Community Action
Head of Community Action: Mr. N.D. Turnbull
The purpose of the School's Community Action programme is to provide as many different ways as possible for pupils to benefit both the local and the wider community. In so doing, it aims to cultivate a spirit of service and inculcate an awareness of the needs of people from different sectors of society.Over 200 Fifth and Sixth Formers are active on a weekly basis, not only in the immediate neighbourhood, but also in Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough and Peterborough. Extensive involvement with local pensioners takes the form of visits to their homes or hosting events at the School's Sixth Form Club. A large contingent assists with the local Mother and Toddler Group, in primary schools and in schools for children with special needs. Several pupils are involved with disabled groups, sign language tuition and the development of equipment for the disabled.
The pupil-run newspaper, The Oundle Chronicle, features issues of local interest, and the School Radio Station is involved in broadcasts for and by the community. Conservation, environmental and gardening activities include work at Barnwell Country Park, the construction of owl boxes and the services of a mobile squad, which uses mechanised equipment round the town. Pupils with musical and dramatic abilities take workshops into schools and residential homes.
Annual events include the Pensioners' Carol Service, the sponsored Sleep-Out in a Birmingham carpark to raise funds for St. Basil's Hostel for homeless young people, work with disadvantaged youngsters in conjunction with a Franciscan House in Birmingham and Have-A-Go-Day, when the School hosts a variety of activities in which mentally and physically handicapped adults participate. On Field Weekend, 350 pupils engage in Community Action activities, including work at a soup kitchen in London. In addition, every summer, many current and former pupils give up a week to help at two residential holidays run at the School, one for mentally handicapped children and the other for inner-city children.