SERVICE AND PARTNERSHIPS : THE YEAR IN REVIEW
Home cookbooks and English conversation sessions . Determined to take their understanding of refugee experiences to a wider audience , the student team led our first Refugee Week .
The last year has passed in a blur , but sharply focused memories of student action and community collaboration emerge through the fog .
Stickers on the EDGE , created by Isabella Hall , Lucy Hudson and Rhea Nelson , winners of this year ’ s social entrepreneurship competition
When I asked students for one word that encapsulated the service year , they picked out ‘ dynamic ’; the energy , positivity and thoughtfulness that students , staff and community partners have shown during a period of crisis has been extraordinary and we have all grown together in this process .
Indeed , the co-chair of Sevenoaks Welcomes Refugees commented of our students that ‘ their continued support through lockdown has been nothing less than remarkable ’. However , our students have gained as much , if not more , from their weekly time with local Syrians through collaborative work on A Taste of
I am motivated by students regularly approaching me with a simple idea for change – as staff we try to support the growth of these thoughts into reality . Over 120 students led their own projects this year , with the first ten-week Kent-wide Social Leadership Programme helping pupils develop their skills through a series of online talks with practitioners . Many responded to problems created or worsened by Covid-19 , with campaigns celebrating older people in support of Age UK , raising awareness of mental health , and helping those affected by Covid-19 in India through the charity BAPS . The singOFF , led by Catherine Redmayne , took a new online form in support of the Teenage Cancer Trust , while in School House , boys and teachers grew facial hair and ran miles for Movember . The Charity Committee grew to over 80 members .
SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Many students are budding social entrepreneurs : WomenEmpower continue to bring together students from ten local schools to hear from online speakers on topics ranging from sexual abuse to racism , while the Get Well Soon World Instagram blog informs its growing followers on wellbeing , inequality and environment . The 2021 student-led social entrepreneurship competition final saw six impressive groups , with the judges deciding that Stickers on the EDGE had the actual edge with their project selling enamel pins and eco-friendly stickers to raise awareness and funds in support of EDGE species . We have also developed the Year 8 Social Entrepreneurship programme and ensured our service education is curriculum-embedded elsewhere too . Not only is it integrated into subjects such as Geography , English Literature , PSHE , and Society and Change , but we have launched a new advocacy strand to the Year 9 Core Critical Thinking curriculum .
70 SERVICE AND COMMUNITY