Our recent Careers & Voluntary Work Fair was designed to give students an insight into building up the skills and experience to improve them as individuals for future applications and interviews.
We are proud to have a good number of students who volunteer for a range of local organisations and they all have a wonderful story to tell.
James Mackenzie (Y12) relayed his experiences of voluntary work and it very much serves as an inspiration to others:
“I have been volunteering with the Lichfield District Council since I was 14 years old and I am now 17 and studying in the Sixth Form at The Friary School.
It all started due to needing a volunteering opportunity for my bronze DofE and I have continued it for the last 3 years. It has then helped me complete my Silver DofE and I am continuing with it for my Gold DofE, which I am expecting to finish by September 2020.
I volunteer with a club called Inspire Multi-Sports which assists disabled children who may have physical and/or learning disabilities with multi-sport activities, such as football or wheelchair basketball, as well as more unusual sports such as boccia.
I often coach sessions and through Lichfield District Council, I have completed my Community Sports Leaders qualification and am currently looking to do a coaching course to become even more qualified.
It has benefitted me massively in life due to experiencing a different group of people in the local community that I wouldn’t have normally have been involved with before I started volunteering. It has taught me to be patient and generous with a range of people and it is also fun. I highly recommend doing this type of volunteering due to it giving different life skills you can use in future life.”
Matt Allman, Headteacher, said: “We are incredibly proud of James and would encourage all students to follow his lead. We work hard to give students opportunities like this in our curriculum, whether via vocational courses which link with local employers and organisations, or the extensive House and community charity work. The education we seek to provide is about achieving well in exams, but it is just as much about developing skills for working life, for community involvement, and for general good will and care for others.”
