At IGS, connectedness and authenticity guide how students learn, act and understand their place in the wider world. As part of IGS Connect Year 9 Service Learning day offered a clear expression of these values as students engaged in meaningful community outreach centred on homelessness and vulnerability.
Service Learning positions generosity as a learned practice. It blends community action with guided reflection so students can interrogate their assumptions, understand diverse experiences and recognise their capacity to contribute.
Throughout the day, philosophical ideas became tangible. Preparing fresh meals was not only an act of giving but an exercise in interconnectivity – students saw how small gestures can ease someone’s day and strengthen community bonds. Assembling Helpful Hampers invited them to consider the real circumstances of people who experience homelessness, challenging stereotypes through hands-on engagement rather than abstraction. Writing cards and thoughtful messages served as an expression of cognitive empathy, asking students to adopt another person’s perspective with sincerity.
These activities also nurtured self-efficacy. As students organised, created and contributed, they saw their actions have an immediate effect, reinforcing the belief that they can navigate challenges and support others.
The program concluded with lived-experience stories that tied the day’s themes together. Students reflected on who they had supported, what they had learned and how their own understanding of privilege, responsibility and gratitude had shifted.
Through IGS Connect, Year 9 engaged with the School Values in practical, human-centred ways. In doing so, they strengthened their sense of community, broadened their perspectives and took meaningful steps towards becoming compassionate contributors to the world around them.
