Some of Avonbourne Trust’s newest students have enjoyed getting to know each other before making the jump to ‘big’ school’.
Fourteen youngsters who will be joining Year 7 at either Avonbourne or Harewood College next term attended the Trust’s annual ‘summer school’.
Aimed at youngsters who would benefit most from this opportunity, the week-long scheme offers pupils extra pastoral and academic support in the form of fun activities and workshops linked to topics they will study from September.
Specialist staff from across the Trust in Harewood Avenue, Bournemouth, give up some of their holiday time to run the summer school.
This year they also welcomed four members of Merlin Entertainments, who ran themed workshops including an exercise in making reading glasses with Lego bricks.
CEO of Avonbourne Trust, Debbie Godfrey-Phaure, said: “The benefits of the summer school are numerous and clear to see: The students are challenged with secondary style literacy and numeracy work which prepares them to hit the ground running when they join in September.
“They also meet fellow pupils and teachers, giving them a much-needed confidence boost. And in addition they learn about the Trust’s Earth Charter commitment which encourages them to develop a life-long ethical awareness and to become global active citizens.
“As in previous years, the feedback from students and parents has been superb, with students saying they can’t wait to start secondary school as a result of the summer school.”
The summer school also provides students with a free lunch each day and a goodie bag containing school supplies.
Debbie added: “I have seen first-hand how this intervention has supported students over the last three years and I am therefore extremely grateful to Merlin Entertainments, which stepped in to finance the majority of the costs for this latest summer school week.”
Dare Ilori, head of sustainability at Merlin Entertainments, said: “Promoting sustainability in our community is everyone’s responsibility. We take our commitment to protecting the environment seriously, leading us to support this very worthwhile programme. It was inspiring to see the pupils so passionate about their planet…..our planet, and so determined to protect it from the impacts of climate change.”
Bournemouth University also provided financial backing for the summer school, as well as student ambassadors to help out during the week. Southbourne and Boscombe Rotary kindly covered the cost of food.
Avonbourne Trust consists of Avonbourne College, Avonbourne Sixth Form, Harewood College and Avonwood Primary. All of which have been declared ‘Good’ schools by Ofsted
Picture caption: CREATING A SPECTACLE: New Year 7 pupils had fun and made friends at Avonbourne Trust’s summer school.
CREATING A SPECTACLE: New Year 7 pupils had fun and made friends at Avonbourne Trust’s summer school.
For more information contact Debbie Granville at Deep South Media on: 07884 657782 or email: Debbie.granville@deepsouthmedia.co.uk
