Year 7 Cain House - Melbourne Grammar School

From the Director of Leadership
Every Hour Counts
This week is National Volunteers Week which is the biggest celebration of volunteers and volunteering in
Australia. According to the website which recognises this week, over six million Australians volunteer their
time every year, amounting to 700 million hours of community service across a broad range of areas of
society. Many organisations rely on volunteers for their existence and others would not be able to offer
the quality of service that they do, without dedicated volunteers.
There are many ways that people can volunteer their time which go beyond more traditional endeavours
such as doorknocking and helping out at soup kitchens. Many people are involved in sporting clubs and
associations in roles such as coaching, umpiring, beach patrols and committees. Within the Melbourne
Grammar School community, we have many parents involved in the Friends of Grammar, other
committees or support groups. Not only are these good ways to give back to the School or society more
broadly, but it is often an opportunity to forge social networks.
The students at MGS are regularly encouraged to volunteer their time to various causes and events.
While this may be within a structured programme, such as the Smith Family tutoring clubs or at the Relay
for Life, it doesn’t need to be. It may involve a student being proactive and helping an elderly friend or
neighbour with maintenance jobs around the house. One of our Year 12 students from last year spent
most of his senior school years helping a non-English speaking immigrant compose music.
An excuse that is often used for not being able to volunteer is that ‘I don’t have time’. Many people lead
increasingly busy lives and balance a range of competing demands. However, volunteering does not
need to amount to the time commitment of a second job. Even an hour a week can have a significant
impact.
Further, the benefits are often mutual, with many volunteers expressing a great deal of satisfaction which
comes from helping other people.
An increasing number of local volunteering opportunities are being offered to MGS students, particularly
in their senior school years. However, we are also looking at ways of getting more parents involved. Two
possibilities which currently exist include:
Project Platypus Plant Out: a tree planting project in the Wimmera catchment on weekends throughout
July and August. MGS families might be interested in taking part. To register visit www.platypus.org.au
The River Nile Learning Centre: this North Melbourne based organisation offers tutoring for
young refugee-background students who are in senior secondary school or TAFE. They are
looking for adult tutors during June and July (and possibly ongoing) to tutor one afternoon per
week. For further details contact the centre on (03) 9329 8425 or at info@rnlc.org.au
Nathan Jessup, Director of Leadership