At the end of the summer term, an unprecedented number of students and staff from Seaford College in Petworth surged out into the local community to help a variety of environmental and social causes.
More than 450 students and staff took part in Seaford’s fifth annual community action day, known as the Big Day Out, carrying out 38 activities, at over 34 different locations in West Sussex, East Sussex and Hampshire.
Headmaster John Green, who created the initiative, said: “The main idea is to make a positive difference to the surrounding community. Due to the success of our annual action day, Wednesday afternoons are now blocked out in the timetable for weekly community events. Our students are extremely fortunate to study and live in such a beautiful part of the country – it is only right that they put something back.”
Students and staff assisted with a range of social and environmental projects including visiting the Aldingbourne Country Centre - a trust dedicated to helping those with learning disabilities reach their potential and enjoy life - to assist with a variety of different site maintenance tasks.
Year 12 pupils visited Oak Grove College in Worthing to help work in their Sensory Garden. Oak Grove is a community generic special college, providing special education for students with learning difficulties from Year 7 to Year 14.
Volunteers from Seaford College and the Hyde Group also lent a helping hand to residents at the Whyke Estate in Chichester. They tackled jobs including cleaning windows, removing rubbish, and clearing gardens.
Nell Jones, Seaford’s Gifted & Talented coordinator and Seaford students ran an activity for the whole school at Fittleworth C of E School. They created an Antony Gormley Fields installation at the school using clay figures. John Green visited and created his own figure for the installation.
Two separate groups of Seaford pupils spent the day in Graffham. One cleaned the war memorial and park benches, while another cleaned the churchyard at St Giles Church, Graffham.
Students took residents from Shaw care for lunch at Petworth House and at Shaw Care in Bognor students had fun painting nails and doing an art session with residents. The Seaford team at St Barnabas House cleaned the most expensive pavement in West Sussex. Their project for the day was cleaning a memorial path.
Other projects included ground clearance at Coultershaw Beam Pump, animal care at RSPCA Mounty Noddy.
