Service Young People of
or the past four years, the Sony Foundation Children’s Holiday Camp has been held at Townsville Grammar School on the first weekend of the September school holidays. For three days and two nights, children with disability stay in the School’s Boarding House and are cared for by Year 11 students who have been trained through the Sony Foundation program to be Sony Companions. For Year 11 student, Dylan, the challenge was far greater than he had anticipated. Reporting to the School Assembly on his involvement, Dylan explained that it was an incredible experience that he wouldn’t change. “I can honestly say that it was one of the best experiences of my life,” says Dylan. “Sony Camp taught me to push through my own comfort zone and gave me an insight into the demands of caring for a child with disability. It was an incredible experience, and I will definitely do it again.”
Principal Tim Kelly says that after joining Townsville Grammar School in 2018, he introduced the Sony Foundation Camp experience as part of an overall servicelearning strategy that the school is enthusiastically embracing.
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“I’ve been involved with the Sony Foundation’s Children’s Holiday Camp for 19 years, both at Toowoomba Grammar School and now at Townsville Grammar School, so I am passionate about this event and the service-learning opportunity it affords our young people,” explains Tim. “It is very special, and it is such a rewarding experience for all involved – the students who train as companions, the children (our guest campers) and the staff and volunteers who support throughout the program.” Whilst the core business of a school is to grow and strengthen the intellectual abilities of its students, Tim believes that this alone is not enough. “The formation of character must occur alongside the intellectual and emotional development of students. I see our role as a School as not to merely pass on knowledge, but to develop deep learners, to foster personal growth and to give students opportunities to extend themselves beyond their comfort zones and experience the joy of service and giving back.” Townsville Grammar School’s Service Program is certainly flourishing, with the sheer number of students and staff willingly involving themselves in service opportunities, testament to this claim. The School has partnered with several new organisations to give students further service opportunities.
