Shining a Spotlight on the Significance of Service Learning at GNS—Part 3

At Glenlyon Norfolk School, our students are expected to participate in service learning. But why is this such an integral part of the student experience at GNS? 

As an International Baccalaureate school, our educational programme values service by centring it in age and stage-appropriate ways at all grade levels. In addition, service experiences contribute to the substantive experiential learning requirement for the Dogwood Diploma, the graduation certificate for students in BC. 

In a six-part series, we are exploring service learning, and its many facets at GNS, through interviews with teachers, leaders, and students of our Senior School. This part looks at the role of Service Leadership at GNS.

What role does Service Leadership have in developing a culture of service? 

In the Senior School, one of our goals is to prepare students for adulthood. We see service learning as a tool to enhance the growth of essential ‘future-facing’ skills needed for students to be successful in post-secondary and beyond. Future-facing skills are what have been formerly called ‘soft skills’, and we believe them to be so critical for our students, that we have been teaching them with intention through our service learning and leadership curriculums. Some examples of these skills developed through service learning are: communication, teamwork, problem-solving, time management, decision-making, conflict management and leadership.

We approach service learning at GNS in a way that integrates academic learning, personal growth, and community engagement. We provide academic, club and co-curricular opportunities that allow students to grow their ‘future-facing’ skills that enable them to be confident contributors. We focus on helping them find their purpose and their path, and this allows them to find a passion. It is through this passion that they then engage with serving the community. 

At GNS, the reach of service learning is local, national and global. The focus of this part of our series is to outline the philosophy we have about service learning and leadership, the skills we develop and how students serve the local (GNS community). We follow a model of Servant Leadership (to lead is to serve), first outlined in an essay written by Robert Greenleaf in 1970. We work to teach our students the value of helping others rise up and do their best. We develop leadership skills in our students through our programs and build their confidence so they can be ready and willing to help others. We provide real-life opportunities for students to serve the GNS community, as ambassadors, as members of Round Square, as section leaders in Band, as teammates, as members of Gryphon Government (student council), as Outdoor Ed or Athletic Leadership council members, and as prefects in Grade 12. 

Students in different grades have the opportunity to work with each other in clubs and on teams. They set goals and have initiatives where they create and build events for the school community. For example, the prefects are responsible for organizing and running weekly assemblies for the Senior School. We challenge our students to take initiative and be curious about what is needed in the Senior School. We want our students to get to know each other and get to know the needs of the community and respond to them. Our leadership model in the Senior School is ‘for students by students’. This means that students take the lead in serving their school community. Each year may look a little different, but the skills they learn along the way are consistent. 

One of the unique features of our service learning and leadership curriculum at GNS is the opportunity for mentorship among students. From Junior Kindergarten all the way through to Grade 12, students have the opportunity to learn from each other. The buddy programs start with our youngest learners at the Beach who have buddies in older grades. One of the unique features of a Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12 school is that some of those buddy relationships are maintained throughout their time at GNS. For example, last June the Grade 6s and Grade 10s were buddied up on a Service Learning activity at Uplands Park engaging in pulling ivy. What was really unique about that connection was that many of those Grade 10s had been buddies with the Grade 6s when they were in Grade 1. 

Another example showcasing servant leadership within the GNS community was when our Grade 11s organized a games afternoon for our Grade 8s, creating a connection between the grades and enabling the Grade 11s to be creative and collaborative to help welcome the Grade 8s into the Senior School. Over the years at GNS, there have been many opportunities where Junior, Middle and Senior School students have been buddied together for Service Learning activities. We believe this authentic connection and modelling service leadership is essential for creating a strong community of caring leaders. 

Service can take many different forms and our students have broken through the glass ceiling in this area. As they learn and create their own understanding of what service is, they begin to realize the value of serving their community as leaders. They see the results of when they shine the spotlight on others to allow them to be seen, it creates a sense of belonging in the GNS community.