Member Article

St Thomas More Catholic School, Blaydon, unveiled as 'Champion School'

National Citizen Service (NCS) has awarded ‘Champion School’ status to St Thomas More Catholic School, in Blaydon, who have been recognised alongside schools across the country for their commitment to, and work with, the flagship youth programme. The award of Champion School status has been given to only those schools that have exceeded expectations in promoting the programme as well as recruiting students to take part.

Open to all young people, regardless of circumstances or additional needs, NCS focuses on three core principles of social cohesion, social engagement and social mobility, all of which have benefits not just to the participants but to communities and society as a whole.

Parents of the teens who take part repeatedly comment on the positive effect NCS has on their children, including increased confidence levels and independence. In addition, the teachers at Champion Schools have praised the impact NCS has had on so many of their pupils, and the knock on benefits to the school more widely.

Jonathan Parkinson, Head Teacher at St Thomas More Catholic School, said: “We’ve been promoting NCS since it was first launched as it is a fantastic programme which presents our students with the opportunity to give back to society. For no more than £50 students gain access to a £1,500 investment in their futures. It really is a no-brainer for them, and us, to get involved.”

Eamonn Callaghan, PSHE Coordinator at St Thomas More Catholic School, said: “The NCS programme offers a great opportunity for our year 11 students to do something extremely useful with their summer holidays and gain credible skills and experience for post 16, university and employment.

“One of our former students, who is now at university, contacted me this week to say that since graduating from NCS they’d kept up volunteering and will this year be a leader on the programme.”

Chris Byrne, NCS Recruitment Team Leader, said: “We always receive a warm welcome from staff and students at St Thomas More Catholic School so I am delighted to be able to present the NCS Champion School award for their efforts in promoting the programme last year.

“In true St Thomas More Catholic School style, the support has continued into 2018 and we’ve already seen more than 65 students from year 11 sign up for this summer’s NCS programme.

“There are only a handful of places now available, so I’d encourage students to sign up before it’s too late.”

A social impact report using data from UCAS revealed that young people who take part in NCS are significantly more likely to get into university. Higher education participation rates for NCS grads was on average 12% higher than for non-NCS graduates, and there was an almost 50% increase in higher education participation for the most disadvantaged young people.

Michael Lynas, CEO of NCS Trust said “We work closely with schools across the UK to ensure everyone is aware of the fantastic benefits their students can enjoy by taking part in NCS. Subsequently, a proportion of these schools take the partnership to the next stage, encouraging as many students as possible to take part.

“This is helping embed NCS within local communities across the UK, making it the rite of passage it should be for young people everywhere. Everyone who takes part has the opportunity to develop new skills, meet new friends from different schools, and gain the confidence they need to be successful in life and work.”

Anna Cole, Parliamentary Specialist, Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), added: “NCS offers young people fantastic opportunities to challenge themselves, explore new horizons, meet people from all walks of life and in the process gain new and transferable skills, maturity and confidence. ASCL highly recommends all school and college leaders embrace the chance for their students to get involved. Together we can help prepare and develop young people for the future.”

There are a number of ways in which schools can work with NCS to raise the profile of the programme: from delivering an assembly to students, to attending careers events, parents’ evenings and delivering sessions to tutor groups.

16 and 17 year olds can sign up to the summer 2018 NCS programme. Young people or parents should search ‘NCS’ to find out more or call 0191 247 4020 to secure a place.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by NCS North East .