What is Making a Difference?

We aim to develop an awareness and a compassionate mindset in our students and school community. We aim to change ourselves, other people's lives, and the environment for the better. This begins with the school community, and widens to include the local and global community.

Why Make a Difference at SIS?

We believe it is an important aspect of learning that should permeate all areas of the school community. It is our responsibility as members of society to raise social awareness and to demonstrate this in all aspects of our work.

To build that culture there needs to be a coordinated approach to meet the demands of our large and diverse community.

These demands include

• the students’ wishes to help others all the time

• authentic learning curriculum initiatives

• external requests from those seeking help

• the requirement of the International Baccalaureate programme

Our aim is that students act with compassion and integrity, doing the right thing, even when no one is watching them.

“One person can make a difference, and everyone should try.” – John F. Kennedy

 Our aim is to develop an awareness and compassionate mindset in our students and school community. We aim to change ourselves, other people's lives, and the environment, for the better. This begins with the school community and widens to include the local and global community. We believe it is an important aspect of learning that should permeate all areas of the school community. It is our responsibility as members of society to raise social awareness and to demonstrate this in all aspects of our work.                                                              

 (MaD Vision statement SIS 2012)

The Making a Difference Student Council was formed to work alongside the SIS Student Council in September 2012. Its remit is to guide, steer and develop MaD at South Island School – to initiate new events and activities, and to co-ordinate the MaD groups, activities and events that already exist in school. As soon as it was established, the Council began its work formulating a vision statement to agree what MaD@SIS is. Since then, we have worked to evaluate the MaD-ness of MaD week trips, and also worked as three teams to develop the MaD ethos in school along the lines of the school’s philosophy and values. In 2014, the Council undertook its biggest project yet - to found and fund long term a kindergarten for ultra poor children whose lives were affected by Typhoon Haiyan, which continues this year in a slightly altered format with the funding of the new 'Family Academies'.

In addition to overseeing and steering the school’s ‘Making a Difference’ agenda, the MaD Student Council plans and organises two major events each year. In October/November, we organise ‘Making Links’, an opportunity for in school CAS groups and external charities and organisations to showcase their causes and seek new volunteers in Year 10 and above. Towards the end of Term 2, we run a major fundraiser in support of the Jumpstart Kindergarten in Bacolod, Philippines, to which we have pledged HKD70,000 each year for 5 years.

In conjunction with the MaD Student Council, five members of staff work as a team to lead the various aspects of Making a Difference in school:

·   Laura Beaumont (Student MaD Council, Student Fundraising Events and whole school initiatives)

·   Darin Slethaug (Making a Difference Week trips)

·   Estelle Stringer (Student Fundraising Events e.g. International Evening and Innovations)

·   Toya Elliott (IB CAS and Student Led Events)

·   Chris Watton (HK AYP co-ordinator)

The Learning Aims

Through Making a Difference, students have the opportunity to:

.     grow as compassionate and aware citizens, learning from their own MaD experience through ongoing participation and reflection

.     make connections to their local community and beyond

.     make a difference to others and themselves through ACTION

.     participate in a range of creative, action and service activities (CAS)

.     participate regularly

.     challenge themselves

The Houses

Each House supports a chosen cause or organisation throughout the year. Although Houses strive to build long term links with organisations, these are reviewed regularly by each House MaD council.

House MaD Weeks

Each House has the opportunity for the organisation they support to take centre stage at various times of the year. Traditionally, a week is set aside where the House can fundraise for their chosen organisation, and the student MaD Council coordinates these weeks to ensure that there are no clashes and to avoid ‘donor fatigue’. However, as MaD has evolved in school, Houses do not always want to restrict their support of their cause to just one week, so we are increasingly finding that Houses are organising a number of activities throughout the year either themselves, or often in collaboration with CAS groups. 

In supporting organisations, we encourage students NOT to fundraise as their main priority but rather take action in supporting their cause so that they can develop critical thinking skills and become active partners with their chosen organisation, in addition to considering the various ethical and sustainability issues associated with service projects.

The Curriculum

We want our curriculum to be authentic and purposeful. Through specific enquiry based projects and Enrichment Programmes in each of the year groups, we hope to develop skills that will enable students to initiate, plan and take action independently. Not only do we want to equip students to have the skills to complete their Diploma CAS project, but much more importantly, we want to embed an mindset of service as a life-long commitment in our students. Our aim is our students to become initiators of viable and sustainable service projects, rather than just joining what is created by others for them.

“SIS goes MaD” Week

This week is intended to allow students to enrich their experiences and broaden their horizons. Each of the activities speaks to the philosophy above.

MaD week runs in September/October and has different activities for different Year groups. For Year 7, the focus is on ‘Making a Difference’ to themselves and those in their new tutor/Year group. Year 8-10 students choose from a range of local and overseas trips to Make A Difference in the wider community, Year 11 students do Work Experience or a language exchange and Year 12 students choose between undertaking a CAS trip to China, working with our Jumpstart Kindergarten in the Philippines, or choosing an environmentally focused trip to Sulawesi, Malaysia or Laos. All students are expected to reflect on how they have ‘Made a Difference’ to themselves and others in their Evidencer portfolio after the week. Year 13 students have study week spent in school and at home.

Full details are available for ‘SIS goes MaD’ on the school website and the SIS Goes MaD website below.

MaD Week Registration

In Term 2, students will be invited to register their choices for MaD Week for the following academic year. This process is done through the VLE, the sign-up page will be made available closer to the registration period and students can expect to find a sign-up button on the homepage of the VLE. 

MaD Annual whole-school student-led events :

Each of the above events is run by student teams in Years 12 and 13. In addition to offering opportunities for student leadership, these events are fundraisers which bring the whole school community together in support of a range of causes.

The MaD Student Council and staff MaD team receive all applications for fundraising and other student-led events and large CAS projects, which must be carefully co-ordinated and calendared to work alongside other school events (e.g. school shows, and the PTA fundraiser ‘Nightfest') and thus avoid ‘donor fatigue’. The emphasis is less on fundraising and more on raising awareness and encouraging students to take the initiative to take action themselves to support causes by DOING, rather than fundraising.