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From left, Devon Miller, Zharn Bolton and Layne Johnston agree that helping others in their school makes them feel confident and happy.
Using volunteering as a way to teach senior students leadership and resilience has become a major focus at Gulf Harbour School.
Year 5 and 6 students have been assigned to a “crew”, and each crew is responsible for volunteering in a particular area such as technology, new entrants and playground.
There are 12 crews to choose from and each crew meets independently every few weeks to set objectives and to ensure their volunteering creates helpful outcomes.
Kyrah Livanos, who is a member of the environment crew, says her team is looking at replacing old plants with new ones, so the school gardens look beautiful for everyone.
Teacher Nathan Halwell says students are learning teamwork and how to become coaches – leaders who work along side their peers rather than giving orders.
“My colleagues and I did a growth course that was all about coaching, and I felt that it was important we taught the same values to the students,” he says.
This is the first year the school has tried this initiative, and Mr Hanwell hopes the students will start to engage with the wider community next year.
“Helping others just feels really nice,” student Zoe Pickerill says. Zharn Bolton adds, “yeah, it’s a warm tingly feeling”.
