Over 350 pupils are involved in a rich tapestry of Community Action (CA) activities over seven days of the week, including thousands of hours of volunteering. Our Community Action programme is about putting our pupils at the heart of our local neighbourhood and services, empowering them to engage and build a stronger, more connected place to live and study. They are involved with over seventy-five activities across Northamptonshire, including helping the elderly, supporting primary and secondary schools, working with people with disabilities, helping in the environment and supporting community clubs and charities. Whether they are visiting elderly residents at home and sharing a cup of tea and a chat or attending a disco at the PHAB Club in Peterborough, with adults with disabilities, our pupils bring a smile to many faces each and every Wednesday.
SARAH KERR-DINEEN, HEAD“Community Action represents, to my mind, the very best of Oundle. Time and again pupils talk about how their Community Action involvement whilst at Oundle has changed them and how much it has meant to them.”
The central pillar of our partnership work is the Oundle, Peterborough and East Northants (OPEN) Learning Partnership. As a founding member, alongside Laxton Junior School and four schools from the maintained sector (Thomas Deacon Academy, Kettering Buccleuch Academy, Prince William School and Oundle CE Primary School), the OPEN Learning Partnership aims to increase opportunity, raise aspirations and allow the sharing of best practice between schools. Our partnership work is driven by the genuine desire to share, collaborate and learn from and with one another. For a partnership to be effective, there needs to be real purpose and impact. This may be helping young people realise their ambitions for university, inspiring an interest in a subject, or simply helping children to enjoy learning; this is what enriches what we do as teachers.
All such opportunities rely on connections with organisations and people across many different communities. We are privileged to work with tertiary level partners including with Imperial College London, Swansea University and the Royal College of Music.
Gordon Montgomery, Deputy Head Partnerships and OutreachSeeking to make the maximum impact with the resources we possess and engaging with the communities around us, particularly children and the schools which serve them, is a natural part of our fabric.
