A huge day of Community Service has helped our Year 9 students to discover the positive impact they can have on the people and the world around them. Throughout the school day, over 200 students set out to assist and learn about eight different services around Murdoch, including WA Wildlife, the Coogee Volunteer Fire Brigade, the Fremantle Marine Rescue, and St Bart’s Women’s Service.
Students were assigned to different service locations based on their interests, suitability, and practicality, and were encouraged to explore their personal skills and strengths that may lead to tertiary education courses, volunteer efforts or career opportunities.
We’re encouraged by the feedback from both our students and the partnering organisations and hope to continue our strong relationships in the future, enabling our students to enter Upper School armed with realistic experiences related to workplace roles.
See below for a summary of each service that our staff and students attended.
Cockburn Cougars
Students from our Specialist Basketball Program joined in on the Cockburn Cougars Basketball Association’s efforts to train up the next generation of coaches by completing two sessions with their coaching staff and community participation officers. This included running training drills to establish fundamental movement skills for the sport, as well as to build teamwork and leadership within a group.
Students were then placed in coaching groups at East Hamilton Hill Primary School, Southwell Primary School and Spearwood Primary School, becoming coaches to over 300 primary school students!
“I liked that we were able to help the wider community by having fun with young children!”– Ruby
St Bart’s Women’s Service
Part of the success of our Year 9’s community service was in learning about the experiences of others, including how to emphasise and communicate with diverse groups. This was an essential part of 10 female student’s visit to the St Bart’s Women’s Service, with College Counsellor Mrs Golda Newland providing a workshop on how to engage with the service’s residents, who may have experiences they are unfamiliar with.
Students then served clients of the service not only by cooking over sixty meals for them but also by spending lunch alongside them, listening to their stories, future plans and life perspectives.
‘I enjoyed helping the people at St Bart’s by making food and talking to them and hearing what it’s like to be in their situation. – I also liked the whole experience and giving back to the community and helping these women in need.’ – Amelia
Murdoch Gardens Care Community
At this nearby residential aged care facility, Students engaged with nursing staff and participated in the daily tasks required to care for senior citizens. They were also tasked with engaging residents with boardgames, bocce, morning tea and walks within their grounds. Students experienced the medical considerations of the elderly, listened to the wonderful life stories and sang and danced at a ‘happy hour lunch’ with staff and seniors.
‘I liked being able to serve the community with my friends – I liked talking to the older generation and listening to what they had to say.’ – Alison
WA Wildlife
Working in the WA Wildlife Animal Hospital was a great experience for our students, who were guided through the facility’s treatment rooms and wards before some hands-on volunteering tasks including digging up and relocating grass for the wombat enclosure, levelling soil, filling in burrows and planting new grass for animal food.
Between shifts, students even had close encounters of the animal kind with a range of native wildlife at the centre coming out to say hello, including dingos, wombats and koalas.
“I liked how we got to learn about different animals that get taken into the wildlife centre and how to rescue them if we see them on the road one day.” – Rhianna
Department of FESA (Coogee Fire Brigade and Cockburn State Emergency Services)
Students were shown the hard work of emergency response volunteers and career service workers when visiting the local fire brigade and SES team. They went through the daily tasks and processes for these services, including setting up fire hoses and personal protective equipment (PPE), and the maintenance of vehicles.
The volunteer staff conducted a ‘mock’ emergency response call, including a live fire that was to be extinguished, showing the communication and teamwork that is required to respond to challenges safely and successfully. Students engaged in challenges to test their knowledge and skills learnt throughout the day and engaged in maintenance tasks required to keep Cockburn Volunteer Fire and Rescue Station in the ready.
‘I liked how they made the daily tasks competitive and included games when kept us entertained while we were learning which made it fun.’ – Carla
Fremantle Marine Rescue
Out on the coast, Year 9s participated in the regular tasks required to maintain and set-up the Marine Rescue station and vessels for rescue assignments. Students were taught safety protocols and the importance of communication, teamwork and leadership in an emergency situation, before travelling to the Sea Rescue Communication tower in Fremantle Port. Looking out on the 360-degree view required to help keep ships and boats safe, students could observe the myriad of vessels entering and exiting the Fremantle channel.
“I enjoyed learning about the different work that is involved with marine rescue and I also enjoyed getting to look in the boats and in the control room.” – Toby
Murdoch University
The environment was the focus for our students visiting Murdoch University, with a tour of the Banksia Woodland and Chelodina Wetlands that surround our campuses. Here, they were introduced to water testing, invertebrate identification, native flora exploration and were tasked with the removal of introduced weed species that are impacting the growth of natural bushland.
Students then completed a workshop on ‘What is your carbon footprint?’ and explored their environmental impact and ways to promote sustainability.
‘The Wetlands tour was great, we saw microscopic animals in the water and different plants, and the tour of the Murdoch University. It was also good that the event was close to the school as we did not realise the woodlands and wetlands were just there.’ – Alex
