Passport to Purpose:
Service Learning at Peter Moyes
Anglican Community School
The Service Learning Programme at Peter Moyes Anglican Community School (PMACS) has quickly become one of the most transformative elements of its Secondary School culture. What began as a small initiative in 2025 – a Passport for Purpose for Year 9 students - has now grown into a whole school commitment to service, character formation, and community connection.
This shift began when HaSS Teacher Alexandra Dodd, now the School’s Service Learning Co-ordinator, recognised a need for students to look further beyond their own self-interest. In response, Passport for Purpose was introduced last year, requiring Year 9s to complete ten hours of service per semester. The impact was immediate. Students engaged deeply, reflected meaningfully, and demonstrated a growing awareness of the needs of others. The success of the programme led to the creation of a dedicated Service Learning Co-ordinator role for 2026, ensuring long term vision and continuity.
Today, Service Learning is embedded across Years 9–12, with plans to expand across PK- 12 over the coming years. At its core, the programme expresses AngliSchools values - Faith, Inclusion, Respect and Excellence. It encourages students to understand that serving others enriches both giver and receiver. For some, Service becomes a pathway to discovering or deepening their faith; for all, it is an invitation to grow in grace, empathy, and self understanding. Each year level engages with a distinct service focus:
- Year 9 Community Service: supporting Primary students in their co curricular activities, and co-ordinating Christmas Hampers through donation drives.
- Year 10 Anglicare Partnership: including a record 52 Year 10 students (and still growing) volunteering for the Sleepout for Youth Homelessness, as well as the Pop-Up Op Shop clothing drive, which collected 135kg of donated items to fundraise for Anglicare.
- Year 11 Relay for Life: fundraising and participating as a team in support of the Cancer Council.
- Year 12 World’s Greatest Shave: a standout success this year, raising over $20,000 for the Leukaemia Foundation.
To strengthen student voice, two Year 12 Service Learning Ambassadors were appointed this year. Their role includes surveying peers to select the charities the school will support - ensuring students have agency in shaping the programme.
This year also marks the return of an international Service Learning opportunity for our students. Seven senior students will travel to Cambodia during the July school holidays, teaching English to students at a Cambodian Primary School. Guided by Miss Dodd and School Chaplain, The Revd Jean-Pierre Schroeder, the group will experience first-hand the profound impact of global service and cultural exchange.
Looking ahead, PMACS aims to expand local partnerships and to reinstate an interstate Service trip. The long term vision is clear: a programme with local, national, and global reach, grounded in inclusiveness and open to all, regardless of faith background.
Ultimately, Service Learning teaches students that everyone has the capacity to make a positive difference. It invites them to engage with people they might never otherwise meet, to contribute without expecting anything in return, and to discover the joy of serving others - an expression of our shared humanity and our Anglican identity.