Community and Service

This is an important component of the Middle Years Programme because it promotes citizenship and encourages students to develop and accept roles which serve both the national and international community.   By completing services to the community we believe that students will develop attitudes and values that focus on the rights and responsibilities of humans to care for and improve the communities in which they live. They will therefore:

• better appreciate their role beyond the classroom
• increase their awareness of the world and community around them through constructive engagement
• increase their sense of responsibility and self esteem
• provide an opportunity for students to gain an insight into different social patterns and ways of life
• work with peers across grade levels
• develop their awareness of the natural links between community service, subject areas and other areas of interaction.
• gain an appreciation of the positive effects of an altruistic attitude

Activities determined are monitored closely by teachers, and recorded in booklets kept by the students as evidence of their involvement within the programme. To help students develop their awareness of strengths and difficulties, they will write reports that reflect upon and evaluate their experiences during the year.

Programmes currently being conducted include, peer tutoring, Birla Orphanage, Blue Dragon, Green Club, KOTO, paper and can recycling and the organisation of fund raising events.

The following outlines the minimum requirements for Community and Service programmes at UNIS for each year level.

In accordance with the UNIS Mission statements students are also expected to participate in an extra-curricular Arts and Sports programme. This programme can be taken privately or as part of After School Activities.

CAS = Creativity, Action, Service
IB Grade 11 and 12

The emphasis within the CAS program is on experiential learning.  CAS activities are meant to be an enjoyable, yet challenging part of education.

The CAS program is motivated by the following philosophy:

• Education neither begins nor ends in the classroom, nor in the examination hall, and the essential aspects of education may exist outside of both
• An international education must go well beyond the provision of information and is involved in the development of attitudes and values which transcend barriers of race, religion, class, gender, or politics.
• Service to the community (local, national, international) is a complement to intellectual development and the academic curriculum.
• Creativity and action should play an equal part with service in any such program. CAS should aim to challenge and extend the individual student: to develop a spirit of discovery and self-reliance; to encourage personal skills and interests; to inspire awareness, concern, and responsibility to serve the community in general and its disadvantaged in particular.

At the United Nations International School of Hanoi, CAS is an integral part of education in the IB Diploma programme. It is a way to expand student horizons beyond the classroom, exploring new interests. Not just another requirement, it is a way of perceiving students in relation to a broader world around them. Hopefully, it will be the beginning of a lifelong commitment to working with others and always looking for ways to move beyond what is known to gain a greater awareness of the society in which we live. If we approach CAS with this in mind, it will be a rewarding and enriching experience.

The following outlines the minimum requirements for obtaining the IB Diploma and graduation from UNIS:

		UNIS and Blue Dragon Members of the Elementary Student Council recently visited the Blue Dragon Children's Foundation.
		Operation Smile and UNIS A group of six students went to Da Lat to participate in the international Operation Smile surgical mission. Although the group arrived after the start of the mission, due to exams, they were warmly welcomed and quickly found something to do.
		Donxa Visit On Saturday 10th March a group of UNIS students and teachers went out to Co Loa, a village near the airport.
		Ba Be Community Service and Cultural Field Trip Six volunteers from Grade 8 recently returned from a community and service field trip at Ba Be National Park. During those three days, they helped out the projects organized by the PCRF (People Resources and Conservation Fund – an NGO).
		Direct Actions in the Community On Saturday, January 27, the students of Direct Actions visited a kindergarten in the Trung Chau commune. The kindergarten, filled with 75 children from two to five years of age, is impoverished and in need of help.
		DONXA Last Saturday, a group from UNIS went to Co Loa to visit the school and Jane's Nursery.  We took VND 3,000,000 to give to the teachers at the school to pay for school meals for the students.
		Thuy An Village Every 3-4 weeks UNIS students and staff travel for 90 minutes to Ba Vi to visit the Thuy An Village, a community orphanage for babies to elderly people who are born with physical or mental disabilities.
		Birla and Peace Village Birla and Peace Village visits are an important part of UNIS Hanoi Community and Service activity.  Here are some recent photos from their visit earlier this month.
		UNIS and Blue Dragons Activity On Mondays after school UNIS art community service class welcomes the Blue Dragon kids. Amongst many activities we have done some mandalas and christmas crafts.
		SMILE! The UNIS Hanoi Operation Smile group is back again in full swing. This year over twenty students from grades 9 - 12 and three teachers are involved in a host of activities.
		UNIS Visits Donxa UNIS went to Co Loa to meet the students of the school, and to visit the nursery. One of our students took bubbles for the children to play with - which was great fun. Then there were introductions and the students sang some songs for us.
		UNIS Hanoi assists Terry Fox Run for Charity Over 180 UNIS students and staff participated in the Terry Fox Run for Charity. UNIS student volunteers were operating the registration table, selling t-shirts, raffle tickets and hats, distributing water to runners, coordinating tattoos and helping with the clean-up.

For a recap on UNIS Community & Service Activities in the previous school year, please visit our archive section.