Community Work
Anne Frank Ambassadors
As part of our Community Link scheme four of our Sixth Form Historians were given the privilege to act as youth guides for the Anne Frank Exhibition run by the Anne Frank Trust which took place at St Albans Cathedral.
Aims: Using Anne Frank’s life and diary as a starting point, the aim of the exhibition was to power young people with the knowledge, skills and confidence to challenge all forms of prejudice and discrimination. In doing so, the Anne Frank Trust partners with schools, local authorities, the criminal justice sector and others to deliver educational programmes alongside acclaimed exhibitions to young people in a variety of settings
Background: We have an ongoing relationship with St Albans Cathedral and our pupils volunteer there as part of our Community outreach work on a regular basis. We were contacted by the Cathedral volunteer coordinator who invited us to provide some Sixth Form pupils to help as peer guides and ambassadors.
Resources: The school were supportive of the activity and pupils were given time out of their school day to train and act as exhibition leaders. The Head of Partnership and Community Link supervised this activity.
Impact: This was a fantastic opportunity for our Sixth Formers who all felt they had learnt a lot about prejudice and discrimination and were empowered to embrace positive attitudes, personal responsibility and respect for others.
Pupil Involvement: Four Sixth Form Historians were selected for this project.
Frequency: This was a single event that last for a period of a month including training and the peer guiding sessions.
LinkAges Christmas Party
Each Christmas St Albans School invites 80 elderly St Albans residents from Care Homes and luncheon groups in the local community to a Christmas Party with a festive afternoon tea and music and entertainment from the School Choir and Lower School Drama group.
Aims: We aim to bring together elderly members of the local area with our school community to share an afternoon of festive fun, food and entertainment. We aim to build on our relationships with local residents and to bridge the gap between generations.
Background: This project has been going on for around 20 years and involves our Student Community Link volunteers who help in local Care Homes on Friday afternoons. It came about as a result of talking to the Care Home Managers who said how much their residents enjoy being amongst young people at Christmas time and has been extended to local groups of senior citizens, many of whom are alone at Christmas.
Resources: Our school catering service provides a festive afternoon tea with vintage crockery and Christmas decorations. The event takes place in the school Sixth Form Centre and is run by the Head of Community Link with help from the Music Dept, Drama Dept and catering team. Sixth Form volunteers serve the tea and help clear up. The school choir sings carols and we have festive readings and poems from the Lower School Pupils. It is a whole school effort.
We also provide transport (taxis and minibuses) to collect the guests from their homes and return them afterwards and a goody bag for them to take home.
Impact: This is a very popular event amongst the local community and we always have a waiting list of people wanting to attend . Each year we have very positive feedback from the Care Home managers and from the senior citizens who attend the event. For some it is the highlight of their Christmas and has become an annual tradition. Outcomes are assessed by the feedback we get from the guests and Care Home managers.
Pupil Involvement: We have 80 senior citizens attend this event. Around 20 members of our Sixth Form Community Link team assist at the party and help serve and clear the tea and chat with the guests. The Chamber choir of approximately 20 pupils attend as well as 5 Lower School Drama pupils and a group of music students.
Frequency: An annual event that happens every December.
Supporting the NHS Vaccine Campaign
Pupils and teachers from St Albans School DT Dept. collaborated with the Hertsmere Vaccine Hub on a project to design and produce covid vaccine trays that are fit for purpose and would enable the doctors to transport the covid vaccines safely from the area they are prepared to the Hall where they are administered.
Aims: Over the last six months, one of our parents along with her GP colleagues has been running a large Covid Vaccination Centre for the residents of Hertsmere.
The medical team had been preparing the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccinations in the kitchen and transferring them to the tables in the hall for their large army of volunteers to administer, using homemade cardboard and sponge containers that were not fit for purpose.
The parent reached out to a teacher in St Albans School DT department to ask for support in designing a container that they could use to transport the vaccines safely. The DT Dept worked tirelessly with the assistance of a group of Fourth Form GCSE pupils, in designing and producing suitable trays, built to the specifications requested.
The custom-built trays were used for the first time recently and the response of the volunteer vaccinators was overwhelming, they commented, ‘they will totally transform the way we can safely deliver these lifesaving vaccines to our patients’ and ‘it will allow us to work even faster giving the covid vaccine which is so important with the ominous threat of the Indian variant.’
The DT Dept at St Albans School was delighted to be a part of this successful community collaboration.
Background: A parent (who is a doctor at the vaccine hub) contacted the School's DT Dept. to ask for help in producing vaccine trays that were fit for purpose.
Resources: Materials for the vaccine trays were sourced and provided by the DT Dept.
Impact: The trays made a positive impact upon the day to day delivery of the vaccines. Below is a comment from one of the doctors at the vaccine hub.
'The trays were used for the first time this weekend and the response of the volunteer vaccinators was overwhelming. They will totally transform the way we can safely deliver these life saving vaccines to our patients, and looks so professional.'
Pupil Involvement: Fourth Form GCSE pupils from the DT Dept.
Centre 33 Christmas Tree Project
One of the local churches has an annual Christmas Tree Festival where community groups are asked to decorate a Christmas Tree in a way that celebrates an aspect of their group or community. We were asked by Centre 33 to help dress their Christmas tree for the festival. Centre 33 is a neighbouring drop-in centre where homeless and socially or materially disadvantaged people in the St Albans community can come to relax, be social, and enjoy a free meal and a drink.
Aims: The aim was to support a local organisation and help decorate a Christmas tree in collaboration with the visitors from Centre 33. It was a community project that included the Centre 33 visitors and volunteers, our Middle School pupils and the Charity prefects. The visitors and volunteers were asked to write down a phrase or word that represented how they felt about the centre, these words were given to a group of Third Form pupils who made Christmas tree decorations that incorporated the words or phrases. Our Sixth Form charity prefects then gathered them together and took the decorations to dress the tree at the St Saviour’s church festival.
Background: The Centre 33 drop in centre has been one of our closest neighbours for 27 years. We support the centre in a variety of ways including raising money, collecting clothes and toiletries for the visitors and providing Christmas gifts and gift bags for the guests.
Resources: The Head of Partnership coordinated this activity with help from the Head of Third Form. Art materials and assistance to make the decorations was provided by the Art dept. and parents and pupils provided extra decorations to complete the tree.
Pupil Involvement: A group of Third Form pupils made the decorations during an after-school art session. Our three Charity prefects decorated the tree with assistance from some Fifth Form pupils.
Frequency: This was a one-off project that we hope to repeat in future years.
St Albans Cathedral Volunteering
We have two different volunteering opportunities at St Albans Cathedral on Friday afternoons. The first is within the Education Centre, which works with children, schools, and youth groups from all over the UK and overseas. The second is with the Cathedral Volunteering and Community Services team and pupils help at the welcome desk, take tours and provide admin support.
Aims:
To provide the Cathedral with support on Friday afternoons. To provide our Sixth Form volunteers an opportunity to work with children of a variety of ages and backgrounds within a different educational setting or to further their communication skills by working with the public and wider community.
Background: St Albans School was founded in 948 within St Albans Abbey. Whilst the school is now independent, we are neighbours and still have close associations with the Cathedral. The School has twice-weekly services in the Abbey. We have had a partnership with the Cathedral Education Centre for several years and this year for the first time, we have pupils helping the Volunteering and Community services team.
Impact: We request annual feedback from the Education Centre staff and the Volunteering and Community Services team. St Albans school pupils fill in a feedback form each year about their experiences.
Pupil Involvement: Two Sixth Form volunteers help in the Education Centre and a further two work with the Volunteering and Community services team.
Frequency: Every Friday afternoon during term time.
