ACC Benalla students have been visiting the Morrie Evans Wing Aged Care facility at Benalla Health once a week during term three as part of their community service elective. Photos: Supplied
Australian Christian College Benalla students have spent time volunteering at the Morrie Evans Wing Aged Care facility at Benalla Health this year, as part of a new elective subject the school is trialling.
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Once a week during term three, 10 students in Years 7 and 8, along with their teacher Ellie Werner, have headed across the road to the facility to spend time with the residents as part of their community service elective, which has been designed to target key areas of the curriculum.
“It is an elective that we (are) trialling this year, and it came out of students going over to the hospital across the road from our school and just spending some time with the residents at the Morrie Evans Wing at the start of the year, and they were finding that really beneficial,” Ms Werner said.
“We decided to create an elective from it which sort of pinpoints certain curriculum areas (such as) civics and citizenship and health and human development, looking at volunteering as a whole on the physical, social and emotional effects on yourself when you do volunteer.”
While there was some trepidation from students initially when approaching the task of walking into an aged care facility and trying to connect with elderly residents, Ms Werner said the group was able to quickly overcome that and start reaping the benefits of the elective.
“We do a journal entry each week just to get (the students) reflecting on how they’re feeling, and every student in that first week said, ‘I was a bit uncomfortable, I was very nervous, I didn’t know what to say or do,’ because it was such a new experience for most of them,” she said.
“Now I don’t see that at all in their writing, they’re saying, ‘I felt really good this week, I made connections with an elderly resident,’ and they’re getting to know the residents on a much more personal level.
“One of the students for example, in the first week they had to write why they chose the elective, (and the student wrote) ‘I chose the elective because my parents think I need to work on my social skills,'’ and I thought that was really amusing, but I can actually see that happening now, I can actually see the benefits.
“All the kids’ social skills; they didn’t really know how to interact with elderly (people) in a positive way, and I think this is giving them practice in doing that.
“They feel more confident hopefully when they see elderly people in the community as well, to chat to them and things like that.
“In terms of the residents, it is the dementia ward, so you would call it a pretty hard gig. These kids are going in and it’s not like the residents remember them each week or anything like that.
“They’re going in each week and re-establishing that relationship, but the smiles and the interactions the residents do have with them is really, really positive.”
The students have been doing numerous activities with residents such as arts and crafts, playing board games and even watching a performance by a brass band.
One of the students to have benefited greatly from the elective is Millie Moubarak, although it wasn’t exactly by choice.
“It was kind of a process of elimination,” she said, when asked why she decided to do community service.
“We had three electives to choose from and I’d already done one, and the other one I didn’t want to do.
“At first I was nervous, but now I find it fun. We do things like crafts and singing and play games, and the last week I went we saw a brass band.”
From a social skills perspective, Millie has also found the experience richly rewarding, with the weekly visits allowing her to develop her own ability to engage with people she might not have necessarily spoken with if it wasn’t for the elective.
“(We’ve learned) how to make interesting conversation, and how to go up to someone and not be nervous and scared to talk to them,” she said.
“(My favourite part of the experience) is being able to do activities with the residents, even at first just being there, I think they would have appreciated.”
Millie and the rest of the students will continue their weekly visits in term four, while the school hopes to keep running the elective past the trial period and into next year.
“We hope to, we absolutely hope to,” Ms Werner said.
“It’s definitely a discussion that’s been taking place with our electives co-ordinator.
“She’s asked me recently how it’s going, and in the beginning I didn’t foresee the advantages that it would have as much in an emotional and social perspective for our students.
“But I’m glad we tried it because seeing it now, I think it’s certainly a worthwhile investment for our kids.
“And also it just connects them to the community that most of them live in, and I think that’s really important.”
