Values in Action (VIA)
In line with the school mission and vision of nurturing caring young ladies, St. Margaret’s School (Secondary) has in place a developmental Values in Action (VIA) Programme which encompasses various facets of the community. Our young ladies become Other-Centred Contributors who are willing to act and serve others.
The local VIA programme includes the following:
- Outreach to the Community
- Outreach to the Elderly
- Outreach to Disadvantaged Groups and
- Care for the Environment.
By the end of a student’s four or five-year term with the school, she would have experienced the various aspects of community service and developed a sense of compassion for the less fortunate. Inspired, she will continue to serve the community beyond school.
Objectives
In 2017, SMSS redesigned the way VIA projects were conducted through Project Work (PW). The school tapped on the strengths and affordances of both VIA and PW and combined them into a novel service learning programme, the Salt & Light Programme (SLP). Currently, SLP is part of the lower secondary curriculum where students work on a social issue for a year while the programme is weaved into Character and Citizenship Education lessons for the upper secondary students.
SLP empowers students to exercise greater choice and ownership of their VIA projects which are beneficiary-centred. As students work effectively in teams to ideate and initiate solutions for innovative community engagements, their leadership skills are honed while teamwork, creativity and confidence are nurtured. SLP involves active learning with a focus on critical thinking and problem-solving skills as students take on real community issues.
Through SLP, students grow to become a community of learners who value the importance of being empathetic and giving back to society.
VIA Form for Self-Initiated Projects
Self-initiated VIA projects that students embark on should be in line with the school and national policies. For more details, please refer to the Student Handbook.
Students who would like to initiate their own VIA are required to fill out this form:
Submission of External VIA Documents
Students who are involved in external VIA projects can submit their documents via this form form
A photograph or scanned copy of the official document provided by the organisation must also be submitted.
Target Group
| Level | Focus | Community Partners |
|---|---|---|
| Secondary 1 | The Environment | North West Community Development Council (NWCDC) National Environment Agency (NEA) |
| Secondary 2 | People with Special Needs | Heartware Network Metta School Cerebral Palsy Allliance Singapore Down Syndrome Association (Singapore) Movement for the Intellectually Diabled of Singapore (MINDS) |
| Secondary 3 | The Elderly | St. Andrew’s Nursing Home (Queenstown) St. Andrew’s Nursing Home (Henderson) Council for Third Age, C3A |
| Secondary 4 and 5 | Family, Youth & Children, The Elderly | Self-initiated Partnerships |
VIA Photo Albums
National Day Care Packs 2020
VIA Activities 2020
Videos
WeCare @ North West - Service Weeks 2020 - Interview Ms Kwang Wan Yi (Subject Head National Education and Values in Action)
Laos VIA Trip 4 - 9 Nov 2019
*In view of the ongoing pandemic, the overseas VIA programme has been temporarily suspended to ensure the safety and well-being of our students.