could do?

Talk to someone who works at the organisation.

• What’s your name? (How should I address you?)  And your job?
• How long has the organisation existed?
• What are its aims?
• Who does it serve?  (Ages, gender/s, income group, geographical area, religion etc)
• How is the organisation funded?  (Do the ‘clients’ pay?)
• How do ‘clients’ get placed here?
• Do other groups or individuals do service here?  (How often?)
• Is there a programme of regular activities (e.g. physical therapy, games, visits)?  What happens? Who organises it?
• What do you think we could do to help you? 
• What should we remember not to do?  (Please let us know if we get something wrong!)

Afterwards, write honest responses to the following questions:

• What did you learn that you did not know before? What surprised you?
• This was just a first visit, so you still have a lot to learn. However, what needs do the ‘clients’/patients/residents/pupils appear to have?
• How do you think you and your group can be useful on future visits? What planning do you need to do?

Reflections

There is a lot of research evidence that reflection deepens our learning and prepares us for similar situations in the future. This idea can be summarised as follows:

ACTION ----> REFLECTION ----> LEARNING

You are required to reflect in order to demonstrate that you are achieving the seven CAS ‘learning outcomes’. Please do not think of this as a writing chore. Reflection begins in your brain, but it can be greatly aided by conversations or debates with fellow students, your service leader, your parents and others. It may involve some reading or online research. Whatever writing you finally do is just a record of the thinking and exploration you have gone through.

In order to grow as an individual and become the kind of person described in the UWCSEA Profile, you need to reflect in a truthful, questioning way. Furthermore, if you care about the people you work with and the problems that your service aims to resolve, then you need to reflect in order to learn from any mistakes and find ways to plan more effectively. 

Please be aware, also, that your service leader is required to evaluate your Service experience. He/She will need to comment on your attendance, planning, initiative, contribution and general effort. Obviously you cannot score highly on these criteria if you take a back seat!

Resources

We have a large stock of resources in the Service office – suitable for ages 3 to 103! These include games, jigsaws, craft materials, books of activities, materials for drawing, Big Books etc.). In addition, we have sports equipment in wooden boxes outside the office. Feel free to borrow these, but please make sure you return them immediately after service so that other groups can use them. There is a sign-out sheet on the counter by Fida’s desk: please complete it when you borrow items and sign again when you return them.

In addition to these physical resources, you also need ideas. Websites and books can often provide these. In Google Drive, you can find a document called Local Service Ideas Bank that contains hyperlinks to various games, craft instructions etc. Starting in August 2016, every service group should have its own ‘Teamie’ page where resources and plans can be shared. This will also allow group members and their leader to share thoughts about a Service-related issue.

Key contacts

Local Services

Click here to view your Service options.

“An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.” - M K Gandhi, political and spiritual leader

"I have never been impressed by the heroics of people convinced that they are about to change the world. I am more awed by ... those who ... struggle to make one small difference after another." - Ellen Goodman, Pulitzer-winning journalist

“If you want to learn how to deal with life, find a living thing and deal with that. Find a baby or an old person who needs their diapers changed or their teeth flossed or a meal cooked. That’ll teach you about life more than sitting under a tree contemplating the great beyond.” - Thomas Lynch, poet, essayist, undertaker

“Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” - Desmond Tutu, archbishop, human rights activist