EDUCATION
INSPIRING LIVES AT SEVENOAKS SCHOOL
CREATIVITY IS A GREAT SOURCE OF WELL-BEING , PROVIDING PURPOSE , FOCUS AND A CONNECTION WITH PROCESSES THAT CAN PRODUCE PLEASING AND SURPRISING RESULTS . WITH THIS IN MIND , SEVENOAKS SCHOOL HAS BEEN WORKING WITH HOSPICE IN THE WEALD BY HOLDING PRACTICAL ART SESSIONS WITH PATIENTS .
Students have led the sessions as part of the school ’ s voluntary service programme , visiting the Hospice weekly to organise and assist with a range of practices including painting , ceramics and printmaking .
Emma Delpech , who teaches Art at Sevenoaks and runs the voluntary Art activities , describes it as a “ process-led space which encapsulates everything that is good about collaborating in the joy and freedom of making art ”.
One of the students who participated says : “ It is a great feeling to take something you are passionate about and translate that into helping others , especially when it is direct and you can see the benefit your work is having . Each week we do something different ; we ’ ve made clay vegetables , prints , glazing and much more . We so enjoying spending this time with the patients at Hospice in the Weald . They enrich our lives and inspire us .”
Sevenoaks School has a strong tradition of community service , dating back to the early 1960s . It was the first English independent school to develop a Voluntary Service Unit ( VSU ), founded by Headmaster Kim Taylor and inspired by the pioneering Voluntary Service Overseas work of Alec Dickson and by Kurt Hahn ’ s service units at Gordonstoun .
Today , all Sevenoaks pupils in Year 10 and above are involved in service . As well as helping the local community , a key aim of the service programme is to encourage empathy and to support students in becoming more sensitive to the needs of others . This is especially important in a large school with students from a wide variety of backgrounds and over 40 countries .
Once a week , an entire afternoon is dedicated to service activities , with students choosing from 57 different placements . They work with children , primary schools , older people , charity shops , people with disabilities , and on environment projects , enterprise and entrepreneurship schemes . Placements include Sevenoaks Foodbank , Oxfam , Riding for the Disabled and several local schools .
SEVENOAKS SERVICE
Every week , 435 students undertake voluntary service . They log over 30,000 hours per year . A student survey in December 2016 asked students about their voluntary service experience , finding that :
• 94 % think it is a valuable way to spend their time
• 98 % found their placement enjoyable
• 96 % found their placement rewarding
• 93 % would recommend their placement to someone else
This confirmed that the students take the voluntary service they do seriously and regard it as an important part of their school life .
Sevenoaks School aims to broaden every student ’ s perspective on life outside school , stretching their interests and taking their experiences with them to make a difference in their own community and beyond .
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