Empowered to Make a Difference
Community Service
From Nursery until the end of their school career, our pupils are encouraged to understand and empathise others and be fully aware of social needs and issues.
We live in a country marked by great contrasts. We are fortunate in being able to give our students the best opportunities to develop within a stimulating and caring environment, both at home and at school. Sadly, not all students and young people are so fortunate. At San Silvestre, our Community Service projects include supporting the underprivileged but also projects aimed at helping students who are suffering from serious illnesses and other groups in need of support.
Our fundamental objective is the formation of students who are well-balanced and compassionate individuals. The Community Service programme heightens our students’ awareness of others and encourages them to accept the challenge to provide practical help and demonstrate a humanitarian attitude. It is our intention to do much more than provide charity, but also to give our students opportunities to establish caring relationships with those in more challenging situations.
The community service programme in the Primary Section is called “Helping Hands”. Through “Helping Hands” we instigate and support a number of projects in which we provide a wide range of assistance for those less fortunate.
In the Early Years Section, girls support the Community Service Projects throughout the School with fund-raising and specific collections.
Community service work in the Secondary Section is largely voluntary and all pupils can participate. Divided into groups, they are responsible for putting a project into practice. They choose the area (health, education, ecology, among others) and the institution they want to work with. They then design campaigns within and outside the school to raise funds to meet their objectives.
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40Organisations touched by our students each year
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726 Knitted blankets donated to the Maternidad de Lima in 2018
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6Fundraising events led by San Silvestre students in 2018
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850Girls involved each year in Service Learning Projects (from 4th Grade to Form VI)
CAS - Creativity, Activity and Service
CAS is a core component of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma programme. It aims to provide balance to the rigorous academic demands of the programme.
- Creativity is interpreted broadly to include a wide range of arts activities as well as the creativity students demonstrate in designing and implementing service projects.
- Activity can include not only participation in individual and team sports but also taking part in expeditions and in local or international projects.
- Service encompasses a host of community and social service activities. Some examples include helping children with special needs, visiting hospitals and working with refugees or homeless people.
Students are expected to be involved in CAS activities for the equivalent of at least three hours each week during the two years of the programme. The school has a CAS supervisor who is responsible for providing a varied choice of activities for students. Programmes are monitored by the IB regional offices.
A system of self-evaluation encourages students to reflect on the benefits of CAS participation to themselves and to others, and to evaluate the understanding and insights acquired.