PUPILS at a Staffordshire special school have been praised for their work ethic and kindness after volunteering their time at a local retirement village.
Sixth Form students at Queen’s Croft High School, in Lichfield, have been taking part in a range of work-related tasks including working within the shop at Beacon Park Village; a retirement complex for over-55s.
Other pupils played games and chatted to residents whilst one group cleared the grounds to make it more accessible.
Sam Wood, co-headteacher at the school which caters for pupils aged between 11-19 with moderate learning difficulties, said he was proud of the feedback from staff and residents at Beacon Park Village.
He said: “We are proud to have achieved The Quality in Careers Standard award for our careers education, information, advice and guidance provision, which reaffirms the school’s aim of making sure students are ready for future employment.
“Our school mission and vision is about inspiring GREATness. The R in GREAT is around readiness and a key component to our curriculum is ensuring that our students are ready for future employment.
“We had some really positive feedback from the staff and residents at Beacon Park Village who commented on the work ethic and kindness of the students. We had pupils who worked at the front of the house as receptionists where they took phone calls and assisted with queries; others served customers in the on-site restaurant.
“All staff at Queen’s Croft are exceptionally proud of our young people and their continuous hard work and determination to be GREAT.”
The school, which has more than 200 pupils on roll and covers Lichfield, Rugeley, Tamworth, Cannock, Stafford, Walsall and Birmingham. They were assessed earlier this year as “making good progress towards meeting all the accreditation criteria incorporating the Gatsby Benchmarks”. The Gatsby Benchmarks – of which there are eight – are a framework that schools and colleges can use to develop a good careers programme.
Mr Wood added: “I am grateful to our careers and work experience leaders for their work behind the scenes in ensuring that our students have a breadth of work-related opportunities such as volunteering at Beacon Park Village.”
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