Journey of Service
This week our Year 6 graduates embark on their final Montessori East adventure and most memorable experience - their Journey of Service (JOS).
JOS is an opportunity for students in their final year of primary school to experience the world beyond their community and to offer their service to others.
This week the children are visiting the Dalaigur aboriginal community and preschool in Kempsey. During this week they will serve our First Nation Peoples through offering their support to the children and seeking to understand where they can contribute, assist, listen and help. In the lead up to the week the children have been practising their cooking skills, by preparing a menu and meals for the teachers and each other. During the week away the children will be left to be fully independent; to take care of their own meals, clean up and take care of their environments.
The Montessori East vision for every child is layer upon layer of self construction and experience; connecting education to the real world.
The scaffolding of the Montessori education starts in Cycle 1 with practical life activities; they grow as their experiences become more complex, until they reach the final year where they are running their own business, Green Gradz, and connecting with a community beyond their own. JOS is the closing of the final circle, where the children can be themselves in the security of their friendship with each other and look beyond themselves.
The children will share their experiences at a Journey of Service Afternoon Reflection.
What is the Journey of Service?
The Journey of Service was first established at Montessori East in 2013 as an opportunity for students in their final year of primary school to experience the world beyond their community and to offer their service to others.
Service plays an important role in every aspect of a Montessori child’s education from the early years of practical life, sorting, scrubbing and sewing, to early primary, where the children take care of each other and the environment, such as raising funds for community projects. As children approach adolescence their desire to understand their place in society and how they can contribute to it becomes much greater.
The Journey of Service is far more than just an event where the children are helping others for the greater good but an introspective ‘journey’ where the child forges a deeper connection with themselves and their purpose in life.