During the last week of the Summer term we ran our Enrichment Week for Years 7-10. This year the students engaged in service projects under a new ‘social impact’ theme with a focus on pupil leadership and critical exploration of social issues.
There were over 24 different activities taking place on and off campus; from songwriting and primary school playground renovations, to campaigning for a zero-plastic policy and allotment building.
Many groups headed out to local primary schools to run drama and science sessions with the young pupils. Additional activities included a playground and outdoor learning space renovation at Edenbridge Primary and an allotment build at Churchill Primary. For the allotment, a group of eight students helped to create a polytunnel, which consisted of 20 raised beds and a beautiful shingle floor. In total they moved over ten tonnes of material between them in only 12 hours.
Other successful events included the Inclusive Paralympic Games, which involved six local primary schools, including Valence School which works with disabled children and young adults. Games included goalball, which is designed for players with vision impairment; pupils were given blindfolds and had to use their hands to get the ball (which contains bells) into the opponent’s goal.
Some activities took place with schools further afield, such as the Edu-Spots team’s collaboration with a school in Ghana. Sevenoaks students created a range of online science experiments requiring minimal apparatus for the Ghanaian pupils to use.
One group went on a trip to Bore Place to explore the importance of animal welfare, particularly the problem of unsustainable meat production and plastics use. Another group campaigned through Sevenoaks town, handing out leaflets for plastic reduction, and raising awareness of alternative materials. Their bamboo straws in particular proved to be an excellent alternative to the plastic equivalent. The trash running (or plogging) group tackled areas of the Kent countryside on the problem of littering, by running with bin liners and picking up all the litter that they found.
Year 10 student Madeleine Whiteley commented, ‘Social Impact is about making your society better. It’s learning how to make a difference, and it’s joining and understanding the people around you. Social Impact Week at Sevenoaks presented this perfectly.’
Thank you to all the staff and students involved in making this year’s Social Impact Week a huge success.
