Our school organizes community service every year for underprivileged children from nearby government schools, and any student can volunteer to teach them something different. This event aims to provide them with opportunities to learn and engage with something different, something which could be fruitful, passionating, or at least enjoyable. I volunteered to help teach them frisbee. On the first day of the community service, I felt both excited and nervous. We as a group of 3 to 4 people were assigned to a group of around 5 children who looked eager and energetic to learn and play frisbee. Many of them had never played frisbee never before, or at least some looked like they had attended the previous community service session. Knowing a little about the sports. However, due to the big time gap, we had to start from the start. But before all, we as volunteers made sure to initiate a friendly and inclusive momentum and environment among the whole group. So, everyone including the children and volunteers felt comfortable and encouraged to participate. It started by teaching them ‘Backhand grip’, ‘pancake catch’, passing, and then ‘Forehand grip’. We started with group passing for easy learning of throws and catches. Then at the end of the session, we usually end with fun games for them to enjoy together like, Disc War, King, etc.
As the session passed, their enthusiasm and their sportfulness started growing and it was the most rewarding part of all. Moreover, some of them had better skills than the whole group, for which we even had small snatching games.
LO 1- Identify your own strengths and develop areas for growth.
Initially, the opportunity to teach the children something new was exciting, but I was also a bit nervous. But realizing the opportunity of such a thing I focused on making this session the best. In the beginning, we found a language barrier between many volunteers and children, However, I was able to communicate effectively with them. This helped me to realize how important it was and I was able to communicate despite the age gap. Patience was the most important thing, as small kids can be quite resistant to your calls and asking. This made me realize another strength of mine, which was patience, especially with kids.
LO 4- Show perseverance and commitment in CAS experience.
During the times of community sessions, I also had my E.E. going on for which I had to go to the school’s chemistry lab on weekends for the experiments. However, the timing clashed during this period. Choosing between this community session and the early completion of the experiment was challenging. But knowing and experiencing the joy of teaching and playing with these kids; and also how much the kids enjoyed the session. I decided to stay for the whole session and complete my experiment in the afternoon, despite the result of being in school even on the weekend for several weeks. I persevered and committed to completing the session.
LO 5- Demonstrate skills and benefits of working collaboratively.
Working collaboratively on the community service project was crucial and beneficial. By planning the day ahead with fellow students, we were able to divide tasks and maintain the children’s enthusiasm and interest throughout the session. This helped us to divide tasks effectively, as with me and a couple of volunteers having proper communication with the children, we generally initiated the session and plan. Working collaboratively not only encouraged our teamwork but also helped to maintain respectful behavior and relations with other volunteers.
LO 7- Recognise and consider the ethics of choices and actions.
During my community service, I was very conscious of my choices and actions. It was important for me to conduct myself in a morally sound and respectful way. This chance allowed me to actually put my egoism or any differences aside and go with the sessions with a fully open heart and mind. This allowed for trust and a positive relationship to be established with the kids, also making a contribution to their well-being.
