SVA Service Award

The SVA Service Award is a nationally recognised framework, designed to formally acknowledge the volunteering of intermediate and secondary school students. The five level pin system celebrates the diverse acts of service students partake in within their local communities.

Students log hours in our web-based app and receive pins when they meet set milestones, all while building a downloadable record of their volunteering - the Summary of Service.

The programme is delivered across Aotearoa New Zealand and is also being trialled in parts of Australia in partnership with Volunteering Tasmania and Volunteering SA&NT.

A core aspect of the SVA Service Award is its alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Students report their volunteering against the goals, helping them understand the impact they are having on a global level. For more information on the goals and inspiration for service that supports them, click the button below.

If you’re a teacher interested in signing your school up to the programme, click here to jump down to the SVA Service Award for Teachers section of this page.

Why volunteer?

Volunteering is a great way to gain experience while helping others. If you’re doing something to help other people, without expecting anything in return, that’s volunteering. Whether you’re putting out cones at a sports event, organising the school ball, caring for a sick family member, washing dogs at the SPCA, planting trees, or picking up plastic rubbish at the beach - you’re making a contribution to your community and that counts.

It can be hard to get a job without experience, but it can be hard to get experience without a job. By volunteering and logging your hours through the SVA Service Award app, you can add essential skills to your CV while building your confidence and making friends.

Watch the SVA Service Award video to find out more.

SVA Service Award for students

Volunteering is easy with the SVA Service Award.

  • Find activities that interest or mean something to you. Whether you’re caring for animals, helping at the local op shop or just helping nana - it’s volunteering made easy as.

  • Log volunteering hours through the SVA website or app. You’ll earn you member pin after 5 hours of vounteering.

  • There are 5 SVA Service Award badges: Member, Bronze, Silver, Gold and a Top Volunteer Award pin.

  • Organise your school into house teams, hobby clubs, or even into different classrooms. If you are selected as a Team Leader, you’ll get access to special features in the app and be able to set up your own volunteering events.

  • Automatically build a Summary of Service that you can use when applying for scholarships, apprenticeships or employment.

Our five level pin system

  • Member

    5 hours

  • Bronze

    32 hours

  • Silver

    250 hours

  • Gold

    500 hours

  • Top Volunteer

    Special recognition pin

Ambassador Programme

SVA Ambassadors are the leaders of the Service Award in their school community, selected based on their outstanding performance in the programme. A SVA School Ambassador represents their school, encouraging more students to give back to the community and promoting the numerous positive benefits of volunteering.

Ambassadors develop volunteering skills, including leadership and crisis response, through monthly online trainings sessions. They receive a special Ambassador pin and a letter of commendation at the end of the year to support their future applications and endeavors.

SVA Service Award for teachers

Interested in signing your school up?

Do you have students whose contribution to school or home life goes unrecognised? Would you like your prefects to be acknowledged at a national level for their hours of service? Do you have students who provide unpaid care for whānau and can’t participate in extra-curricular activities but need a CV profile?

The SVA Service Award is completely free of charge to schools, with minimal staff time required. Students register and log hours themselves online, but pins can only be awarded to students through a participating secondary or intermediate school. The school’s role is to award pins and celebrate student success and contribution to community.

To register, a school must nominate a key staff contact who is happy to receive notifications and award pins as students achieve a new volunteering milestone. As a leader and facilitator of the SVA Service Award in your school, the key contact will have access to our free website, app and resources as well as oversight of student records and activities.

  • We’ll talk you through the programme and discuss activities at your school that might qualify students for SVA Service Award hours.

  • Register as an SVA Service Award school. We’ll talk you through the process and create a Teacher Account for you to access your student’s accounts.

  • Associated teachers are invited to a free online community and empowered with resources, updates and support.

  • We’ll send you an initial SVA Service Award Starter Pack of Member Pins to keep on hand for when students start signing up and logging hours.

  • Students sign up to the SVA platform and self-manage logging their hours through the app or website. You will have oversight of their activities.

  • Each month on the 20th, we will notify you of all students who have logged enough hours to qualify for a pin. We’ll courier these directly to school for you to award in assemblies.