Mayor joins pupils for NCS celebration

The results of a pioneering partnership between Thomas Deacon Academy Sixth Form and the National Citizen Service (NCS) were celebrated at an awards night.

Participation on the NCS programme was formally added to the Academy’s Sixth Form provision in September for the first time involving more than 180 Year 12 students.

The sixth formers participated in a series of activities organised and delivered as part of a national scheme which provides students aged 16-17 with the opportunity to meet new people, learn new skills and interact with the local community in a fourstage programme designed to stretch the individual.

Ben Treverton, Head of Sixth Form says: “This has been an amazing experience for the young people who attend Thomas Deacon Academy. We sought to give them an opportunity to test themselves and develop some ‘softer’ skills such as leadership, communication and teamwork. The best part has been seeing the Year 12s return to school with a real sense of pride and boosted self-confidence from having completed so many wonderful activities and having worked to benefit the local community.”

The programme began with the students attending a week-long residential at an outdoor activity centre in Yorkshire. Working in small teams, the students participated in a range of adrenalinfuelled challenges.

Following the residential, the students returned to the Academy where they spent their half term week learning new skills and exploring ways in which they could use their learning in their personal statements and CVs when applying to University or employers.

Virtually all of the Year 12s are now, amongst other things, emergency first aid trained.

In the final stage of the programme, the teams set about working on their own socialaction project, putting their learning from the earlier stages of the scheme into practice.

In total 14 projects were delivered in the community ranging from befriending and supporting the elderly to litter-picking and producing an e-safety promotional video aimed at fellow students. In total, over 3,000 hours of planning and community service were delivered by TDA sixth formers.

On November 13, students attended a graduation event that recognised the work completed throughout the programme and saw the presentation of the NCS Awards by the Mayor of Peterborough, cllr John Fox.

The evening was a real celebration and involved students, their parents and staff from both NCS and TDA.