Great Scot December 2019 Great Scot 158_December_ONLINE | Page 26

NEWS
1.
EIGHT EYE-
OPENING
IMMERSION
OPPORTUNITIES
Year 11 boys took on a wide variety of service-learning roles in 2019
Led by a highly talented group of staff who
share a passion for community development
work and the transformative nature of
service-learning, our Immersion Program at
Year 11 level included eight different programs
in 2019, which are outlined below.
BALLARAT IMMERSION
Scotch boys partnered with Ballarat
Specialist School in an education project,
part of the Ballarat school’s goal to develop
independent living skills and social skills for
young people with mild to complex intellectual
disabilities. During the immersion, Scotch
boys learned some of these independent
living skills (including cooking and budgeting),
as well as program development skills and
tutoring skills. In some activities they also
learned from the Ballarat Specialist School
students (such as learning baking skills).
In other activities, Scotch boys took on
leadership roles which included running a
sports program.
CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES
IMMERSION
Boys partnered with the Les Twentyman
Foundation in the foundation’s project to
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Great Scot Issue 158 – December 2019
build youth engagement in education and
leadership for young people experiencing
poverty in Melbourne. The goal of the
immersion was for Scotch boys, working
in partnership with foundation leaders, to
become actively involved in a number of
the foundation’s programs in and around
Melbourne.
This included a ‘backyard blitz’ program
(providing house and yard maintenance to
support families), a ‘back to school’ program
(helping with providing text books and
educational resources for young people),
tutoring young people at a local library centre
in numeracy and literacy, and a basketball
training program (helping to connect and
engage young people through sport).
FOOD IMMERSION
In this immersion, boys partnered with
Fareshare, Eat Up and St Vincent de Paul, to
learn about food insecurity in our community
and working towards supporting people
who may not always have access to the
food they need. Boys learned in partnership
with Fareshare, an organisation that rescues
surplus, quality food from supermarkets,
farmers and other businesses, and cooks
this food into nutritious meals for Victorian
charities, such as soup vans, homeless
shelters, food banks and school breakfast
programs. Boys also worked in partnership
with aged care facilities to help in their goal of
promoting wellness and independence for all
residents.
MUSIC IMMERSION
Boys partnered with aged care facilities
to provide a musical experience through
delivering concert performances and
conversing with the residents. At the start of
the year, boys were organised into chamber
music and vocal groups. After pre-immersion
activities, and when adequately prepared,
boys visited aged care facilities and retirement
homes to perform concerts and interact with
residents.
MY MEMOIRS IMMERSION
Boys were paired with senior Old Scotch
Collegians. The task was to interview the Old
Boys and create and publish a memoir for
each of them as a keepsake. In partnership
with older members of our community, boys
developed journalism and biography writing