Community Work
Care home visits
Sixth Form pupils, usually considering a medical career, spend two hours every Monday afternoon, helping staff in care homes (Bourne Valley Colten Care, Upton Bay Care Home and Magna Care Home). They organise activities that stimulate the residents, as well as simply talking to them.
During the Covid pandemic, pupils have met with care home residents via Zoom for online bingo!
Aims: To support the residents of the home. To offer potential medical students firsthand experience, and to improve their communication skills (often in difficult circumstances).
Resources: Apart from taking the pupils to the home, no Canford staff are involved. Pupils are under the direct management of the home's staff while they are here helping.
Impact: Informal feedback from the home indicates that the help offered is useful.
Pupil Involvement: Sixth Form pupils are involved. They are mostly potential medical students.
Frequency: Two hours every Monday afternoon throughout the academic year.
Upton Country Park
Pupils act as volunteers for the park. Help has included the usual range of gardening activities. They work in gardens surrounding the house.
Aims: Volunteering helps both Upton Country Park and the pupils (who might otherwise not have visited the park).
Background: Canford approached Upton Country Park to see if they needed volunteers.
Pupil Involvement: A group of six 6th form pupils, girls and boys, spend two hours there on Mondays.
Frequency: Every Monday through term time
Charity shops and Fair Trade Shop
6th form pupils offer help in various local charity shops for two hours every Monday afternoon. Help includes sorting donated items, stock taking, accounts, serving customers.
Aims: All the charity shops require volunteers.
Background: Canford approached each charity and offered help on Monday afternoons. Pupils have been volunteering in local shops for a number of years, although which shops are helped changes over the years as different charities have bases in the area.
Resources: A Canford teacher takes the pupils to and from school, but does not stay with them throughout the afternoon.
Frequency: Two hours every Monday afternoon throughout the year.
High Mead Farm
Two groups of pupils visit the farm. Two 6th form pupils, often intending to study veterinary science at university, offer help in one area (and have, in the past, raised funds for the project independently). In addition, a groups of 6-10 Year 10 pupils ('Groundforce') visit the farm regularly to help in other areas.
Help has included work on the country fayre, organising a dog show, setting up a baking show as well as manual tasks around the farm such as grooming horses, feeding the goats and cleaning out the pigs and chickens.
Aims: The project is always looking for volunteers to work round the farm. For the pupils it offers the chance to help others while working closely with animals.
Resources: Canford staff drive the pupils to and from the farm; and one teacher stays with the younger group to help the farm staff.
Pupil Involvement: Two 6th form pupils and a larger groups of Year 10 pupils.
Frequency: Help is offered throughout the year. The 6th form pupils attend every Monday for two hours; the Year 10 will go for two hours as well, but not every Monday as this project forms part of their experience over the year.
Sea View Centre
Two Sixth Form pupils spend two hours every Monday afternoon, helping where they are needed.
Aims: To provide help in a specialised area.
To offer pupils firsthand experience of conditions they might not otherwise come across.
Background: Canford School approached the centre offering help.
Resources: One member of staff drives the pupils to the home and then stays there throughout the session. There are two hour visits every week throughout the year.
Impact: Informal feedback from the home suggests that the help is welcomed.
Pupil Involvement: Given the nature of those being helped, only Sixth Form pupils are involved.
Frequency: Every week throughout the academic year.
Care for the elderly
Pupils visit, in pairs, elderly people in their homes; or go to care homes in small groups. They offer practical help, such as ironing, shopping, gardening, collecting prescriptions or just simply company. Twice a year events are organised where pupils and staff accompany those they have been visiting on a trip to a nearby attraction, or to tea and a concert arranged at Canford.
Aims: To offer companionship and practical help to elderly people who may not be able to do some tasks themselves.
To allow pupils to learn from the experience of those they visit.
Background: This is the most longstanding of Canford's community projects and has been established for nearly as long as the school.
Resources: Canford teachers drive pupils to and from the private houses and care homes, organise the tea, trips and concerts, and act as hosts (with the pupils) at these events.
Three staff help every Monday afternoon, with others helping when there is an organised activity.
Pupil Involvement: About a dozen 6th form pupils, both girls and boys.
Frequency: Two hours every Monday afternoon throughout the academic year.
Local Community Groups using Canford Indoor Range
Local Community groups use the Indoor Range at Canford School. These groups include Dorset Blind, Ferndown Shooting Club, Dorset Wildfowlers Shooting Club, Dorset Police Shooting club and Dorset Army Cadet Force.
Dementia Care Homes
Four Sixth Form pupils, most of whom are considering a medical career, spend two hours every Monday afternoon, talking to and helping residents. They organise activities that stimulate the residents, as well as simply talking to them.
Aims: To offer help to Alzheimer Sufferers.
To allow potential medical applicants first hand experience of a widespread condition, and to improve their communication skills (often in difficult circumstances).
Background: Canford approached the home offering help.
Resources: Apart from driving the pupils to the home, there are no Canford staff involved. Pupils are under the immediate management of staff at the home.
Impact: Informal feedback from the home shows that the help is valued.
Pupil Involvement: Given the nature of the residents, only Sixth Form pupils are involved. They are usually considering a medical career.
Frequency: Every week throughout the academic year, for two hours each week.
Wimborne Food Bank
Two pupils and a member of staff spend Monday afternoons at the food bank, sorting out items of food that have been donated by the public, and preparing them for distribution to those in need in the community.
Resources: One member of the teaching staff spends every Monday afternoon at the food bank with the pupils.
Pupil Involvement: Two 6th form pupils work there.
Frequency: Pupils are there for two hours every Monday afternoon throughout the academic year.
Canford School and PEDSSA
Canford School provides facilities for Canford School and Poole and East Dorset School Sports Association (PEDSSA) Events including: 5 a Side, Swim Gala, Indoor Cricket, Indoor Rowing, Sitting Volleyball, Disability Swim Gala, Cross Country and Rowing.
Canford Bridge Club
The more senior members of our local community have formed a Bridge Club and come into Canford School to play against volunteer pupils.
Frequency: Weekly on a Monday afternoon.
Deaf awareness
In the Christmas and Easter terms, a deaf teacher from Shaftesbury comes in to Canford to deliver a 2 hour session each Monday afternoon to some of our Y12 and Y13 students. These sessions use British Sign Language (BSL) and we cover topics such as learning the BSL alphabet, your name and where you live, colours, pets, hobbies & sports and health & safety. The aim is to become proficient in basic skills, so as to improve links between the deaf and hearing communities, whilst having fun at the same time. Without fail the students consider this a worthwhile skill to master and they enjoy the small group work - including making up and signing a story, as well as producing their own video!
Aims: To strengthen links between the deaf and hearing communities.
To show pupils that sign language has many similarities with traditional languages.
Background: The head of Community Service at the time (Jerry Orme) mooted the idea of setting up a new link in April 2014. It was agreed that this would be a worthwhile skill (especially aimed at L6 Medics) and so over the following term a suitable teacher was found and appointed who has been teaching students in other local schools e.g. Lychett Matravers, for the past 5 years. He is Level 2 qualified.
Resources: All teaching takes place at Canford in a language classroom.
Pupil Involvement: Between 10 and 12 6th form pupils are taught every Monday afternoon.
Frequency: Every Monday afternoon throughout the academic year.