Teaching & Learning

The Importance of Service Learning at Friends’

At Friends’, Service Learning is a way of living our Quaker values through meaningful action. Rooted in our school motto Nemo Sibi Nascitur (“no one is born for self alone”), Service Learning connects classroom learning with the wider world, inspiring students to act with empathy, integrity, and responsibility.

Service Learning provides students with opportunities to engage authentically in Active Hope with their communities—locally, nationally, and globally. Through collaboration, reflection, and purposeful action, students not only learn about issues of significance but also discover how they can contribute to positive change. This might involve direct service, such as mentoring younger students, or indirect service, such as fundraising for a community partner. Other experiences may focus on advocacy or research, helping raise awareness, inform action, or deepen understanding of complex challenges.

Importantly, Service Learning is reciprocal: it benefits both the community and the learner. Students develop leadership, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills, while also growing in empathy and resilience. Reflection is central to the process, allowing them to pause and consider the impact of their work, the perspectives of others, and the values that guide their choices.

Service Learning takes many different forms across the school, each tailored to the age and stage of our students. In the Primary Years, for example, Year 3 students explored how to build a culture of peace through their unit How Do We Express Ourselves? They discovered the power of cultural dances in fostering cooperation, understanding, and harmony. The Primary School Student Council also leads service initiatives each term, such as the Winter Sock Drive, Baking for Vinnies, and Daffodil Day.

In the Middle School, students are actively engaged in a wide range of service opportunities. Year 7 students complete their Health Challenge and participate in an Environment Quest, choosing from six activities to address environmental issues they care about. Some take on the role of Marine Guardians, cleaning beaches around Southern Tasmania, while others join the Eco Builders and Road-Trippers Quests, constructing nesting boxes and planting native trees.

In the Senior School, opportunities are even broader—both within classes and through co-curricular programs. The Stewardship Committee leads initiatives that inspire peers to take meaningful action. Projects include supporting Stay ChatTY, the Cancer Council’s Relay for Life, the Push-Up Challenge, CAS Days, the Year 9 Pay it Forward affirmation fundraiser, and the Young Leaders of Tasmania program. Students also partner with the Southern Support School and contribute to the Smith Family’s Student2Student reading program, strengthening connections both within and beyond our community.

Through these experiences, service becomes more than an activity—it becomes a lifelong habit of mind, a commitment to active citizenship and care for others. Whether in the Primary Years Programme, Middle School Quests, or the Friends’ Certificate and IB Diploma CAS programs in Senior School, every student learns that change truly can begin with one person.

Service Learning at Friends’ prepares students not only for academic success but also for a life of purpose—where knowledge, compassion, and action come together to strengthen communities and make a lasting impact.

Megan Eddington - Director of Teaching and Learning (K to 12)