Volunteering is a fundamental part of our values and the community we want to create. Of course volunteering is good for your CV, your personal statement and for interviews in the future, all of which are really important. However beyond that, volunteering is an attitude which helps create a strong, supportive and happy community in our sixth form and throughout our school.
Students who work with teachers to put on an event, or help with a lower school lessons find they become an appreciated part of a team.
Students who volunteer to visit the elderly during the year, or at Christmas, find it rewarding and they see the power they have to build a relationship or have some fun which changes someone else’s life for good.
Students who put on an event for charity learn how to organise things, have a laugh as part of a team, and build confidence in terms of what they can achieve.
Volunteering opportunities in school include:
- The ambassador programme involving opportunities in Events, Charities and Communications
- Operation Nurture: helping lower school students in lessons at Starkholmes
- Buddy Reading (Years 7 – 9)
- Helping deliver PSHE lessons to students in Years 7 and 8
- Buddy Breakfasts (mentoring students from Years 9 and 10)
- Subject mentoring (particularly in Maths, English and Languages)
- Year 7 Open Evening and Sixth Form Open Evening
- Help with clubs, like Debate Club, Art Club, Science Club, Warhammer and so on
- Setting up social events (see the Social Events and Trips section).
Each year, volunteering opportunities outside of school change slightly as different groups find different things appealing, but below is a non-exclusive list of opportunities which students have been involved in, in recent years:
- Christmas Parties for the elderly in Meadow View, Valley Lodge and at The Presentation Sisters
- Reading in primary schools
- Working with people with learning disabilities at Golding Grange
- Visiting the elderly at the Presentation Sisters
- Helping at breakfast and after school clubs at primary schools
- In the past we have also raised money for a homeless charity, helped out at allotments, carried out Groudforce challenges at primary schools, so if any of these appeal to you, let us know.
