YOUNG PEOPLE OF SERVICE

For 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. “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.

“We formed a partnership with the Ginger Cloud Foundation and ran a Modified Rugby Program at the School, for children with disability,” continues Tim.

“When I first put the call out to our students, I expected a few rugby players might be interested, but we had more than 50 students come forward to be involved. They trained with the children, showing them how to play rugby, and supporting them in a fantastic game that was held during our annual Grammar@Home rugby weekend.”

In 2021, Townsville Grammar’s Junior School introduced an EarlyAct Club, a junior version of the Secondary School’s Interact Club, which has been in existence since 2004 and aligned with the Rotary Club of Mundingburra. Last year the School also partnered with Smart Pups Assistance Dogs, taking in puppies to their Boarding House during their training rotations, as they learn to become assistance dogs for children with disability.

The value of service cannot be underestimated. This generation of students is heading into a world forever changed by the pandemic, and one that requires a worldview based on compassion, now more than ever.

“We are shaping the business and community leaders of tomorrow, young people of character, with a contributing and compassionate mindset.”