ANNUAL REPORT 2021/22

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STUDENTS

SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY AND ENVIRONMENT

Service Learning is an integral part of the IB curriculum as well as an important aspect of the culture and education at OSC, where service is a requirement at all grade levels. Students are encouraged to identify specific needs within the community, plan suitable responses, and act ethically to meet them. This is embedded into the curriculum itself, as OSC provides opportunities for students to participate in service and even has a designated time for students to concentrate on their service work. In MYP 1-5, students are required to serve for one semester, participating in projects organised by the School or engaging in service outside of school, and many opt to serve all year. In the DP, the commitment is year-long. We believe that student leadership, regardless of age, is essential when proposing and initiating each service project. Leadership opportunities are thus offered throughout.

Since 4 November 2021, our students have been actively participating in the following service projects:

Care for Paws: To fulfil our goal to help homeless dogs get adopted, fostered, or sponsored by the OSC community and others.

Gecko Inc.: By teaching swimming skills, we strive to build confidence in local school students who are not comfortable in the water.

Gecko Network: A student-initiated service, our aim is to support a variety of OSC events and activities throughout the year by broadcasting them across our community, using many forms of media.

Girls for Girls: We continue to increase our connection to the local community by becoming mentors to young female survivors of abuse and by building a curriculum for a transitional centre for them under the Emerge Lanka Foundation.

Grade 6 Project – Sustainable Gardens: To introduce Grade 6 students to Service Learning at OSC, they participate in a programme focused on creating sustainable gardens at home and school.

Hope for Kids: We address and relieve the impact of cancer on not only the patient but their family as well, by implementing a guidance and therapy programme for affected mothers at the Maharagama Cancer Hospital.

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Housing and Habitat: We enhance the quality of life of local communities by building essential homes and facilities, and by implementing creative solutions to address their energy needs.

OSC’s Room to Read: A service that builds libraries in the local community, making reading for pleasure and learning available to all and spreading our passion for books.

Eco-Schools: Through the seven-step Eco-Schools programme, we decrease the School’s environmental impact through education, awareness, and action. After the successful completion of the two-year process, OSC will be accredited by the Foundation for Environmental Education with the Eco Schools’ green flag.

Recycling and Sustainability: OSC’s Recycling and Sustainability is one of the oldest campus-based service groups, working hard on a mission to reduce the ecological footprint of the community. The group organises weekly recycling runs, sells materials to a local scrap dealer, manages a biogas plant, and helps identify areas that the school can work on to reduce solid waste and conserve energy. Education and outreach are important areas of growth. Student leaders and participants work with their faculty supervisors to achieve these goals.

SOS Village: By working with orphaned children, our service opens the minds of everyone involved. Through swimming and other interactive experiences, we create memories for a lifetime. We break down language and social barriers, nurturing a safe environment for the children with whom we work.

The Margin: The Margin is a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ) group that aims to bring awareness to our school community on a wide range of topics focusing on non- dominant communities that hold power within societies. It is committed to upholding our motto through educational campaigns, discussions, guest speakers, presentations, documentaries, and more. It also aims to sustain Overseas School of Colombo’s vision and mission to empower our community of learners toward an intercultural understanding of all groups of people, as well as strive to make an even more inclusive and equitable climate for everyone.

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Memory Project – Creating a kinder world through art: We create artwork for children in different parts of the world who are facing many kinds of challenges, such as children in Cameroon whose lives have been severely impacted by an ongoing civil war, children in northern Nigeria who face the risk of being kidnapped by extremists when attending school, children in Sierra Leone who are striving to overcome the challenges of extreme poverty, and many more. By making these connections with other children, we aim to build cultural understanding and nurture kindness whilst also having fun and being creative.

U.S. Peace Corps “Cultural Exchange Programme”: This Service Group involves our students working with students in rural villages in Sri Lanka in a virtual cultural-exchange programme. With guidance from the US Peace Corps and partner English teachers, we have been teaming up one Tamil student and a Sinhala student from rural villages with one of our OCS students to converse in English language conversation and help create bridges. We explore aspects of each other’s cultures through these conversations.

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